The Cheney gang

When Congress investigated the Iran/Contra scandal twenty-two years ago, the Republican Representative from Wyoming argued that in matters of national security, executives should do as they please--the legislative branch be damned. This radical position, so completely at odds with the system of checks and balances established by the framers, might have been lost to history except for the fact that the Wyoming Congressman would eventually become the most powerful vice president the nation has ever known. It has long been evident to many that Dick Cheney's refusal to "bear true faith and allegiance" to the Constitution did much to define the Bush/Cheney co-presidency. Until recently, however, it seemed unlikely that Cheney and his lieutenants would be held to account or that the proper constitutional balance would be restored. Even after Bush and Cheney left office, Democratic Congressional leaders proved unwilling to tackle Cheney's abuses or the issues raised by them. President Obama, fearing a protracted inquiry, said he wanted to "look forward." But that stance grew difficult to maintain as revelations about deliberate assaults on the rule of law kept coming. After CIA director Leon Panetta informed Congress in late June of an illegal covert program that had been concealed from Congress, news reports outlined how Cheney had ordered the agency to keep the House and Senate intelligence committees in the dark.