You Could Deal With That Guy

James Fallows observes the spectacle that is Dick Cheney and marvels over the discontinuity from the Dick Cheney he knew back when Cheney worked for Gerald Ford and Fallows worked for Jimmy Carter:

As chief of staff in Gerald Ford's White House, he was in charge of the transition to the Jimmy Carter team after Ford narrowly lost in 1976. Anyone who dealt with him then was impressed by his openness, his awareness of continuing national interest, his lack of bitterness -- and overall his resemblance to the George W. Bush of 2009. Whatever happened to that Dick Cheney is a matter of mystery.

I have friend whose experience parallels Fallows'. My friend worked as a GOP operative in New York City back in the 70s--that would be the Lindsey administration, maybe even Jacob Javits, when the NYC GOP was a hotbed and heartbed of Eastern Liberalism. My friend says: yes, he was conservative, but you oculd deal with that guy--he kept his word.

Anyway, she--my friend--thinks it's the history of heart problems. Cheney had his first heart attach in 1978, not long after he left the Ford White House. He had a pacemaker installed early in the Bush years. Or maybe it was a Darth Vader control device.