posted by Damozel |
Greg Djerejian of The Belgravia Dispatch "excerpt[s] generously" from a subscription-only article by Bruce Fein ("a real conservative") at FT.com The following is Djerejian quoting Fein:
Mr Cheney’s imperial vice-presidency has trampled the conservative constitutional philosophy of the Founding Fathers. He has used the law to evade checks and balances...
The constitution entrusts the vice-president with a single puny chore: to preside over the Senate, without a vote except to break ties. Occupants of the vice-presidency have bewailed its insignificance. Their typical tasks have been handing out blankets after earthquakes and attending state funerals. Presidents have been characteristically jealous of their constitutional turf.
Mr Bush is a monumental exception. He entered politics not because of philosophical conviction or even a raw desire for power, but for a lack of anything better to do. His policies fluctuate like a human weather vane. Mr Bush eagerly agreed to Mr Cheney’s tacit demand that the lion’s share of the presidency be outsourced to the vice-president’s office. Unlike Mr Bush, Mr Cheney craves unchecked power....(Djerejian Sane Conservatives: They Still Exist (quoting Bruce Fein, How the judges are checking emperor Cheney (FT.com)