"But, as Andrew Bacevich, author of The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War, puts it: "None of the Democrats vying to replace President Bush is doing so with the promise of reviving the system of checks and balancesŠ. The aim of the party out of power is not to cut the presidency down to size but to seize it, not to reduce the prerogatives of the executive branch but to regain them."
I suspect that is why very conservative theorists are praising Charlie Savage's Takeover; they fear that a Democrat will soon inherit the new powers of the executive and use them--just guessing actually--to compel bosses to sit at the negotiating table, to punish corporate malfeasance, to stack administrative bodies free from Republican oversight in the Congress, to spend tax dollars with indiscretion and dictate to contractors new pro labor, pro minority conditions.
Not sure exactly what the conservative theorists are worried that a Democrat would do with the new expanded executive powers. But they do seem worried that Cheney has let a genie out of the bottle. Perhaps they are reasoning that their interests are best protected by liberal pluralism and checks and balances----not dictatorship.
Rakesh