'Frontline' takes hard look at Cheney's influence on power
By Peter Johnson, USA TODAY
For the past six years, Michael Kirk has produced 10 Frontlines for PBS on behind-the-scenes moves in the Bush White House.
In each case, Kirk says, a common thread has emerged: When it comes to "what goes on behind closed doors, it always leads to the vice president."
Frontline's season premiere describes a secret campaign by Dick Cheney to give President Bush unlimited wartime power. It reports that Cheney's fixation with executive privilege began more than 30 years ago when he felt Congress was overstepping its authority and trying to assert its power over the presidency.
Frontline reports that Cheney and David Addington, his former legal counsel and current chief of staff, have orchestrated a number of controversial legal decisions that granted Bush the power to detain, interrogate, torture, wiretap and spy without congressional approval or judicial review.
Cheney would not talk to Frontline, and his office declined to comment on the program Monday.
Most of the details in tonight's edition have been reported in detail by other news outlets, says Frontline chief David Fanning. "We've pulled together threads" into a more comprehensive report. "This is an exercise in civics, an example of how individuals in government have affected profound decisions in the nation's history."
In one of his most extensive interviews since leaving the Justice Department, former assistant U.S. attorney general Jack Goldsmith describes his initial days at Justice in 2003 when he learned the extent of the government's operations. He tells Frontline he was shocked by the administration's assertion of expansive power.
Cheney opponents may point to tonight's Frontline as proof that he has exceeded his authority, while the vice president's supporters may largely approve of what Frontline reports about him, Kirk says. "It's in the eye of the beholder. If you remember the fear we all felt right after 9/11, you understand (Cheney's) impulse to cut through the red tape and get on with it. The question is, how long should you keep pushing the envelope?"
Frontline, marking its 25th anniversary this season, "now stands virtually alone in offering long-form documentaries," says Tom Rosenstiel of the Project for Excellence in Journalism. "60 Minutes will do work on major topics, but when it comes to seeing hour-long documentaries about current events on a regular basis, Frontline is now about it on U.S. TV screens.
"In a sea of stories elsewhere about how to improve your personal health, or news about consumer rip-offs, or catching pedophiles or celebrity stories, and plenty of talk, Frontline is offering deep reporting."
More?
http://www.usatoday.com/life/televis...e-cheney_N.htm
Sorry that I missed this broadcast,I hope they run it again.