They must really, really hate Dick Cheney. I mean really, really, really hate him.
The reason I say this is that there doesn't seem to be much point in throwing yourself over a cliff while trying to smear Cheney. That is, if the person trying to tar up Cheney comes out looking worse than the person they're trying to tar up, what's the point?
The point is they hate him so much they just have to give vent to all this stuff even if the American public — which doesn't much like Cheney in the first place — actually now sides with him because the public can see right through a transparent effort to slime somebody so hated.
Look at those polling numbers that came through Thursday from Scott Rasmussen.
Twice as many Americans think it was just an accident that could have happened to anybody as those Americans who are sure there is a deep secret being hidden here.
When you're losing two to one, you make yourself look bad by demanding: Was he drunk? Who were those women on the trip who weren't Cheney's wife? What's he hiding by talking to the police the next day? Why didn't he ride in the ambulance to the hospital? Trying to hide the fact he was drunk?
This is the stuff that is now being thrown at Cheney even though it makes the people throwing the stuff look really, really bad. They don't care. They've hated Cheney so long. They've been so sure he's hiding from them, that he's skulking around behind the curtain running the country like he's the Wizard of Oz, so positive he is the personification of evil, they can't help themselves.
Wednesday night I saw Joe Klein, the weekly magazine reporter, a guy who would be happy to jump Cheney if the reason was righteous. Klein said to the Dems and libs going after Cheney, "Lay off, it's not worth it."
Klein is right. And these guys are wrong.
Who are they? Oh geez, look at the left-wing talk radio, the left-wing newspapers columns, the left-wing blogs. They're absolutely frothing at the mouth over the possibilities. Vice president shoots a man. One blogger said Thursday, "Just look at those words. Spend a moment to marvel over those words."
They so want this to turn into something that sticks because nothing has stuck so far. And they're so disappointed because it looks like this isn't going to stick either.
That's My Word.
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