All the king's horses and all the king's men...

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61M0GM20100223

"Former Vice President Cheney is in George Washington Hospital after experiencing chest pains."

Wasn't he hospitalized for the same thing last year?

"Cheney has had four heart attacks, the most recent one shortly after the November 2000 election...shortly thereafter he had the defibrillator implanted."

"The device was replaced in 2007 because its battery was wearing down."

How much anger does it take to destroy a heart before the age of 40?

Like so many in his cohort, the killers of Kennedy, the promoters of Pinochet, he is almost inhuman in his grasp for power.

Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld were Gerald Ford's Glimmer Twins. Life must have been interesting, mopping up Nixon's mess, serving the rump presidency of a clumsy man. Were he and Antonin Scalia friends? They had at least one thing in common, the unitary executive, and their post-Watergate labors bore fruit.

Dick gave great face. His drunken outbursts and public aggression didn't surface until his latter years, but the axe does take its toll.

He was 37 when he had his first heart attack, the year he was elected to Congress. His fourth heart attack came after the 2000 decision. He seems to have endured the fight, even in the face of meaningless plunder. He worked behind the scenes and the country went mad. For what?

With his Valentine's Day TV appearance, he turned a Sunday interview into Grand Guignol, defending his torture policies while attacking his replacement. Most vice presidents disappear. Cheney refuses to shut up. He can't say enough about waterboarding. He wants it to stay "on the table."

His media appearances have become a rolling psychotic break.

He couldn't be president, so he appointed himself vice president. Was his vice presidency really a presidency? George W has made few appearances since the Bank Job of 2009. A speaking appearance in Canada, another in Austin for a motivational seminar? It could've been a boat show for all the attention he was paid, but Cheney won't quit. He thinks he's still in charge.

It's widely assumed that he was drunk the day he shot a hunting buddy. He couldn't empty both barrels at the same time. Shooting his friend in the face at close range (within 10 to 15 feet), was no accident, so why did his target apologize?

(To be continued.)