Cheney Branch Abolished?

Well, it seems there’s an update to the post I published on Tuesday, turns out Dick Cheney does think he is part of the executive branch. Hopefully, no students had to take a test similar to the one I took in the past few days, as it really would have been quite confusing whether there are 3 or 4 branches to the US government.

Here’s a video [thinkprogress.org] of Dick Cheney stating “It’s really a function of the last 50 years or so that the vice president’s become an important part of the executive branch.” So, is he or is he not a part of the executive branch? Or is Dick Cheney some sort of quantum field, where he can simultaneously be part of and not be part of the executive branch?

At least the Democrats have their best flip-flopper, Senator Kerry, on the case:

“Claiming to be party to neither the legislative branch nor the executive branch only serves to evade a standing executive order and bring secrecy to the Office of the Vice President….In the interest of transparency I request the reasoning behind any claims that the Office of the Vice President does not fall under the executive branch. Additionally, given that the Office of the Vice President has not been issuing reports or allowing inspectors to verify any safeguards, I would like to know what steps the Office is taking to protect classified information. This is our nation’s most sensitive information and it is critical that it is kept protected which is why the Archives does this oversight. ”

[from letter to David Addington, the Chief of Staff for the Office of the Vice President]

Once and for all, are there three or four branches to the US government? Perhaps they should add this question to the subpoena into warrant-less surveillance on Americans, recently announced. Will Cheney cede defeat on this matter to the US Constitution, or will he continue using quantum politics as he sees fit?