Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely

I'm trying to leave this stuff alone, but, um, what?

As the vice president told CNN's John King this week, when he was asked about his claim that "we would be greeted as liberators" in Iraq: "It does not make any sense for people to think that somehow we can retreat behind our oceans, leave the Middle East, walk away from Iraq, and we'll be safe and secure here at home. 9/11 put the lie to that."

In a macabre metric of improvement, Dr. Death also noted that things were looking up. "There are a lot more Iraqis becoming casualties in this conflict at present because they are now in the fight," he said cheerily.

In what twisted Hobbesian universe does this make any sense at all? Dowd notes that even close allies of Bush are calling Cheney "an absolute disaster." I still think that's too simple. He is America's id, unrestrained by any ego or superego. He's stopped being disastrous; he's become a danger to the country.