Prior to being selected as Bush's VP nominee in 2000, one would be hard pressed to find a more respected public servant than Dick Cheney. He was held in the highest esteem by colleagues on both sides of the aisle. For decades Cheney was widely respected and publicly lauded as a gentleman politician, an example of a firm, fair-minded leader who treated others with dignity and respect. He was an absolute model of how to be a principled politician in the cesspool of Washington.
But then began the drumbeats and chants from the war camps of the Left. And now the quintessential good guy politician who gave most of his life to public service is reduced to a dark caricature. The hero is now a villain. Not because the hero changed, but because those with the power to control the national narrative of the moment made it so.
Everything I detest about the behavior of the mainstream media and the Left is crystallized in what they've done to Cheney.
Everything I admire about principled and steady leadership under fire is crystallized in Dick Cheney.
PS-I was surprised to learn that Bronstein was still kicking. I figured Stone would have sucked the blood out of him before she cast him aside.
As you say the portrait of this man is unrecognizable from that they had 9 - 10 years ago.