NYT: Dick Cheney, Palin's Role Model

Saturday's New York Times runs an editorial hammering Gov. Sarah Palin over her debate comments about expanding the powers of the vice president:

In all the talk about the vice-presidential debate, there was an issue that did not get much attention but kept nagging at us: Sarah Palin's description of the role and the responsibilities of the office for which she is running, vice president of the United States.

In Thursday night's debate, Ms. Palin was asked about the vice president's role in government. She said she agreed with Dick Cheney that "we have a lot of flexibility in there" under the Constitution. And she declared that she was "thankful that the Constitution would allow a bit more authority given to the vice president also, if that vice president so chose to exert it."

It is hard to tell from Ms. Palin's remarks whether she understands how profoundly Dick Cheney has reshaped the vice presidency -- as part of a larger drive to free the executive branch from all checks and balances. Nor did she seem to understand how much damage that has done to American democracy.

Here's the video:

The NYT continues, saying Palin's understanding the vice presidency "frighteningly wrong":

Mr. Cheney has shown what can happen when a vice president -- a position that is easy to lampoon and overlook -- is given free rein by the president and does not care about trampling on the Constitution.

Mr. Cheney has long taken the bizarre view that the lesson of Watergate was that Congress was too powerful and the president not powerful enough. He dedicated himself to expanding President Bush's authority and arrogating to himself executive, legislative and legal powers that are nowhere in the Constitution.

Any president deserves a vice president who will be a sound adviser and trustworthy supporter. But the American people also deserve and need a vice president who understands and respects the balance of power -- and the limits of his or her own power. That is fundamental to our democracy.

So far, Ms. Palin has it exactly, frighteningly wrong.

Comments

[BannedInBoston]

Find moose and squirrel!

[miatamama]

LMAO!!! Funniest comment since Natasha entered the race. Where's Boris????

[VPMooseburger]

cafepress.com/vaginacheney

[DeepTruth2008]

Obama wins upward 350 electoral votes !/!?!?! -if she is invisible-

[DeepTruth2008]

Really who's Sarah Palin??? -Make her invisible-

[DeepTruth2008]

Who's Sarah Palin???

[TaraLav]

She's not nearly as smart or cunning or in-the-know as how best to use Washington as Cheney, but she may be just about as evil as he.

[BannedInBoston]

Well, hey, they both like to shoot g.uns. ("Oops, sorry, thought you were a moose...."­)

[cbeenthere]

or a real person, after a couple of beers or whatever at lunch.

[PumaAnn]

Well, they can hammer away, but she was correct.

[grizhead63]

Visions of mushroom clouds.

[velvetundergroundfan]

And what exactly is Miss South Carolina/ Sarah Palin right about ? That Global Warming doesn't exist ?
That Abortion Rights and Gay Rights should be overturned ? That the Iraq War was a great idea ?

Palin is a far right Religious fundamentalist who believes that the Earth was created 6 thousand years ago and that Evolution is unproven. Her family describe themselves as " rednecks".

Palin's heroes are Dick Cheney and Richard Nixon.

Heaven save us from this malicious woman.

[forebode]

She reminds me of all the bosses I've ever had who were bullies. That's it. She is a bully type. No wonder she was compared with a Pit Bull. They are a bully breed. Lipstick doesn't make it any better. Bullies are basically mean cowards.

[MajorKong]

Well no, actually she's not right. Thanks for playing.

[TheGeicoCaveman]

Watch how McCain and his Barbie lie about not going negative.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60k9IZ1LRC0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZf05ijVFtc&feature=related

[firelord5000]

zzz, Cheney is satan.

[BannedInBoston]

I KNEW I'd seen that sneer somewhere before....

[forebode]

He growls like a beast and uses profanity to tell a Senator where to get off because that Senator disagreed with him.

When Bush and Cheney have to leave their posts this coming January, I hope that so many ill-wishers line the sidewalks that even the Secret Service protecting those creeps feel insecure. They will be outnumbered, that's for sure.

[suntzu]

Only a couple of weeks ago Palin was reported to have asked, what does the vice president do. Now all of sudden she is a constitutional expert on the duties of the vice president. No way in the world is she smart enough to have come up with that on her own. She was coached to say that, clearly to placate the right wing base who want a president of their own choice (Palin) to eventually roll back the constitution and turn this country into a Christian state. That is behind Palin's VP remarks. The right wing is already priming her to run for the presidency in 2012, or assume the office within the next four years.
We cannot let a Palin/McCain ticket to happen, and clearly it will be Palin/McCain presidency because the right wing will control the agenda.

[varekai]

The above picture of Cheney? "Priceless"

[gabbinjane]

Beats the HELL out of AlGore!!!

[Gould123]

Cue cards/still don't uderstand the V.P duty's/ Acts like a cheerleader in "Drill baby Drill"/ Flirts and winks to destract from the fact she didn't ans. most the questions, but avoided them! Some V.P!

[Quaoar]

She's a better shot than Dick and undoubtedly a much safer hunting companion.

[grizhead63]

She's an expert field dresser so jmac probably would not want to go hunting with her.