So much for that message discipline and failure to leak tour, Karl. Dickie Boy is peeved: 

In the waning days of the Bush administration, Vice President Dick Cheney launched a last-ditch campaign to persuade his boss to pardon Lewis (Scooter) Libby – and was furious when President George W. Bush wouldn’t budge.

It is ON, beyotches.

Since this is Tom DeFrank, who is one of the most carefully sourced journalists working the Beltway, I find this wholly amusing:

After repeatedly telling Cheney his mind was made up, Bush became so exasperated with Cheney’s persistence he told aides he didn’t want to discuss the matter any further.

The unsuccessful full-court press left Cheney bitter. "He’s furious with Bush," a Cheney source told The News. "He’s really angry about it and decided he’s going to say what he believes."

He did just that the day after becoming a private citizen. In an interview with The Weekly Standard, Cheney heaped praise on Libby and denounced his conviction. "He was the victim of a serious miscarriage of justice, and I strongly believe that he deserved a presidential pardon," Cheney said. "Obviously, I disagree with President Bush’s decision."

Doesn’t that little upstart realize he’s messing with Dick F-ing Cheney? Apparently Bush started actually thinking he WAS the president. The nerve.

The vehemence of Cheney’s last-minute onslaught has struck some Bush loyalists as excessive. "At some point you have to accept the decision of the guy who appointed you," one of them said after learning the details. "I think Cheney was over the top." 

A Cheney ally disagreed. "He had every right to push it as hard as he wanted," he argued. "Cheney places great store in loyalty and thinks Scooter got a raw deal."

And if Scooter begins to think he got a raw deal?

Why do I think this is more about hush money and theatrics? Except DeFrank throws in this last little tidbit about how chilly things were ten days before they left office:

"It’s been a long, long time since I’ve heard the President say, ‘Run that by the vice president’s office.’ You used to hear that all the time."

Well, that petulant little bastard. Who does he think he is?!? Teach him a lesson, Dick.

And Karl? You might want to ready some good mud to fling in retort, because Dick doesn’t like to play softball.  And it sure reads like at least one of DeFrank’s "sources close to Cheney" might be Bill Kristol — ingrate — doesn’t it?

Best possible thing that could happen to this country is for you to air it all out. Think of it as therapy for the masses, but without the privilege protections.

I’ll just get my popcorn…

(Artwork used with express permission from Justin Bilicki.  For an extra treat, here’s Justin talking about how he draws Dick Cheney.  Priceless.  H/T to reader bill.)