Bush the Gambler

Ifill later followed up: "Governor, you mentioned a moment ago the constitution might give the vice president more power than it has in the past. Do you believe as Vice President Cheney does, that the Executive Branch does not hold complete sway over the office of the vice presidency, that it is also a member of the Legislative Branch?"

Ruth Marcus blogged for washingtonpost.com: "Only the complete quote can capture the full extent of her floundering."

So here's the entire response: "Well, our founding fathers were very wise there in allowing through the Constitution much flexibility there in the office of the vice president. And we will do what is best for the American people in tapping into that position and ushering in an agenda that is supportive and cooperative with the president's agenda in that position. Yeah, so I do agree with him that we have a lot of flexibility in there, and we'll do what we have to do to administer very appropriately the plans that are needed for this nation. And it is my executive experience that is partly to be attributed to my pick as V.P. with McCain, not only as a governor, but earlier on as a mayor, as an oil and gas regulator, as a business owner. It is those years of experience on an executive level that will be put to good use in the White House also."

But beneath the floundering lay a pretty clear admiration of Cheney's views.

The New York Times editorial board writes: "It is hard to tell from Ms. Palin's remarks whether she understands how profoundly Dick Cheney has reshaped the vice presidency -- as part of a larger drive to free the executive branch from all checks and balances. Nor did she seem to understand how much damage that has done to American democracy."

Satyam Khanna reports for thinkprogres.org: "Interviewed on CNN[Sunday], the Washington Post's Barton Gellman, author of a new biography of Cheney's vice presidency, said that the idea of 'flexibility' for the VP is a signature Cheney idea:

"GELLMAN: Well, it sounded like Dick Cheney could have written that description. The idea of 'flexibility' on the one hand and 'do what we have to do,' those are two of the watch words of a man who believes in executive supremacy and believes that other branches of government and the public actually cannot restrict the executive. . . .

"BLITZER: What I hear you saying, if she were vice president she would, you see Dick Cheney as a role model, is that what you are saying?

"GELLMAN: Yeah. Well, what you aspire to do and what you can do are two different things. It came from a relationship with the very specific president and came from his own enormous experience and skill."

Blogger Marcy Wheeler writes: "Dick Cheney has succeeded because he is a master of bureaucracy. He knows how to manipulate the machines of our government at every level--and does so with consummate skill.

"Palin, by contrast, can't even manage to pull off personal vendettas in Alaska's small government without leaving blood and tracks in the snow revealing her work. Sure, she's got Cheney's instinct for punishing disloyalty. But aside from that, she's got none of Cheney's skill."

The Rochester, N.Y., Democrat and Chronicle editorial board writes that "as Palin's Democratic opponent Joe Biden accurately said, Cheney has been perhaps the most dangerous vice president in American history.

"He was an architect of the Iraq invasion and the bloody mess that followed. He fought against diplomacy and in favor of unilateral action, attitudes that have damaged America's posture abroad. He has been a power behind the throne of George Bush, and he has done so without a shred of accountability. He's fought attempts by Congress to bring him to account, to question his war role, to have him turn over public records, to behave, in short, as a public servant.

"No one wishing to be vice president should seek to emulate Cheney. Indeed, as the Bush administration winds down, it's important that the National Archives, Congress and the American people demand a full accounting of the Cheney influence on the Bush presidency."

And speaking of the public record, the Los Angeles Times editorial board writes: "In three months, the Bush-Cheney administration will be history. Scholars who want to study that history won an important victory last month when a federal judge ordered Vice President Dick Cheney's office and the National Archives to preserve all of Cheney's official papers pending the outcome of a lawsuit brought by a citizens' group and individual historians and archivists. . . .

"Given this vice president's penchant for secrecy, the judge was wise not to take at face value the assurance that Cheney and the National Archives would safeguard documents that might later be ruled to be the property of the American people. We hope that her injunction is only the first step in securing access for future historians to the records of perhaps the most powerful vice president in history."

