Turns out Vice President Dick Cheney considers much more than the membership of his energy task force to be none of the public’s business. An administration letter filed in an open-government lawsuit reveals that the Secret Service was told last fall to eliminate data on who visited Cheney at his official residence, claiming the log was subject to Cheney’s control under the Presidential Records Act. And after inquiries last year about how many times convicted crook Jack Abramoff visited the White House, the administration and Secret Service decided that White House entry and exit logs also were presidential records not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. Guess when they call the White House “the people’s house,” they just mean some of the people.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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25 Comments
The blog entry about George Will’s comments on conservative hubris makes _this_ blog entry “Exhibit A.” The arrogance and hubris Will described, and disdain for any interests but Cheney’s own, are the hallmarks of Dick Cheney.
I have no desire to see the logs of any Vice President, unless it is for historical purposes.
Too many busy body snoops in today’s society who act like they need to know everything that goes on.
When in fact, those who cry the loudest about not knowing, cry the longest about their own privacy.
Defend, deflect and deny Republicon.
It’s simply shameful.
This is the same VP who approved of warrentless wiretaps and mass collections of phone records of civilians. Yet he wants his privacy protected, especially when it comes to cover up suspected criminal activity.
I’m never surprised that those in power abused it.
I’m also never surprised that those who naively promote increased government are surprised when abuse happens.
By giving the government fewer powers (i.e. limited government) we can largely close the door to the effects of the inevitable abuse.
Morning MoM
You mean like the theft of classified documents by Sandy Berger Doug? Or all of those FBI files kept in the basement of the White House for purposes of looking at Clinton’s enemies?
Those kind of activities Doug?
Walk on by…
I see that Republican still has not volunteered to help bring democracy to Iraq.
Republican will never be anything more than a lying hypocrite.
Morning Dog!
Too many busy body snoops in today’s society who act like they need to know everything that goes on – posted by Republican
Why was this not the Republican’s mantra when your party’s ONLY focus was to find something – anything – on Bill Clinton during his 8 years?
It was Newt Gingrich and his bunch of arrogant dittoheads that made being a busy body snoop a ‘patriotic’ idea.
If you don’t like the way today’s politics are too personal, then put the blame on your own Republican Party.
Look at Cheney and into your herad pops “Bite Me’. No, I really mean it, this guy looks like he wants to bite somebody
When Dick Cheney moved into the offical residence, he accepted the role of a public official. Anything that has to do with the visits to an official residence should be public knowledge. After all, it is the American people that pay the mortgage and upkeep on that residence – isn’t it?
What is he afraid of? If Dick Cheney has done nothing wrong, then he should welcome public scrutiny. Or does the bulldog have something to hide?
The residence provided by the Public is not covered under Public disclosure laws. Residences are intended to be private.
Just as the Oval Office is not a place of residence, the White House assigned area known as the President’s resident is not open to public disclosure.
If you want to set that precedent sam, then it can be challenged in court that your residence is open for public disclosure because all American’s receive some form of Public assistance in the form of licenses, public utilities and etc.
This administration has taken the word “secret” to new levels. If the American people knew who, and how many times Dick Cheney had the likes of Abramoff in for “visits”, they might want an investigation. And we couldn’t have that, could we.
Jason when you and your crew get excited about the tens of thousands given to democrats then you can throw out the Abramhoff name. Until that happens it is just politics as usual!
By the way do you suppose that they could have found a more venimous picture of Cheney to run with this piece?
“Harry Reid Caught in Abramoff Plea Deal?
This morning’s announcement that Washington super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff has reached a plea bargain deal with the Justice Department has reporters salavating over what they hint is going to be a Republican mega-scandal.
But it turns out that the most prominent player in Abramoff’s web of influence was reportedly none other than the Senate’s top Democrat, Harry Reid.
In a little noticed story in November, the Associated Press revealed that Reid had accepted tens of thousands of dollars from an Abramoff client, the Coushatta Indian tribe, after interceding with Secretary of the Interior Gail Norton over a casino dispute with a rival tribe.
Reid “sent a letter to Norton on March 5, 2002,” reported the AP. “The next day, the Coushattas issued a $5,000 check to Reid’s tax-exempt political group, the Searchlight Leadership Fund. A second tribe represented by Abramoff sent an additional $5,000 to Reid’s group. Reid ultimately received more than $66,000 in Abramoff-related donations between 2001 and 2004.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1551121/posts
Free Republic link, nothing to see here folks, walk on by……..
You really had to stretch to get that point huh? I’m getting public assistance from licenses, public utilities? Hogwash – I pay my taxes for utilities, police and fire protection, etc. And what about licenses?? What is this about?
My point WAS, if you would have read the reality, is that Dick Cheney became a public official when he accepted his Vice President position. This is a PUBLIC position and should be treated as such.
Rather than making up some lame excuse for the guy, why not answer my last question. What does Cheney have to hide? Why so secretive about everything he does? He is NOT above the law.
Another post by Republican means that he is still not willing to fight in the Iraq war that he supports (he wants other people to fight it for him).
Republican is nothing more than a lying hypocrite.
Since when did the office of the Vice President take on the full powers and privileges of the office of the President?
(I’m not talking about physical office, btw)
It’s a serious question. Where in our Constitution is the vice presidency granted full presidential powers? Are we witnessing the biggest VP power grab in US history?
Are we witnessing the biggest VP power grab in US history?Posted by: Tom | June 03, 2007 at 02:33 PM
Who knows for sure?
For what it’s worth, I agree wholeheartedly with your assertion that this is Exhibit A in the long evidential list of “acts displaying GOP hubris.”
Ranging slightly off topic (still relevant, though), I think Frank Rich makes in an interesting if slightly overblown observation:?”…will it someday be possible to feel a pang of sympathy for George W. Bush?
Perhaps not. It’s hard to pity someone who, to me anyway, is too slight to hate. Unlike Nixon, President Bush is less an overreaching Machiavelli than an epic blunderer surrounded by Machiavellis. He lacks the crucial element of acute self-awareness that gave Nixon his tragic depth. Nixon came from nothing, loathed himself and was all too keenly aware when he was up to dirty tricks. Mr. Bush has a charmed biography, is full of himself and is far too blinded by self-righteousness to even fleetingly recognize the havoc he’s inflicted at home and abroad. Though historians may judge him a worse president than Nixon — some already have — at the personal level his is not a grand Shakespearean failure.”?
The description of Bush as “an epic blunderer” suffering Machiavellis all around him is the only description that fits all the facts we know today.
Maybe when this long nightmare is finally over we’ll learn more about what really happened to the office of POTUS. Until then, who really knows what’s happening?
ksgrm,The thread is about Cheney, not the democrat or republican crooks. Time enough to go into that in an open thread if you like. But we’re talking how Cheney assumes the American people are too ignorant to understand his behind the scenes shenanigans.
Stick to topic, if you’re able.
Sorry, Jason, KSGrm’s whole sctick is “Bill Clinton!” and “the Democrats!”
According to Grm, the world would be a perfect place and America would be Utopia if the Republicans would just pass a law allowing them to kill all liberals and Democrats on sight.
Nothing new.
Can someone name a previous Administration that made entry and exit logs for the White House and other residences public? One? Why is Rhonda Holman demanding that this administration go boldly where none has gone before? I’m no researcher, but I think it unlikely that logs such as these have been published in the past. Ms Holman wrote that “when they call the White House the ‘people’s house,’ they just mean some of the people.” Since she knew her demand was unprecedented, I label the remark a sucker-punch, invalid in civilized debate.