The Dick and The Congress

That former (Vice) President The Dick was contemptuous of the law and the concept of checks and balances in a free country should surprise no one. However, the story in the New York Times that The Dick ordered the CIA not to dislose a secret counterterrorism project with the Democratic and Rethuglican leaders in Congress responsible for intelligence oversight -- as they are required to by law -- is still pretty jaw-dropping. In essence, The Dick and his younger pupil Dumbya were running a quasi-dictatorship, where the Congress was expected only to rubber-stamp decisions made in the White House, and kept in the dark on other decisions. It's clear in this case that whatever The Dick wanted to hide must have been seriously flawed from a Constitutional and legal standpoint.

In the aftermath of the NY Times story, it is likely that the Senate Intelligence Committee will investigate this breach of the law on The Dick's part. No doubt the Rethuglicans will complain dishonestly about undermining the CIA and national security, but the damage their Assministration did to the rule of law and our Constitutional system of checks and balances was far more damaging to America.