>>Metin certainly has his POV but I think it's useful for us to be reminded how we are viewed abroad these days. Our self-image as beacon of democracy and envy of the world is pretty out of date.
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>>This does not have to be permanent and I don't think it will be. Getting rid of the knuckleheads in the White House who have "led" us to such global esteem will be a terrific first step.
>
>You mean, like this guy, aka The Fourth Branch?


IMO Cheney's latest maneuver is almost beyond satire. He continues to refuse to turn over documents he is required by law to turn over, on the imaginative grounds that he is not part of the executive branch. He says that as President of the Senate he is part of the legislative branch. (That would be the same legislature he has spent 6 1/2 years trying to eviscerate). The Senate has now subpeanaed the documents, the White House has signaled they will continue to ignore the requests, and it looks like it will wind up in court.

I see David Addington's name in the article. In her column the other day Maureen Dowd referred to him as "Cheney's Cheney."