Or is Palin the New Bush?

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann suggests that Palin's folksy, outside-the-Beltway style seems familiar.

Bush's Judicial Appointments

Dan Horn writes in the Cincinnati Enquirer: "President Bush visits Cincinnati on Monday to discuss what he hopes will be one of his most enduring legacies: the judges he's appointed to the federal courts.

"The focus this election year is on the president's handling of the economy, the Iraq war and homeland security, but conservatives and liberals agree the president's judicial appointments could help shape American society for years and even decades.

"Bush has appointed 326 judges - more than one-third of the federal judiciary - and most share his conservative philosophy on issues ranging from abortion to the death penalty to affirmative action.

"'His judicial appointments have drastically changed the legal landscape,' said Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, a Republican and outspoken advocate for conservative judges. 'It may be his greatest legacy.'"

Robert Barnes writes in The Washington Post: "There were not many conspicuous tributes to the legacy of President Bush at last month's Republican National Convention, but there was at least one.

"It was a campaign button with the words 'Thanks, W' across the top and photos of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. beneath the letters.

"Conservative legal activists view the two men as remarkable successes in Bush's quest to move the court to the right."

Patrick Healy writes in the New York Times that Bush's remarks are "likely to draw at least an implicit contrast between Mr. Obama and the Republican candidate, Senator John McCain."

Justice Watch

The Washington Post editorial board writes: "Buried in a lengthy report about the firing of nine U.S. attorneys is the disturbing explanation of how the White House blocked Justice Department investigators from obtaining pertinent documents. . . .

"Nora R. Dannehy, the acting U.S. attorney in Connecticut, who was recently appointed special prosecutor for the matter. Ms. Dannehy comes to her assignment with considerably more legal muscle than the Justice Department investigators have; for one, she has the power to summon current and former administration officials -- a power Justice lawyers did not enjoy. [Karl] Rove and [Harriet] Miers should be at the top of her list. Ms. Dannehy must also be unflinching in her examination of whether current or former administration officials obstructed justice or made false statements."

John Farmer writes in his Newark Star-Ledger opinion column that "what the Bush White House did, if the report is on the mark, amounts to a presidential coverup."

Farmer sees Rove's fingerprints all over the ouster of one U.S. attorney in particular, David Iglesias of New Mexico.

"It was to Rove that a Republican New Mexico state senator, then involved in a hot election fight, fired off an e-mail complaining about Iglesias' failure to drop the indictment hammer on Democrats.

"Some time later, [Republican Rep. Heather] Wilson took her demands directly to Rove at a White House breakfast, telling him that pressing Iglesias for action against Democrats was 'a waste of breath.' The guy had to go was her message.

"Not to worry, Rove told her. 'That decision has already been made,' Rove assured Wilson, according to published reports at the time. 'He's gone.' And he was. That very same day, in fact.

"But who made the call? Ay, there's the rub. Was it Bush himself? Or did Cheney lower the boom? Maybe Rove had enough juice to do the job himself; he clearly knew in advance that Iglesias' head was about to roll. Alas, we'll probably never know the full story unless Rove mans up and takes the stand himself -- or the Fifth, whichever seems wiser."

For more, see my column from last Monday, Pointing the Finger at the White House.

Quote of the Week

Via Dan Eggen in The Post: "'I think we all know the moment things began to turn around in Iraq: It was when the USO decided to deploy Jessica Simpson.'

"-- President Bush, speaking Wednesday at the United Service Organization World Gala in Washington."

Late Night Humor

Conan O'Brien, via U.S. News: "President Bush signed the Wall Street bailout bill, but he said our economy continues to face serious challenges. Bush said he thought those challenges could be overcome as soon as he leaves office in two months."

Cartoon Watch

A Tom Toles sketch on the perfect ending to eight years, and Walt Handelsman has a winner in his caption contest.