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The Fourth Branch

If you read my blog regularly you'll know I rarely touch the topic of politics, let alone American politics. However, the most recent Constitutional controversy is just too big a deal to let pass without comment. If your aren't familiar with the "Fourth Branch" fire (ignited by Dick Cheney's most recent attempt to redefine the level accountability of and transparency into his office) I suggest you get up to speed with the clip below where Jon Stewart shared his hilarious interpretation of the story.

 

In my three years since my move the US I have attempted to learn about the people and the ideas behind the foundation of the United States. I'm finding the topic fascinating, naturally comparing and contrasting the resulting political system (a seemingly rapidly evolving one) to that of the UK. I think I've gotten past the "this system is better than that" phase and have learned to accept the US system for what it is. That said, I do miss the US equivalent of a Prime Minister's question time and believe US politics would be much improved if such a regular grilling occured - if nothing else for the entertianment value alone.

As an objective outsider (I try), my observation of the Fourth Branch hiatus (and my witnessing of previous attempts to redefine the Constitution and the power of the Presidential office in the last few years) has led me to believe that Cheney really is a nutcase. A very powerful and very smart nutcase who is set on corrupting the system to increase his freedom to do whatever he chooses while minimizing his accountability to the citizens that put his boss and party in power. The audaciousness of this latest move is stunning.

What Chenney and his party has to keep in mind however is that the changes he's been putting in place will be used against his party by the party that next gets in. And of course it is US citizens that are the ultimate losers in this continued "scope creep" effort as they increasingly lose visibility into workings of the Presidential office (the excecutive branch) and its accountability, which of course he is now denying he is a part of. Wake up America!!!

Posted: Jun 27 2007, 08:23 AM by alexbarnett | with 4 comment(s)
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Comments

Alex said:

Being from the U.S. and an avid Chenny supporter, I think I'm the outsider here. ;)

Over the past 30 years we've seen erosion in Executive authority – consider Nixon-era fallout, and more recently the utter abuse of the Clinton administration by Congress (i.e. impeachment proceedings).  This, combined with increased scrutiny of the Executive branch, and an activist judiciary attempting to legislate, has left the American people with a more impotent and increasingly irrelevant Executive branch (not to mention a less effective Government).  American Citizens have been the real looser in this arrangement.

Chenny’s apparent expansion of Vice Presidential authority – the so-called (quasi) fourth branch - couldn’t come at a better time.  What’s more, I think Chenny has been uniquely positioned to accomplish this.  Consider his personal health situation makes him an unlikely future candidate (i.e. there’s no path-to-the-Presidency for him), and the need created by the 9-11 attacks for an agile executive branch.  Because of this, he has readily become the “trusted advisor” of the President, and is not a power-threat in a material sense (no Clinton-Gore distrust).  

Without getting caught-up on dictatorial or imperial allusion, Chenny is not unlike Agrippa… someone content to play “second-fiddle” to the Executive, act as the Executive in good-faith, and with the legal status to exist outside of the limitations recently being imposed on the Executive branch.  Indeed, I’m excited to see the Vice Presidency becoming relevant, and hope that this role is carried on by the next Vice President – be-it a Democrat or Republican.  Hopefully the result will be that the Executive branch – be it the President or Vice President – regains some of the authority that previously was inherent in our Executive branch.  

# June 27, 2007 11:12 AM

Dan said:

only in America. totally bonkers.

# June 27, 2007 1:27 PM

Gandalfe said:

Kinda sad what the current administration has done to make the US the laughing stock of the world. But then you have to wonder about 'everyone' who voted twice for this administration. It just boggles the mind.

# June 29, 2007 11:00 AM

Kim Reading said:

I think the thing that's really killing us is the partisanship.  I was a pretty hardcore Democratic partisan myself and I was in favor of Clinton getting away with lying.  Now I see Bush doing the same thing and most conservatives seem to be happy about it.  The last 6 years under Bush has just been total crap and arrogance.  I think American politics really has degraded to just total partisan Dems vs Reps garbage.  It's the people in the center, the most reasonable ones, who lose.

# July 4, 2007 11:38 AM