Cheney, the GOP talking head...

I know that people could argue that maybe the best thing our president could have done instead of addressing our former vice president Dick Cheney is ignore him, but I think they'd be wrong.

What we're currently seeing from Cheney is a rear guard action. Can anybody remember in recent history the last time a sitting president had to contend with sniping from the former vice president? What it comes down to is as President Obama sorts through the myriad of messes left by the former administration and works to right the many wrongs, some seriously dirty laundry has been hung out to dry.

Firstly, I think the GOP has charged Cheney with being their bulldog. He's not going to win any popularity contents but due to his former position in the government, he gets a default bully pulpit. Also, he has a cultivated cadre of people and organizations who support him. His entire job is to merely be the guy who everytime Obama says "The Bush administration was wrong about X" He jumps and and yells "No we weren't, you're wrong!!! We're all gonna die because you're against X!!!!" I guess that makes him the GOP heckler... or something.

Secondly, It's a form of damage control. Cheney wants to control the message of how the Bush adminstration legacy is percieved and remembered. Right now peoples take on the Bush administration is generally bad. This lets him get out in front of the message and put his spin on the policies he implimented, instead of having the Obama administration saying "X policy was bad for this reason."

What's interesting is that I don't think this gets any points for either side.

The people who think Cheney is an evil sociopath who helped run our country into the ground are going to see him sniping the president as merely that. A has been who wants to make sure he's not completely remembered as a crack pot nutbag.

Those whoe think Cheney was on the right track and is protecting the country will keep believeing that as well.

It's a win/win for everybody... except for the American people who get to watch their president get side tracked as the former vice president conducts a side show.

Either way, I think it's foolish.