I have observed Dick Cheney's behavior for years. I have always been baffled by how an obviously intelligent person can be so consistently wrong on nearly everything he believes and practices. Reading this article by Blumenthal began to create a "light bulb" moment for me. Although I am a practicing psychologist, I never thought to look at Cheney as a patient. This article moved me to do just that and it suddenly became clear what the problem is with Dick Cheney. He suffers from psychosis. There are five symptoms of psychosis. The symptoms are delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, disorganized behavior, and flat affect (DSM-IV). The presence of one supports a diagnosis of psychosis. Dick Cheney is clearly delusional. A delusion is "a firmly held belief that is false." " Common experiences for these people include thinking they are President of the United States or that they are being persecuted or chased by the CIA" (webmd.com). What a relief it is for me to have this insight. I no longer have to make sense of what he says and I no longer have to be angry with him. I can now feel the concern for his welfare that I feel for any of my patients that suffer from the same condition. As this thinking becomes more clear in my mind, I can see that it may be a condition suffered by both George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld! Of course W is President but he still subbornly clings to beliefs that are obviously false and his speech is freqently disorganized.

I don't think Sidney Blumenthal is saying that Dick Cheney is an "evil genius". Ruthless ideologue is more like it. And one who has historically been wrong about just about everything.

I agree that the media dropped the ball on Cheney, but let's face it--they dropped the ball on George W. Bush, and, in fact, the entire Republican agenda. Or worse--they were in on the con from the start.

Now that the poll numbers reflect a reality they can't ignore, the press is suddenly "discovering" just how radical and incompetent these people are.

Why and how the press allowed this to happen is a real story--and it's something to bear in mind before you go blaming specific "liberal" pundits and politicians: until recently, anyone who questioned this cabal got their heads handed to them by the media--time and again. Just ask Marty Meehan.