During the 8 long years of the Bush presidency, it was assumed that Bush was mostly a puppet, and Cheney was the power behind the throne. With the release of his new book, Cheney has revealed that to be the case. It has also confirmed what an evil venal creature he really is. The details aren't so much shocking in revelation as they are in the proud unapologetic tone.

He reveals (in an indirect way) that invading Iraq was his idea, and he allowed Bush to believe it was his decision, not Cheney's. He demeans Condileeza Rice by revealing she was "in tears". He belittles Colin Powell (which has sparked a feud between the two) for essentially undercutting Cheney's authority by questioning the impending Iraq invasion.

These have all been discussed on the news and pundit shows (and online), which is the only way I will know about this because I am not going to pollute my brain with his self-aggrandizing drivel (I am CERTAINLY not going to pay money for it). What's been most amazing about Cheney's riding of the media circuit is his brazen admissions to war crimes, and complete disregard for the people he is trampling on. While the idea of the human heart as the seat of our emotions is certainly an anachronistic poetic construct, the reality that his heart is a shriveled prune while a mechanical pump circulates his cold blood through his shrinking unfeeling shell is not lost. He is a cyborg; he is truly Darth Cheney (a pseudonym he apparently embraces).

It is his admission of - and support for - waterboarding which is most jaw-dropping. The Bush administration was very carefuly about using the phrase "enhanced interogation techniques" and dancing along a fine line with this. Cheney is flat-out admitting that they tortured suspects in their custody, said it worked, and would do it again. I repeat - Cheney admitted to committing war crimes. It was enough for former Bush official Col. Lawrence Wilkerson to announce that he would be willing to testify against Cheney in a war crimes trial if someone was willing to "Pinochet" Cheney (arrest him outside of the Unites States). Madea Benjamin has a list, including 9 other reasons Cheney is a criminal.

One of those is War Profiteering. As the former head of Halliburton (and a major stakeholder during his presidency), it certainly benefitted Cheney and his friends to go to war in Iraq. Was that his major motivation? It's hard to say. It could as easily have been oil, or perhaps just the tingle it gave him in his nether regions to destroy another country and throw the entire Middle East into upheavel. Power? Money? Both? We may never know for sure.

One thing is for certain - the stain left on the psyche of the world, and the lives and money wasted will truly be his most memorable - albeit dark - legacy. It's obvious he doesn't have long for this world. One can only hope that justice finds him before the Grim Reaper does, but I won't hold my breath waiting. In the end, the world will be a better place when he's gone, and the worms and the bugs will have their way with him at last.