Dick Cheney Still Loves Gitmo, Thinks Obama Will Appreciate Expansion of Powers

Yesterday, Vice President Cheney continued the Bush administration's legacy tour by appearing on Rush Limbaugh's radio show. Limbaugh's hard-hitting questions included, "What are you most proud of?" and praise such as, "Over the years when I've spoken to you, you have purposely avoided any partisanship, because I know that this has been a policy of the administration.

At one point, Limbaugh mocked President-elect Obama's promise to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Cheney agreed and defended Guantanamo, saying that it has been "very well run":

CHENEY: I think so. I think Guantanamo has been very well run. I think if you look at it from the perspective of the requirements we had, once you go out and capture a bunch of terrorists, as we did in Afghanistan and elsewhere, then you've got to have some place to put them. If you bring them here to the U.S. and put them in our local court system, then they are entitled to all kinds of rights that we extend only to American citizens. [...]

So Guantanamo has been very, very valuable. And I think they'll discover that trying to close it is a very hard proposition.