Cheney: Bush’s actions legal if not impeached

Andrew McLemore
Raw Story
Monday, Jan 5, 2008

If you don’t get punished, you didn’t go anything wrong, right?

That’s the message Vice President Dick Cheney gave in an interview with CBS’ Bob Schieffer on Sunday, suggesting that a president’s actions are legal if those actions didn’t result in his impeachment.

Asked by Schieffer if he believed that anything the president does in time of war is legal, Cheney said there is “historic precedent of taking action that you wouldn’t take in peacetime.”

Cheney referenced Abraham Lincoln as an example of another president who “suspended the writ of habeus corpus” during a war, prompting this exchange:

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SCHIEFFER: But nobody thinks that was legal.

CHENEY: Well, no. It certainly was in the sense he wasn’t impeached. And it was a wartime measure that he took that I think history says today, yeah, that was probably a good thing to do.

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The vice president spent much of the interview defending eight years of the Bush administration’s policies, including its surveillance and interrogation programs.

When Schieffer asked if the Bush administration had gone “too far” in its surveillance program, Cheney said no.

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“I don’t believe we violated anybody’s civil liberties,” he said.

Cheney also urged President-elect Barack Obama to continue the Bush administration’s interrogation policies.

“I would hope [Obama] would avoid doing what others have done in the past, which is letting the campaign rhetoric guide his judgment in this absolutely crucial area,” Cheney said. “We were very careful, we did everything by the book, and in fact we produced very significant results.”

This video is from CBS’ Face the Nation, broadcast Jan. 4, 2008.

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Comment Rules

13 Responses to “Cheney: Bush’s actions legal if not impeached”

1. 1patroit Says:
   January 5th, 2009 at 4:47 pm

   chaney is so scummy puss bag ILLUMINITI LIER PRISON for him real soon

2. C. Says:
   January 5th, 2009 at 6:45 pm

   Obamah should keep the “patriot act” until the end of 12/31/09 just long enough to put the cheney and the bush family where they belong. On a table with a towl over there face while a tax payer funded “private contractor” is covering there face with a bottle water. Then after that incident, ask the quistion if the bush administration programs are justifiable, but don’t tell them why you tortured them LOL treat them as dogs by throwing your shoe at them!!!

3. roaddog Says:
   January 5th, 2009 at 8:20 pm

   Hey dick–Its legal if you don’t get caught, right?

4. Deadsoon Says:
   January 5th, 2009 at 9:10 pm

   Lots of people tried to initiate impeachment. Too bad congress does what the white house tells them to instead of what their constituents want.

5. Brandon Says:
   January 6th, 2009 at 1:55 am

   Israel attacked us on 9-11 so we would fight all over the Middle East on their behalf.

   Dual citizen Israeli / Americans in our Government are more loyal to Israel than to AMERICA.

   GOOGLE : TED OLSEN CALL LIE
   GOOGLE : ODIGO WARNING
   GOOGLE : UNUSUAL EVACUATIONS
   GOOGLE : SILVERSTEIN PULL IT
   GOOGLE : DANCING MOSSAD
   GOOGLE : MEXICO MOSSAD
   GOOGLE : BIN LADEN DENIED 9-11
   GOOGLE : ADAM PEARLMAN ADL
   GOOGLE : CHENEY JONESREPORT
   GOOGLE : NEUTREI KARTA

6. .DJ.O.R.B. Says:
   January 6th, 2009 at 10:50 am

   FCUK THOSE NEO-SCUM MUTHAFUKAZ, BOY BUSH & O”BAAAA”MA BIN LADEN TOO !!

   INFOWARRIORS ? STEP-UP TO THE FRONTLINE, & LET’S COMMENCE OUR INFOWAR !!!

   RETURN POWER 2 THE PEOPLE, RETURNED BY THE PEOPLE, AND 4 THE PEOPLE

   * RON PAUL….4….PRESIDENT *

   * DAVID ICKE….4…..VICE-PRESIDENT *

   * ALEX JONES……..4……SECRETARY-OF-STATE *

   IT’S REVOLUTION TIME FOLKS

7. powerease Says:
   January 6th, 2009 at 4:08 pm

   Question: What is the difference between psychopaths and NWO NeoCons?

   Answer: Nothing

8. t.rex chomps Says:
   January 6th, 2009 at 8:51 pm

   This monster is so vile and disgusting that I have never heard anyone even defend him (it), even other so called republicans. God’s vengeance can’t manifest soon enough.

9. FREE SPEACH! Says:
   January 7th, 2009 at 10:11 am

   PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO ITS FULL OF GREAT INFO, PASS IT ON TO YOUR LOCAL POLICE TOO! GET THE WORD OUT!

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI0KLW7s7WA

10. andrew young Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 1:57 pm

    Hundreds of people die every day and that piece of shit, is still breathing my air. By the book? What book? The bible, the Third Riech, Cia terrorist handbook, didn’t Cheney start burning books in ‘36? Duty to uphold the CONSTITUTION? The very thing the commander in chief referred to as a “goddamn piece of paper!” The devil must be out of tricks, for the world knows, devils do exist. George Washington shot a man on the White House lawn, for treason. Skip the impeachment (remember habeus corpus) fuck due process, hang em’ high,

11. tR Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 8:58 pm

    cheney , bush have violated their oath to office they have commited treason to the highest degree, and they know it. they are lucky all they are looking at is impeachment. They need to be charged and headed to court for treason. IMPEACH!!!!!!!!!!!!.

12. George Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 9:09 pm

    No Cheney, they are waiting to arrest you guys on charges of high treason.
    The penalty for treason is death.

13. 12ga Says:
    January 7th, 2009 at 10:46 pm

    Hey all, who here wants to go bird hunting with dick and I?