The face of evil.

Dick Cheney is most likely the most powerful evil man on the planet. He's certainly more powerful than his rivals like Kim Jong-Il or Vladimir Putin. Yet perhaps he realizes his time in power is ending, because his tone has become more strident and ever more distanced from reality (OK, so maybe he and Kim Jong have a good bit in common). So CNN has him on their television channel flashing that trademark Cheney smirk/scowl that seems to say "I've bitten the heads off whole litters of kittens, and I'd do it again."

In the Cheney world, the only cause of failure is a failure to believe in his vision. If confronted with the realities of daily car bombings and a resistance to US occupation that seems broad-based and deep-rooted, Cheney responds that it's the media that's to blame (as reported in the Post):

Vice President Cheney said yesterday that the administration has achieved "enormous successes" in Iraq but complained that critics and the media "are so eager to write off this effort or declare it a failure" that they are undermining U.S. troops in a war zone, striking a far more combative tone than President Bush did in his State of the Union address the night before.

The man is, of course, a lunatic. We shouldn't forget that he cut his teeth in the Nixon administration, where he basked in Nixon's belief that the Executive Branch held ultimate power, no matter what the Constitution might say.

This administration has sought to hide their failures behind the "support the troops" smokescreen since the Bush Debacle began, treating the troops as if they were collateral to cover your debts. It's incredibly cynical, but when you're an evil man, there's no such thing as morality: it's win the political battle at all costs. Apparently, the 3000+ troops that Bush and he have sacrificed to their collective egos are fabrications of the media anyway. As for the "enormous successes" of the Iraq Adventure, Cheney has this to say:

In fact, Cheney said, the operation in Iraq has achieved its original mission. "What we did in Iraq in taking down Saddam Hussein was exactly the right thing to do," he said. "The world is much safer today because of it. There have been three national elections in Iraq. There's a democracy established there, a constitution, a new democratically elected government. Saddam has been brought to justice and executed. His sons are dead. His government is gone."

His assertion that we are safer today is demonstrably false. He is either living in fantasyland or he's lying. Take your pick. His other assertions are, let's say, shining the best light possible on a bad situation. Here's a more accurate translation: "There have been three meaningless national elections in Iraq. The trappings of democracy are there, a paper constitution, and a new US puppet government that will fall the second we leave. Saddam received a show trial and we have our revenge. His sons are dead. His and all semblance of any government is gone."

Of course, the truth isn't really at issue for Cheney: he has his truth, and empirical evidence has nothing to do with it. He understands, like Goebbels and Orwell before him, that truth is not nearly as important as controlling the message. Since he can't muzzle the media due to our pesky Constitution, he does the next best thing: attack it, intimidate it, co-opt it. It's worked remarkably well in the past (CNN was a leading propaganda tool for the administration in its march to war, as were the Post and the New York Times), but it doesn't work forever.

So he reacts as any tyrant losing control is bound to react: he insists upon his vision, revealed to most the world to be bankrupt and myopic, and builds his enemies list, as the faux reality he has created crumbles around him.