Couldn't agree more. Cheney should be stopped from shredding. Any idea how? After all, the guy thinks he is the law.

First of all, he's undoubtedly been shredding as fast as he can for years already.

Second, the man is a danger to democracy, and an embarrassment to the nation.

Third, destruction of public records should, in his case, be punishable by a ten year jail sentence.

"fool me once...fool me twice, you just can't do that."

Actually, we know goddamned well how our government was systematically perverted: Republicans decided power is more fun than responsibility, Democrats decided forfeiting is more fun than fighting, the press decided that it's not their job to report news/facts/analysis untainted by conservative bullshit, lawyers decided that laws can mean whatever enough people with power want them to (coughBushvGorecough) (coughFederalistSocietycough) (coughUSA-DOJ-attorney-scandalcough), businessmen decided that there is honor among thieves (or at least a decent non-aggression pact), and voters decided they didn't care enough to do anything substantial in response to any of the above corruptions.

The thing to do with Cheney -- as it is for Bush, Rove, and the rest of that movement -- is to assume the worst, blame them loudly for it and repeatedly regardless of what they say in their defense, and, to paraphrase LBJ, make the sonsabitches deny it. (Hell, half the fucking time, they're already bragging about it, like that Cheney interview.)

Because to paraphrase another insightful historical figure, nobody's ever gone broke overestimating the corruption of the Bush-Cheney Administration. (Yeah, I realize that's channeling both P.T. Barnum and Brad DeLong, for his "They're worse than you think, even after you take into account that they're worse than you think" principle.)

I believe Cheney gave his general opinion loudly and clearly to Senator Leahy many years ago.

Why would anyone think he would respect anyone beyond himself?

It is to laugh.

I was looking at the website worldfocus.org about the Madoff scheme.

One of the posters had a very valid point -
he said, that yes, the Madoff was a ponzi scheme

Yet, he said the mortgage crisis was also a ponzi scheme-
I agree, because, the mortgages were stripped and sold off as investments.

I remember one lady was being foreclosed on, when she demanded the mortgage company produce the promissary note, they couldn't, they didn't know who had it.

He also said that the central banks was the biggest pyramid scheme of all.

The poster name is Tucci.

All agog to find that Cardinal Richelieu wants to keep his machinations secret.

At some time it should dawn on people that Cheney considers himself above and beyond all the petty demands ordinary humans must accept.

Somewhere in the dark---because darkness, after all, is cheap; he probably likes it, and there's no Ghosts of Hell big-n-bad enough to make him see the error of his ways---Dick Cheney is saying to the world, thus:

You can have my shredder when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

Cheney is America's Saddam Hussein. He will neither repent nor recant; he now openly boasts of his crimes with willful glee, knowing that he will be elevated to the status of a deity by future generations of thugs. Putting a gun to his head and pulling the trigger won't inflict a bit of remorse from him, because all he cares about is the legacy he has left behind---a scar that, in his own mind, is both permanent and worthy of worship.

The key to "getting" Cheney is to make known to him, in no uncertain terms, that the monument he bequeaths to the world can, indeed, be brought down. He can be cremated and find his ashes scattered in a nameless place, so that no one may pay homage to him. No monuments to his earthly specter. No biographies glorifying his deeds. No libraries in his honor. No think tanks bearing his name. No scholarships to conservative institutions.

Nothing.

And then---when you see the horrific glimmer of absolute fear creep into his eyes, as he realizes, once and for all, that he will leave the bounds of mortality with no hope of immortality----

----that's when the trapdoor should spring, allowing the noose to render upon his neck the final arbitration of Justice served.

No media. No phone cameras. No YouTube records of the event. Just complete anonymity in the darkness---because darkness is cheap---and when the new day dawns, life is again pursued, just like nothing ever happened.

This is how you destroy Dick Cheney....

I can't imageine a clearer case of obstruction of justice.

He will shred his records.

He will not go to jail.

He will not suffer any kind of official rebuke.

It's nice that Obama is going to be president, but with this kind of precedent, democracy is dead in the US.

Cheney is not personally doing the shredding, and his lackeys no doubt feed off his bravado but hope for life after Dick. The judge needs to tell them that they are going to jail too.

Cheney will shred his records and Cheney will face no kind of sanction whatsoever. Nobody will be prosecuted for war crimes. In this country, the rich and powerful are never held accountable. This is not going to change with the presidency of Obama. There is no change you can believe in.

To be fair, the status quo would have maintained under Clinton or McCain, as well.

Who cares if he shreds the hard copies? Seize the computers; seize the network; start forensic work as quickly as possible.

They might not be as good at destroying data as at shredding documents; if so we might luck out.

If the Vice President does it, it's not illegal.

"If the Vice President does it, it's not illegal."

Unless, of course, the VP is a Democrat.

Come on guys! This is the age of post-partisanship. We need to embrace people with diverse views. We may disagree with a public official or even find his acts morally repulsive, but it does not mean that we should not sit down and hug him. None of this punishment for crimes and other illegal acts. We have to look past our anger.

There isn't a shredder big enough for Cheney's wrongdoings.

Dick Cheney - the Greatest American Traitor.

My thoughts and prayers, as I am sure are Hilzoy's, are with the Vice President as he tries to execute the duties of his office.

TcinLA--If Obama does nothing to hold Bush?Cheney and their henchmen accountable for their many crimes-will you consider him a traitor to this country and the oath he has taken, and will take again, to defend the constitution of this country?

Helena Montana:

Cheney will shred his records and Cheney will face no kind of sanction whatsoever. Nobody will be prosecuted for war crimes. In this country, the rich and powerful are never held accountable. This is not going to change with the presidency of Obama. There is no change you can believe in.

I hope you are wrong but fear that you are right. To expect bravery from a Democrat is to be delusional.

So, when the IRS comes to call, I may just tell them that I have no records of my reasons for owing no taxes, and walk away? Great. Thank you, Little Dick.

Of course, if the records have been shredded in contempt of a court order, the court is legally required to put the most negative possible construction on that. So legally speaking, shredding the records would be equivalent to an statement by Cheney and his staff that they knowingly broke the law, and did so in their personal capacities rather than as part of their official duties.

Fitzgerald, US Atty of Choice, should just go ahead and seize that safe in Addington's office. That ought to do it.

As an alternative, Obama should put volunteers on Addington's door 24/7/365. And follow anything that is carried out of there to Addington or anyone else's home. It's all there, in the safe in Addington's office.

"I remember one lady was being foreclosed on, when she demanded the mortgage company produce the promissary note, they couldn't, they didn't know who had it."

There it is.

Plain as day.

The solution to the "mortgage crisis." PRODUCE the NOTE.

Spread it along.

PRODUCE THE NOTE.

"Come on guys! This is the age of post-partisanship. We need to embrace people with diverse views. We may disagree with a public official or even find his acts morally repulsive, but it does not mean that we should not sit down and hug him. None of this punishment for crimes and other illegal acts. We have to look past our anger."

LOL, thank you. It is SO true. But it may yet work out, the the "reconciliation" committees in Ruwanda.

"So, when the IRS comes to call, I may just tell them that I have no records of my reasons for owing no taxes, and walk away? Great. Thank you, Little Dick."

Sorry, but the IRS will have records. W4s, 1099s, bank records, etc.

Money is traced. The VP, not so much.

SEIZE THE SAFE. It's all in Addington's Office. Let no one in. Do not let the safe go out.