The Democrats running for president have the wrong idea. While it's almost certain one of them will be elected, the office of president is no longer the most powerful position in the country.
If power is what they want, they should be running for vice-president. Dick Cheney, the closest thing to a dictator the U.S. has ever had, has set precedents that will be hard for his successor to undo.
Now he's declared the office of the VP is not part of the executive branch. Which makes it, I guess, some sort of extra-constitutional entity. I mean, I don't remember the article that talks about the fourth branch of government—unless Madison wrote it in secret ink. The vice-president can now operate entirely outside the laws of the U.S. government, including the constitution itself!
That clever Dick Cheney. He's made it so easy for the next democratically elected, and Democratic, vice-president to rule as he or she sees fit, without pesky oversight from the other, more constitutional, branches of government.
Maybe Bill Richardson, who reportedly has claimed he's actually running for the VP position, has the right idea. I could see the patrons of the South Valley staffing the OVP, refusing to allow anyone access to their chile-stained archives.
Uh oh. Careful what you wish for.
