I agree with you about his past, but right after 9/11 he was furious. He went after the leftists trying to say it was our fault and we should blame it on poverty, you know the drill. I was shocked, as I've hated him for many years.
Since then he has pretty much dropped out of sight, or out of favor with the LSM.
I hadn't thought of that before, but you're right: he's off the radar screen. Prolly p*ssed off the libs as you say...