Washington Post four part series by Barton Gellman and Jo Becker demonstrates how the legisltature, the judiciary, and many of the administration’s own officials have rejected the positions Vice President Cheney and his staff have worked tirelessly to implement. Despite some failures in court, and because of his ability to remove anyone who would questions his positions, few dare directly challenge him and he persists in his efforts to change the character of our nation into one paralyzed by fear and willing to compromise its integrity to satiate that fear.

1. Working the Background
2. Wars and Interrogations
3. Dominating Budget Decisions
4. Environmental Policy

Good point from Bill Clinton at 2007 Havard Commencement (read full transcript):

• “When the human genome was sequenced, ….. the most interesting thing to me was the discovery that human beings with their three billion genomes are 99.9 percent identical genetically. ” Yet we focus much of our attention on the one tenth of one percent, on the differences we draw”
• “There is no challenge we face, no barrier to having your grandchildren here on this beautiful site 50 years from now, more profound than the ideological and emotional divide which continues to demean our common life and undermine our ability to solve our common problems. The simple idea that our differences are more important than our common humanity.”
• “Enjoy your differences, but realize that our common humanity matters much, much more. “