Lost In Translation

Glenn Greenwald pretty much knocks this one out of the park, in how Big Time practially itemizes his profound contempt for -- well, basically everything and everyone that might pose any sort of challenge to his authoritah, or that of Le Dauphin. It's a cliché of medieval history, that the regents and viziers are always the worst of the attack dogs.

It is worth reminding ourselves -- as the Vice President just made quite clear again-- that the pathological individuals who occupy the White House do not recognize the power of the law or the power of the courts to limit what they can do. Therefore, the fact that Democrats now control the Congress will be of little concern to them, because the most the Democrats can do is enact little laws or issue cute, little Subpoenas --- but, as the Vice President just said, they think that nothing can "tie the hands of the President of the United States in the conduct of a war." And he means that.

I hope Democrats in Congress recognize that and are prepared to do something about it. This constitutional crisis will exist until it's confronted.

Out of everything we've ever heard and read about the people in this administration, this is perhaps the most under-reported fact about them, in proportion to its vital importance. Cheney has literally made a career, 35+ years in the federal government he detests, of finding a way to consolidate power under a unitary executive. He does not care about checks and balances, as the founding fathers intended. He only cares about being able to do whatever he wants, without any oversight or accountability whatsoever. It really is that simple, and in pretty much any other western democracy -- or hell, even in Ukraine -- there would be daily protests in the streets.