The movement to strip Dick Cheney of his body armor proceeds apace:
Durbin's warning came as Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), No. 3 in Democratic leadership, said that he would "seriously consider" joining House counterparts in seeking to yank funding for Cheney's office after the vice president contended that his office is a hybrid entity that is neither legislative nor executive.
Meanwhile, if it weren't a serious issue, it would be fairly hilarious to watch Bush administration officials writhing and twisting and trying to explain why the vice-president is neither part of the executive branch nor part of the legislative branch--and doesn't have to abide by the rules of either. Even Dana Perino couldn't explain it at yesterday's press gaggle:
Q Okay. And just lastly, it's a little surreal -- I mean, how is it possible --
MS. PERINO: You're telling me.
Q Well -- that you can't give an opinion about whether the Vice President is part of the executive branch or not?
MS. PERINO: All I know is that --
Q It's a little bit like somebody saying, "I don't know if this is my wife or not."
MS. PERINO: I think it's a little bit more complicated than that.
Q No, but honestly, I mean, there's no --
MS. PERINO: No, honestly, I think it's more complicated than that. I do. [...]
Q This really falls into "sky is blue" stuff.
It goes on like that for quite some time.
--Bradford Plumer