Hannah+I.

Hannah Irvin Mr. Fryberger Civics October 11, 2011 Power Hungry Every nation has a basic framework, a basic set of rules, a way to govern themselves. In the United states, it is our constitution that is our framework. One of the major points in the constitution is to have an equal balance of power between all three branches of government. In 2001 when Dick Cheney became Vice President, that framework became bent. Cheney tried for decades to get the executive power to have almost unlimited power. After watching the documentary, //Cheney’s law,// it is clear he almost succeeded. Cheney has always been a man that likes secrecy. Since the beginning of his career in politics he has been a very “behind closed doors” sort of man. He thought that the president should have unlimited power and shouldn’t have to be checked by congress or the constitution. He worked for many years to achieve this. Eventually he teamed up with lawyer, David Addington, to help him fight this case. With these two together, they were definitely a force to be reckoned with. This was mostly a losing battle for them until 9/11 happened. That was the exact leverage Cheney and Addington needed to give President George W. Bush the unlimited wartime power that they thought he deserved. To give him this power a group in the government call the OLC, Office of Legal Counsel, was formed basically to act as a mini supreme court. John Yoo acted as the presidents “yes man” and passed whatever needed passed to give the president unlimited power. During this time, many controversial laws and acts were passed by the OLC. In one instance American citizens were held as detainees with no lawyer just because the president said so. The president and Cheney wanted to do the same with many Iraqi citizens but they were protected under the Geneva convention which prohibited interrogations and torture. But by far the most troubling of all laws passed was that of the “Crowned Jewel.” This gave the government to spy on American citizens without bar, without warrant. This act went on for two years and it was reviewed every couple months to be re approved. Cheney’s power hunger became so great that even then man who normally signs this bill off as constitutional said that is was not. By do this, congress was limiting the presidents power and it became a standoff between the executive branch and congress. The President started using signing statements, which basically said that the president doesn’t have to listen to what the president says because he thinks that congresses actions are unconstitutional. Thus coming back to the frame work of America which was mentioned earlier. By the end of all this scandal and ridiculous behavior by the government, president Bush and Cheney had a rather low approval rate. After watching this documentary, it can easily be applied when studying the constitution. In terms of the American detainees and the interrogation, torture, wiretapping and spying without congressional approval or judicial review, this violates the 14th amendment.