Untouchable

In one of the most unbelievable pieces I have ever read (and I have read books touting the veracity of the alien landing at Roswell), it appears that the office of the Vice President has seceded from the Executive Branch. I'm not even kidding: Vice President Dick Cheney has asserted his office is not a part of the executive branch of the U.S. government, and therefore not bound by a presidential order governing the protection of classified information by government agencies, according to a new letter from Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to Cheney. Bill Leonard, head of the government's Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), told Waxman's staff that Cheney's office has refused to provide his staff with details regarding classified documents or submit to a routine inspection as required by presidential order, according to Waxman. In pointed letters released today by Waxman, ISOO's Leonard twice questioned Cheney's office on its assertion it was exempt from the rules. He received no reply, but the vice president later tried to get rid of Leonard's office entirely, according to Waxman. Now, in all seriousness, the Office of the Vice President is described in Article 1, Section 3 of the Constitution (the Legislative branch), so it is technically possible to claim this. That being the case, however, we must then revisit Cheney's Energy Task Force, where: The Department of Justice has four times appealed federal court rulings that the vice president (Dick Cheney) release task force records. That case, in which Cheney claims his office has executive privilege... Can a legislative office have Executive Privilege? According to this definition, Executive Privilege is limited to the executive branch (duh) - specifically to: resist certain search warrants and other interventions by the legislative and judicial branches of government. So, when it suits him, the Vice President is part of the Executive branch; other times, a part of the Legislative branch. I think this is simply another permutation of the Unitary Executive Theory - in this case the UVET - that allows a single person to operate with impunity in our democracy. Cheney beleives that he is just that much better than the rest of us. UPDATE: Other people share my view on the UET front. Is it possible that this guy still belongs in office?