De-Face the Nation

Vice President Dick Cheney stepped out, and guested this morning on "Face the Nation" rejecting notions of a White House shake-up which have spread like wildfire this week.

When questioned about the president's sagging popularity, and support for his policies, Mr. Cheney argued that "The president has got a job to do ... He ignores the background noise that's out there in the polls taken on a daily basis." (A.P.) By the way, lest you're wondering, "background noise" that would be us, folks. Aren't you impressed by how we, the people, have become elevator music to this administration, and something to talk over? I sure as hell am, and the only thing more impressive, at a time when we are increasingly deprived of choice, is how pregnant with apathy we, as a nation, have become.

The "grumbling" Mr. Cheney asserts he also heard, back in the 1970's, while working as chief of staff for President Ford, must have been related to irritable bowel syndrome, and in no way resembles the fallout from Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, Iraq, and soon to be Iran visiting this White House; apples and oranges. The Ford era may well look, to future generations, like a "sleeper presidency" compared with the past 5 years when everything, including the notion of free elections, has been up for grabs.

On the CBS program this morning, the vice president said, too, that he will not seek the presidency. It's reassuring to know that, while the First, Second, and Fourth Amendments may be in jeopardy, there are still term limits as everybody knows who the power behind the throne is, and it ain't Laura Bush. While he claims that his advice to the president has been "untainted" by any political aspirations of his own, no one can question that this vice-president's contribution has been not merely tainted, but toxic, not just for this country, but for the whole world.

Sad but true, it seems the only shake-up Dick Cheney has to worry about is in his shorts.