tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360814020056871156.post7029673734164958443..comments2024-03-03T13:55:46.243-08:00Comments on Ambling Along the Aqueduct: US VP No Longer a Part of the US Government?Timmi Duchamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00673465487533328661noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360814020056871156.post-48440531472002143322007-06-25T11:32:00.000-07:002007-06-25T11:32:00.000-07:00Just a comment of interest - It seems that VP's ha...Just a comment of interest - It seems that VP's have always attempted to deal with how much thumb-twaddling their job requires. As early as 1789, VP John Adams bickered that his job placed him in a sort of political limbo between the primary executive, President George Washington, and the legislature. He felt entirely useless, and even though the VP was supposed to be "higher" or more "prestigious" than other governmental positions, he would have gladly "lowered" himself to do something worthwhile. <BR/><BR/>It seems reasonable to suspect VP's in the 20th and 21st feel the same way. Perhaps even moreso. When I follow presidential elections on the tv, in the newspapers, on the radio, with my friends and coworkers, I get the impression that the VP is only chosen by a party for campaign purposes. They choose the guy who looks the best, speaks most like the President, and basically, the guy that bends over whenever the President asks him to. <BR/><BR/>I might even feel a little sympathy for Cheney (notice I just said a "little" - you know what, let me rephrase that: "Very Little"). But anyway, in a period in American history where President George W Bush initiated war with Afghanistan and then Iraq under pretenses of "emergency Presidential peace-keeping powers" and later the unprecedented Patriot Act, Cheney's unwillingness to cooperate with the executive branch, as if he is a part of some other "branch," seems out of line, unprecedented, but nonetheless expected. <BR/><BR/>Maybe the only half-brained answer I can offer to your inquiry is two-fold: 1) No one knows where the VP and his job lies within what we are quick to call a "three-branch" system of government; 2) Maybe Cheney's taking full advantage of what seems to be a crowded bandwagon of politicians experimenting with new means of power, based on broadly interpreted consitutional identities.Lukehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02653931479433777284noreply@blogger.com