If I were John McCain, I might wonder about Dick Cheney’s use of the word “delight” to describe his support for the GOP ticket.

Call me crazy, but I don’t see the Vice President using the word “delight” in a context that doesn’t involve butchering a fresh kill, polluting something, or discovering that his daughter has chosen to stop being a lesbian.

Everybody knows that Cheney and Bush are required to endorse McCain, but this seems like little more than two barrels’ worth of birdshot for the Obama arsenal. In Colorado, Obama was delighted to comment:

I’d like to congratulate Senator McCain on this endorsement because he really earned it. That endorsement didn’t come easy. Senator McCain had to vote 90 percent of the time with George Bush and Dick Cheney to get it.

Next up is Cheney’s use of the word “steward” in his endorsement speech. He says:

In three days we’ll choose a new steward for the presidency…I believe the right leader for this moment in history is Senator John McCain.

It’s another interesting choice, considering Bush’s well-known and complete misuse of the word. In a 2004 debate with John Kerry, Bush said “I guess you’d say I’m a good steward of the land.”

Yuh-huh. As Cheney drops the “steward” bomb, Bush has already proposed to essentially remove scientific review from the Endangered Species Act and is (surprise!) currently planning “as many as 90” last-ditch efforts to weaken other environmental laws, including “[easing] controls on pollutants that contribute to global warming, relax drinking-water standards, and lift a key restriction on mountaintop coal mining.” According to the LA Times article,

As…deadlines near, the administration has begun to issue regulations of great interest to industry, including, in recent days, a rule that allows the nation’s natural gas pipelines to operate at higher pressures.

Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.

At any rate, Dick Cheney is just pleased as punch to announce that John McCain is the man to preserve his legacy. Where are John McCain’s derisive air quotes (or, coincidentally, “dick fingers”) when you need them? Oh, here they are:

Cheney also said that McCain has “looked in the face of evil and not flinched,” but I’m sure that many people have met Dick Cheney over the years. I guess it’s just a matter of not flinching when Cheney’s clammy hand grips yours.