NationStates Jolt Archive

So again with the shell game. One hand, then the other.
So it would appear that the "puppeteer" jokes are going to take on a new hue. Admittedly this wouldn't have come up if it weren't for Libby. How sagacious :rolleyes:

http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york200602160841.asp

February 16, 2006, 8:41 a.m.
The Little-Noticed Order That Gave Dick Cheney New Power
Have you ever heard of Executive Order 13292?



In addition to discussing his hunting accident, Vice President Dick Cheney, in his interview on the Fox News Channel Wednesday, also pointed to a little-known but enormously consequential expansion of vice-presidential power that has come about as a result of the Bush administration's war on terror.

Near the end of the interview, Fox anchor Brit Hume brought up a controversy arising from the CIA-leak case, in which prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said in court papers that former top Cheney aide Lewis Libby testified he had been authorized "by his superiors" to disclose information about the classified National Intelligence Estimate to members of the press. "Is it your view that a Vice President has the authority to declassify information?" Hume asked.

"There is an executive order to that effect," Cheney said.

"There is?"

"Yes."

"Have you done it?"

"Well, I've certainly advocated declassification and participated in declassification decisions. The executive order — "

"You ever done it unilaterally?"

"I don't want to get into that. There is an executive order that specifies who has classification authority, and obviously focuses first and foremost on the President, but also includes the Vice President."

Cheney was referring to Executive Order 13292, issued by President Bush on March 25, 2003, which dealt with the handling of classified material. That order was not an entirely new document but was, instead, an amendment to an earlier Executive Order, number 12958, issued by President Bill Clinton on April 17, 1995.

At the time, Bush's order received very little coverage in the press. What mention there was focused on the order's provisions making it easier for the government to keep classified documents under wraps. But as Cheney pointed out Wednesday, the Bush order also contained a number of provisions which significantly increased the vice president's power.

Throughout Executive Order 13292, there are changes to the original Clinton order which, in effect, give the vice president the power of the president in dealing with classified material. In the original Clinton executive order, for example, there appeared the following passage:

Classification Authority.
(a) The authority to classify information originally may be exercised only by:
(1) the President;
(2) agency heads and officials designated by the President in the Federal Register...

In the Bush order, that section was changed to this (emphasis added):

Classification Authority.
(a) The authority to classify information originally may be exercised only by:
(1) the President and, in the performance of executive duties, the Vice President;
(2) agency heads and officials designated by the President in the Federal Register...

In another part of the original Clinton order, there was a segment dealing with who was authorized to delegate the authority to classify material. In the Clinton order, the passage read:

(2) "Top Secret" original classification authority may be delegated only by the President or by an agency head or official designated...
(3) "Secret" or "Confidential" original classification authority may be delegated only by the President; an agency head or official designated...

In the Bush order, that segment was changed to read (emphasis added):

(2) "Top Secret" original classification authority may be delegated only by the President; in the performance of executive duties, the Vice President; or an agency head or official designated...
(3) "Secret" or "Confidential" original classification authority may be delegated only by the President; in the performance of executive duties, the Vice President; or an agency head or official designated...

Both executive orders contained extension sections defining the terms used in the order. One of those terms was "original classification authority," that is, who in the government has the power to classify documents. In the Clinton order, the definition read:

"Original classification authority" means an individual authorized in writing, either by the President, or by agency heads or other officials designated by the President...

In the Bush executive order, the definition was changed to read (emphasis added):

"Original classification authority" means an individual authorized in writing, either by the President, the Vice President in the performance of executive duties, or by agency heads or other officials designated by the President...

In the last several years, there has been much talk about the powerful role Dick Cheney plays in the Bush White House. Some of that talk has been based on anecdotal evidence, and some on entirely fanciful speculation. But Executive Order 13292 is real evidence of real power in the vice president's office. Since the beginning of the administration, Dick Cheney has favored measures allowing the executive branch to keep more things secret. And in March of 2003, the president gave him the authority to do it.

---------

Grrrr.
Here's more on the topic ...

http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m20699&l=i&size=1&hd=0

http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/nw_local/article/0,2564,ALBQ_19858_4472162,00.html

http://mediachannel.org/blog/node/3329

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/15/AR2006021502413.html

Apparently there's a lot in a name!
Seriously, i didn't see any other threads about this, and it's kind of important.

I don't imagine you'll get much interest in this thread, Straughn, because it deals with complexities about executive orders that most people, frankly, don;t understand and aren't interested in. It's like baseball sabremetrics in that way--if you're not obsessed with the game, then it's all a lot of meaningless stats.

I don't imagine you'll get much interest in this thread, Straughn, because it deals with complexities about executive orders that most people, frankly, don;t understand and aren't interested in. It's like baseball sabremetrics in that way--if you're not obsessed with the game, then it's all a lot of meaningless stats.
That's a pretty good analogy. *nods*
You're right though ... i should've included *SEX* in the title, that always seems to work!

And btw, thanks for sportin' my posts. Not just this one. *bows*

I don't imagine you'll get much interest in this thread, Straughn, because it deals with complexities about executive orders that most people, frankly, don;t understand and aren't interested in. It's like baseball sabremetrics in that way--if you're not obsessed with the game, then it's all a lot of meaningless stats.

Well, doesn't it basically add up to the fact that GW has delegated some of his authority to the VPs office. And the next pres can alter that with the stroke of a pen?

