Cheney Deserves Kick in the Shins: Dowd

Vice President Dick Cheney's guiding principle was "a theory of constitutional thuggishness" that set the tone for the administration's agenda—but he's refusing to take the blame for anything, writes Maureen Dowd in the New York Times. His insistence that he never called the shots, despite his "Darth Vader-type personality," just goes to show that he was the real force in the White House, Dowd notes.

"The fact that Cheney is now putting all the blame for all the messes squarely on W. shows once more how the bureaucratic master outmaneuvers his younger partner," Dowd concludes. "Even on his way out, Vice is still on top." Twice Dowd has been close enough to Cheney to "kick him in the shins," she notes. That's "probably some sort of federal crime," but a "girl can fantasize," she grumbles.
(More Dick Cheney stories.)