What kind of figure can bring comfort and warmth to old Dick Cheney, as he lounges all day, every day, in his black ice throne, presiding glumly over his subterranean militia of damned souls? Only one such person exists: It's that nice young man from Wisconsin, the dashing and entitlement-slashing Rep. Paul Ryan. You know, America's Accountant! Well, he's Dick Cheney's new hero, too.

Cheney said at a conference of energy magnates yesterday that he "worship[s] the ground that Paul Ryan walks on. I think he's an enormously talented individual and he's trying to do the right thing. And [he] deserves all the support we can provide him." That's some high praise from a figure who rarely says anything positive. We think Paul Ryan deserves another few Boy Scout badges after this, if he hasn't already collected them all.

Quick trivia question: Which Vice President in the Bush administration famously said "deficits don't matter" while building enormous structural deficits? Hint: It wasn't Santa Claus.

[via TPM]