Good points. You've heard the old saying “generals are always fighting the last war”, meaning they are using the same tactics not realizing that the battlefield has changed. I think this also analogizes to the left, which continues to make the same posts they have for the past eight years seemingly unaware that they are now in power. I've often thought any young person that became interested in politics in the last decade really only knows one way of political debate, which is demonizing the other side.

Overall a correct statement, but Bush/Cheneyism it is not equivalent to 'birthers'. They are a small lunatic fringe more like, in my mind, the 9/11 conspiracists.

I should have pointed out that the link to The Hill article is nearly a month old (March 23rd). And yet, still as valid today as it was four weeks ago. The fact that he is still yapping away shows how much he regards the opinions of his fellow GOP government officials.

>>how can he fade away when the press still loves talking to and about him, and the Left still loves having him to kick around?<<

Well, that's entirely true. Also part of the reason why everyone jumps at the chance to kick Palin in the shins at every opportunity. (And to a much smaller extent McCain every once in a while as well) Partly because Cheney provides such an incredibly easy target – few fast elected officials have been reviled by so wide a swath of the American public, and remain unrepentant. But I would also venture to say it's partly because there are so few strong voices on the far neocon right that are still in the spotlight – until a strong leader truly emerges on the right wing we will continue to look back and listen to the republican has-beens. (Kinda ironic how we are now hearing more from Cheney in the past three months than in the previous eight years).

Obama has dropped the not-so-subtle hint that he would like to “move on” from the past eight years of disaster and look forward, but it appears that a good-sized chunk of the American public is having none of that – as long as a large portion of the politterati chattering class keep obsessing on the past sins of torture, economic malfeasance and other problems of the previous administration, we'll keep hearing from Cheney.

To be fair, though, I should add that political obsession is not a problem that is confined to the left side of the political spectrum. We still have plenty of folks on the other side of the political spectrum transfixed on the silly, debunked “birther” nonsense. Obsession is a two-way street.

Probably not as much as Cheney loves talking to the press.

He is a self-caricature. If he wasn't real, you could not create him in a fictional novel – no one would buy him as realistic.