Orwellian Doublespeak

Digby quotes from minority report of the congressional committee investigating the Iran-contra affair (Richard Cheney was ranking member)

A law negating Predidential powers cannot be treated as if it were 'necessary and proper for carrying' Presidential powers 'into Execution.' To suggest otherwise would smack of Orwellian Doublespeak.

Orwellian indeed. The clause in question
says Congress may
"make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing [legislative] Powers, and all Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department of Officer thereof.'

Which would tend to imply that if there is no law there is no power. That is, that the executive only has the power to execute the laws (Doublespeak indeed). Cheney et al note that, unless "all laws necessary and proper" are assumed to be limited by all the "Powers" that the clause explicitly places under the law, then Orwell was writing away age -116. I suppose Cheney feels that the idea that the executive branch is supposed to execute something is Orwellian.

As Digby says, It's not as if he didn't warn us.