Notes on Dick

Two big stories on a truly despicable figure, both must-reads:

Newsweek: Michael Isikoff is reporting this: "The role of Vice President Dick Cheney in the criminal case stemming from the outing of White House critic Joseph Wilson's CIA wife is likely to get fresh attention as a result of newly disclosed notes showing that Cheney personally asked whether Wilson had been sent by his wife on a 'junket' to Africa."

Is this bad for Scooter Libby? Perhaps. Does it indicate that Cheney may have been behind the "outing" of Valerie Plame? Yes.

The New York Times: "In the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, Vice President Dick Cheney and his top legal adviser argued that the National Security Agency should intercept purely domestic telephone calls and e-mail messages without warrants in the hunt for terrorists, according to two senior intelligence officials."

Does it surprise anyone that Cheney "took an aggressive view of what was permissible under the Constitution"? It shouldn't. This is pure Dick. Simply put, he has promoted an illegal program to spy on Americans within the context of a broad expansion of executive power.

Welcome again to Cheney's America. Check your rights at the door.