The V.P.

What's up with Dick Cheney? Rumors have swirled about declining health, but there he was down on the Gulf Coast last week, looking rested, tanned and soulless as ever. He recently bought an estate near St. Michaels, Maryland (a beautiful place, by the way), which may just be a weekend retreat or may indicate the guy is thinking seriously about his great lobbying gig in the near future.

Meanwhile, Nora Ephron has a curious post, full of conjecture about a possible Bush-Cheney split. And why not? The war between Dick and Condi has been widely rumored for some time. Jeralyn picks up the thread of conjecture:

A few months ago, I heard of a lunch conversation that Cheney had with a political type in Wyoming. I have no idea if it's true or not, but it makes some sense. Here's the tale:

Cheney has been getting tired of being called upon to fix Bush's mistakes. Cheney said Bush is almost incapable of making any decision. He waffles and waffles. Then, once he makes a decision, he refuses to change it. Because of his born-again faith, he says "It's in the hands of G-d now" and washes his hands of it. Then Cheney is called in to repair the damage.

If this story is even remotely true, this may have been the final straw for Cheney, and he decided to let Bush try to wiggle his way out of his Katrina inaction on his own. Cheney's re-emergence this week may be the result of his fellow Republicans begging him to return to save Bush for the sake of the party.

But I also don't discount that Cheney may be in deep doo-doo of his own over RoveGate.

Now, Cheney's certainly a busy guy-- the Czar of Cronyism in the Bush Administration-- and all of this is likely to be idle rumor. Still, it will be interesting to see if the big nut in BushCo cracks anytime soon. With Fitzgerald reportedly wrapping up his investigation into the Plame-Rove-Cheney affair in the near future, the man who's been studiously avoiding the headlines for the last few months may again be thrust to center stage. Which is a good thing; Wahsington just hasn't been the same of late without his grimace.