Dick Cheney's Waterboarding Confession

You won't find too many people willing to brag about being torturers. Sure, there's Sayed from Lost. And that really large man from the opening scene of Slumdog Millionaire. But advocating torture and brutality is simply not something that usually wins you many fans.

Good thing Dick Cheney doesn't care about fans. With approval ratings that tumbled so low people preferred chronic infections over Dick Cheney, the former Vice President has long written off winning over the hearts and minds of voters. Instead he just wants to drown detainees -- and the Geneva Conventions to boot -- in a sea of flagrant international law violations.

On Valentine's Day, Dick Cheney appeared on ABC's This Week to talk torture. Sure, he threw some blows in the direction of the Obama administration, and gave some faint support for repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," but the biggest piece of news to come out of the interview was Cheney's admission that he "was a big supporter of waterboarding."

What does that mean? It means that Cheney is a criminal. It means that Cheney is a big supporter of torture. It means that Cheney is a big supporter of taking the Geneva Conventions, as well as the Convention Against Torture, and throwing them under the bus.

And it also means that he'll get off Scot-free, because nobody in Washington has the guts to prosecute him.

Glenn Greenwald cuts to the core about Cheney's pretty shocking admission, and the lack of teeth that will follow it.

"[Cheney] knows there will never be any repercussions, that he will never be prosecuted no matter how blatantly he admits to these serious crimes," Greenwald writes. "He's taunting the Obama administration and the DOJ:  not only will I not hide or apologize, but I will proudly tout and defend my role in these crimes, because I know you will do absolutely nothing about it, even though the Attorney General and the President themselves said that the act to which I'm confessing is a felony."

Seriously, kudos to Cheney for sticking it to the Obama administration on this one. The man may be a war criminal, but he sure can pinpoint a complete lack of follow through on campaign promises.

Meanwhile, Cheney's daughter Liz spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) today. Proving that the torture-loving apple doesn't fall far from the tree, Liz Cheney offered up some dark red meat for the Tea Baggers. After calling Howard Dean a "creep," she then said that President Obama had to do more to start defending this nation instead of apologizing all the time.

Not sure what types of apologies Cheney is talking about. Unless she means the one the Obama administration owes the nation for not following through on his promise to prosecute torturers like Liz Cheney's father.

Photo credit: The U.S. Army