Everyone knew that Cheney was running a lot of stuff anyway. Like the energy dealy.

I don't imagine you'll get much interest in this thread, Straughn, because it deals with complexities about executive orders that most people, frankly, don;t understand and aren't interested in. It's like baseball sabremetrics in that way--if you're not obsessed with the game, then it's all a lot of meaningless stats.
Hmmm...we should have a thread on sabremetrics. We could discuss which fantasy players are poised for break-out or bounce-back years (due to reversion to the mean in BABIP or LD%), what guys are overrated by fantasy baseball (i.e. High BA/SLG but low OBP players), and why OBP is worth as much as 3x as SLG, thereby making OPS a lackluster stat. Hey, better yet let's talk about GB/FB ratios and their correlation to DER, and thereby to FIP!

Hmmm...we should have a thread on sabremetrics. We could discuss which fantasy players are poised for break-out or bounce-back years (due to reversion to the mean in BABIP or LD%), what guys are overrated by fantasy baseball (i.e. High BA/SLG but low OBP players), and why OBP is worth as much as 3x as SLG, thereby making OPS a lackluster stat. Hey, better yet let's talk about GB/FB ratios and their correlation to DER, and thereby to FIP!How about let's not and say we did. :D

I'm the kind of baseball fan who likes to show up and just watch the game, eat a hot dog or two (or Gilroy Garlic Fries--God, I miss San Francisco sometimes) and cheer the good plays.

Everyone knew that Cheney was running a lot of stuff anyway. Like the energy dealy.
So it would appear that the "puppeteer" jokes are going to take on a new hue.
Another way for the consistently less competent of the two to make obvious the truer natue of the relationship .... indeed.
As per that unresolved "energy dealy" ....

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-exxon31jan31,0,5345162.story?coll=la-home-business
------
I actually know a few people who apparently are *finally* getting somewhere on that Exxon Valdez issue.

It took
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060131/BIZ/601310382/1001
to bring that up to obviousness ... *grrr*

Hmmm...we should have a thread on sabremetrics. We could discuss which fantasy players are poised for break-out or bounce-back years (due to reversion to the mean in BABIP or LD%), what guys are overrated by fantasy baseball (i.e. High BA/SLG but low OBP players), and why OBP is worth as much as 3x as SLG, thereby making OPS a lackluster stat. Hey, better yet let's talk about GB/FB ratios and their correlation to DER, and thereby to FIP!
Ah, post 6, and already with the pennies on the track. ;)

I never thought Id say this about a decision made by the Bush administration, but here it goes. I really dont have a problem with this :eek: I actually said it!

The fact that the president has been granted more power to delegate responsabilities to the vice president is a good thing. As anyone who has ever been in charge of a group of people knows, delegation is one of, if not the most important functions of a leader or manager. You cant physically be in three places at once, but you can get things done in three different places at once if you have delegated two or all three of those responsabilities. Delegation is a great thing and I have no problem with the fact that the president put his ability to delegate decisions on this matter to the vice president down on paper.

I never thought Id say this about a decision made by the Bush administration, but here it goes. I really dont have a problem with this :eek: I actually said it!

The fact that the president has been granted more power to delegate responsabilities to the vice president is a good thing. As anyone who has ever been in charge of a group of people knows, delegation is one of, if not the most important functions of a leader or manager. You cant physically be in three places at once, but you can get things done in three different places at once if you have delegated two or all three of those responsabilities. Delegation is a great thing and I have no problem with the fact that the president put his ability to delegate decisions on this matter to the vice president down on paper.
Well. my response (in light of the nature of your post) is something like this ...
best to leave the tough jobs to the more qualified.
*nods*
(not a comment on you PERSONALLY.)

Another way for the consistently less competent of the two to make obvious the truer natue of the relationship .... indeed.
As per that unresolved "energy dealy" ....

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-exxon31jan31,0,5345162.story?coll=la-home-business
------
I actually know a few people who apparently are *finally* getting somewhere on that Exxon Valdez issue.

It took
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060131/BIZ/601310382/1001
to bring that up to obviousness ... *grrr*

Well I call it a "dealy" because it doesn't merit policy or plan. It's fairly clear at this point that the oil companies wanted a man in the executive branch, and they got it. (And it ain't george bush).

Frankly though, I think the media always misses the big picture. You can bitch about oil company profits, but they are american companies, so in a time of percieved declining american industrial strength it doesn't resonate all that well. What the media should be talking about is that of the record trade deficit this country has, about 1/3 + are energy imports, far more than the bi-lateral deficit with china. Especially as the china problem will eventually resolve itself, and the energy gap is only going to increase.

Well I call it a "dealy" because it doesn't merit policy or plan. It's fairly clear at this point that the oil companies wanted a man in the executive branch, and they got it. (And it ain't george bush).

Frankly though, I think the media always misses the big picture. You can bitch about oil company profits, but they are american companies, so in a time of percieved declining american industrial strength it doesn't resonate all that well. What the media should be talking about is that of the record trade deficit this country has, about 1/3 + are energy imports, far more than the bi-lateral deficit with china. Especially as the china problem will eventually resolve itself, and the energy gap is only going to increase.
Good point. *nods*

You know this makes Bush out to be even more a figurehead than he was before. *nods*
Legacy, alright .... :(