Friendship, Cheney-style

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Far be it from me to tell the vice president how to be a good friend. Shooting a friend in the face during a reckless quail hunt just isn't my thing. Still, you think he'd be a bit warmer to his former sidekick, Scooter Libby, the guy who's taking the fall on Plamegate.

On CBS's Face the Nation today, Cheney said that Libby is "one of the most dedicated public servants [he has] ever worked with" and that "this" -- whatever this is, perhaps Libby's conviction on perjury and obstruction charges, perhaps the whole affair -- "is a great tragedy". And yet he hasn't spoken to his friend (and former chief of staff) in the six weeks since the conviction: "Well, there hasn't been occasion to do so."

Nice.