Cheney on FOX: President 'Doesn't Have to Check with Anybody' to Launch Nukes

Posted by Liliana Segura, AlterNet at 6:38 AM on December 22, 2008.

So, outgoing VP Dick Cheney has decided to come out of the shadows to give a couple interviews and, thanks to Chris Wallace at "FOX News Sunday," now we know:

a) He still considers himself a "Rumself man."

b) The U.S. would have invaded Iraq even without the false claims of WMD.

c) Patrick Leahy had it coming.

More significant (if unsurprising), is his open defense of torture and the NSA spying program -- "all steps we took, that I believe the president was fully authorized in taking, provided invaluable intelligence which has been the key to our ability to defeat Al Qaida" -- but perhaps the most downright frightening quote is this one, in which he elaborates on the president's powers as commander in chief:

 "The president of the United States now for 50 years is followed at all times, 24 hours a day, by a military aide carrying a football that contains the nuclear codes that he would use and be authorized to use in the event of a nuclear attack on the United States. He could launch the kind of devastating attack the world has never seen.

Morevoer:

"He doesn't have to check with anybody. He doesn't have to call the Congress. He doesn't have to check with the courts. He has that authority because of the nature of the world we live in."

Cheney's religious belief in the unfettered power of the executive is not news. Nor is the "red button" for that matter. But this casual aside that the president can and should be able to launch nuclear holocaust at a moment's notice because we live in a dangerous world is chilling. No wonder Biden (like many before him) has called him the most dangerous Vice President in history.

Go here to read the full transcript.

Tagged as: torture, dick cheney, war on terror, fox news, nuclear war, warrantless wiretapping, chris wallace, patrick leahy

Liliana Segura is a staff writer and editor of AlterNet's Rights and Liberties and War on Iraq Special Coverage.