The usual joke about the Vice-Presidency is that it doesn’t come with any real powers or responsibilities, beyond attending the occasional state funeral. Dick Cheney has long aimed to change all that. But Talking Points Memo has stumbled on evidence of a more far-reaching strategy than most of us had discerned. In the ultimate “take lemons and make lemonade” jujutsu move, Cheney has re-interpreted the Constitutional vagueness of the powers of his office as evidence that he is an entirely distinct branch of government. (Via Majikthise.) Those past couple hundred years, in which we thought there were only three branches of government in the United States? Just a bad dream.

You think this is some humorous exaggeration, but no. Something called the “Plum Book” is supposed to be a directory of all appointed government officials, but the Office of the Vice-President has declared that it doesn’t have to participate. Instead, it submitted this paragraph:

The Vice Presidency is a unique office that is neither a part of the executive branch nor a part of the legislative branch, but is attached by the Constitution to the latter. The Vice Presidency performs functions in both the legislative branch (see article I, section 3 of the Constitution) and in the executive branch (see article II, and amendments XII and XXV, of the Constitution, and section 106 of title 3 of the United States Code).

Perhaps it’s for the best. He wouldn’t be very good at attending funerals, that’s for sure.