Dick Cheney's Selective Memory: Sometimes the People Count, Sometimes They Don't

Dick Cheney is a political creature, which explains his head-spinning hypocrisy on the role of grassroots movements in the political process.

Asked this week about the recent tea parties by fake journalist Sean Hannity, Cheney endorsed the protest movement. Here are two Cheney quotes:

I thought the tea parties were great.

***

I think when you get that kind of grassroots sentiment being expressed, thousands of people, hundreds of thousands of people all across the country, that will have an impact on Capitol Hill. It will have an impact, I think, on the political process. And it's basically a healthy development.

Such sympathy for regular people is a far cry from Cheney's previous attitude toward the organizing of everyday folks. When he was vice president, Cheney thumbed his nose at protesters.

In a broadcast interview while in office, Cheney had this exchange with journalist Marth Raddaz:

CHENEY: On the security front, I think there's a general consensus that we've made major progress, that the surge has worked. That's been a major success.

RADDATZ: Two-third of Americans say it's not worth fighting.

CHENEY: So?

RADDATZ So? You don't care what the American people think?

CHENEY: No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.