Cheney: It's All Politics

Speaking at the annual CPAC meeting on Thursday night, VP Dick Cheney suggested that Republicans should use the controversial (to put it nicely) NSA wiretap program as an election issue in the fall campaign. After stating that the debate over the program "has clarified where all stand," Cheney remarked "And with an important election coming up, people need to know just how we view the most critical questions of national security, and how we propose to defend the nation that all of us, Republicans and Democrats, love and are privileged to serve."

Alright Mr. Cheney, you got it. Some of us propose to defend the nation through the rule of law, others of us choose to work around the law when it doesn't work just the way we want it to (instead of requesting changes from Congress). Some of us believe that the executive branch should have certain checks on its power - yes, even in wartime; others of us, well, notsomuch.

Republicans and Democrats alike (and a growing number of the former, I will add) have made public serious concerns they have with the wiretap program, and a number of proposals are being floated to solve the problem (whether by tweaking FISA or some other method). This is not a political issue at hand here, this is a constitutional issue, and as for me, if I were forced to choose between coequal branches or a more powerful executive, I'll take the former every day of the week.