Political Wire
NYT
Mr. Cheney’s heart will never beat at full strength again, doctors say. His new mechanical pump, a partial artificial heart known as a ventricular assist device, leaves patients without a pulse because it pushes blood continuously instead of mimicking the heart’s own beat. Most pulse-less patients feel nothing unusual, but the devices do pose significant risks of infection. They are implanted as a last resort either for permanent use or as a bridge to transplant until a donor heart can be found. Mr. Cheney, who has participated in some of the nation’s toughest decisions for decades, now faces a crucial one of his own: whether to seek a full heart transplant.
If you always thought Dick Cheney was one of the undead, you now have further evidence.
In other news from the Dark Side of American politics:
Bachmann running for President?
TPM: Michelle Bachmann considering run for President
Time for the atheists of DKos to put up or shut up. I say that even the possibility of a Palin / Bachmann candidacy proves there is a God - or at least, a FSM who loves Democrats and has a wicked sense of humor. Your move.
For this diary's Godwin moment, my spell checker suggested "Eichmann" as the first choice for "Bachmann".
List of GOP candidates for 2012
TPM: this all they got
Mitt Romney
Mike Huckabee
Sarah Palin
Tim Pawlenty
John Thune
Ron Paul
Haley Barbour
Mitch Daniels
Mike Pence
Newt Gingrich
John Bolton
George Pataki
Rick Santorum
Michele Bachmann
Wow. Just - wow.
Romney: The unnatural father of the ACA. Will not survive the primaries.
Huckabee: Hates, and is hated by, the Club for Growth. If he wins the nomination the GOP money machine will sit this one out.
Palin: The Wasilla Quitting Machine and Reality TV Show star. Highest negatives of anyone not named Michael Vick.
T-Paw: Makes Romney appear to be dynamic.
Thune: Who?
Raul: The only candidate who can unite the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and the corporate wing of the Republican Party in shared horror
Barbour: Mr. "Segregation wasn't so bad" himself. A northern politician might survive saying that - but when you look and sound like Boss Hogg, you're doomed.
Daniels: Another "who?".
Mike Pence: Beloved by the fundamentalist wing, no chance in a general
Newt Gingrich: So. much. baggage. And then we move on from his jowls and his butt and start talking politics.
John Bolton: The Insane Mustache. The chances of a meltdown captured on video that makes Howard Dean's primal scream look like "Fuer Elise" approach 100%
George Pataki: See Thune and Daniels.
Rick Santorum: An incumbent Senator who loses in Pennsylvania as badly as Santorum did, is not going to carry too many purple states in the general
Bachmann: Oh please oh please oh please oh please nominate Michelle.
Deficit
Even the Washington Post, which embodies the Conventional Wisdom of the Village, has noticed the GOP doesn't really intend to reduce spending.
Christine O'Donnell
Everyone's favorite witch will file amendments to all the campaign finance reports filed in 2009 - 2010 campaign. Some enchanted evening ... she will meet a prosecutor ...
Rick Scott
Florida's new governor was called a criminal during his inauguration, which is not a good sign.
GOP Freshmen
They are all Tea Party Patriots fighting for the little guy - when they aren't raising money from lobbyists at a fancy hotel.
The fail remains strong with these ones.