In a piece entitled (appropriately enough) "Answering to No One" in Sunday's Washington Post, former Vice President Walter Mondale discusses the evolution of the office of the Vice President
from the backwater of American politics to the second most powerful position in our government.
According to Mr. Mondale, most of the changes that have come about, regardless of the party in power, have been positive ones. That is,
until now. Under George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, it has gone seriously off track.
I highly recommend you go read the whole thing now, if you haven't already.
In response to the Post's series on Cheney last month, Mr. Mondale gives us a look at what the relationship between the president and the vice president should be. No puppet-mastering, no hidden agendas, just an open exchange of ideas and opinions with the best interests of the country at heart.
I can't possibly do justice to the piece without violating fair use (or boring the reader to tears), but I want to share a couple of bits that really struck home.
Mr. Mondale describes Cheney as having "a near total" aversion to accountability. He has the most shocking contempt for Congress, especially as a former member of that august body. He has engaged in a "stupefying" use of executive privilege to keep Congress in the dark. He has complete disregard for Congress as an equal and legitimate branch of government, not to mention caring less than nothing about what the American people might think.
Of course, it isn't exactly earth-shattering news that ol' Fourth Branch has gone way beyond the pale as veep, but I thought Mr. Mondale was quite correct in also pointing out that
[w]hatever authority a vice president has is derived from the president under whom he serves. There are no powers inherent in the office; they must be delegated by the president. Somehow, not only has Cheney been given vast authority by President Bush -- including, apparently, the entire intelligence portfolio -- but he also pursues his own agenda. The real question is why the president allows this to happen.
This is the point that must be made, over and over again: Whatever Cheney has been up to, Bush has let him do it. I've heard all the arguments about Cheney pushing Bush around, and maybe that's the case. But as Bush has so famously reminded us, he's the Decider and the Commander Guy.
Mr. Mondale reminds us of what we lived through during Watergate, when another Republican administration exceeded its constitutional authority, lied to us, and kept secret from us things we had the right to know. Even though we've tried to learn a few lessons from that nightmare (at least some of us, anyway),
here we are again.
His final shot is priceless and made me want to cheer:
Since the Carter administration left office, we have been criticized for many things. Yet I remain enormously proud of what we did in those four years, especially that we told the truth, obeyed the law and kept the peace.
Thanks, Mr. Mondale, for the essay and for your service. Would that our current vice president were half the American you are.