The world was shocked.  Evidently, Dick Cheney, former Vice President of the USofA has turned himself into authorities.  When asked what caused the change, The Vice replied.  "I came to realize how incredibly heinous it was to take a captive individual and inflict all manner of pain, torment, and degradation upon that person.  I really do not know what brought this to be.  It was an epiphany.  I have come to Jesus!"

"This all happened last night.  As usual, I was enjoying myself watching the videos I have saved of all the times we tortured those guys.  I have dozens and dozens of videos.  You know, we did this more then a hundred times to one guy.  We just hauled him out of his cell, every day, often more then once a day, and we gave him the sensation of dying, choking his air waves with water, literally creating a moment as near to drowning and death as one can be, then bringing him back, every time.  I'll bet he felt great to be alive, but then crushed to know, we were going to do that to him again, and again, and again.  It was fascinating.  I could not take my eyes off of it.  Can you imagine?  If you want to feel powerful, because, let's say you're really not feeling powerful at the time, torture someone!  Or better yet, because this is when you have <b>ALL</b> the power, order someone else to torture them and send you the video.  That way you can watch it all in the comfort of your own home and you can just pause it if you have to get another beer or a sandwich or something.  Sometimes, they would call me up and ask, do you want us to do it again?  And I would reply, 'Hell yeah!'  I could hear the guy moaning in the background.  I would get excited knowing they would send me that video too!"

"Then last night, after I turned on the TV and DVD and settled into my comfy chair with a beer and a sandwich, ...okay, six beers, six shots of Wild Turkey, and two sandwiches, I thought to myself.  Is there anything else to my life?  Is this any way to live?  I suddenly felt so empty inside and cold. I usually do feel cold, but this was more cold then that, maybe because of the enormity of the emptiness that had come over me."

"The remote was still in my hand and I had a choice to hit 'Play' or put it down, and this time I put it down.  I also realized I was fighting the urge to pick up the beer, or the shot, or the sandwich, but I just sat there thinking.  'Dick, you've lived all alone your whole life.  Maybe you ought to try being part of the world?'  As I thought about this, I realized I had lived a life completely disrespectful of any laws, disrespectful of life itself.  Oh, I would stop at stop signs and obey traffic regulations, but when it comes to making money, whatever it takes to maximize profits was the path I took.  No one could stand in my way.  I always found a way to get what I wanted and no one has ever stopped me."

"This is how I came to turn myself into the authorities.  Please stop me.  Won't you please bring this shameful existence to an end for me?  I hate myself, really.  I have this drive to be the alpha-dog, to assert my authority at every opportunity, even when it is of no consquence, and I cannot stop it.  I am asking the authorites to stop me.  Hold me accountable.'

"Accountable for what, you say?  Oh, that is a very long list indeed.  One could ignore the torture issue and still put me away for all of my remaining years, but what really sank deep into my core as I sat there was how many Iraqis have died as a result of the war I started.  I mean, I did everything I could in the interest of creating a reason for that war, but except for my desire to dominate and eliminate Saddam Hussein, who was not conceding to our demands related to oil exploration and extraction, there really was no reason to invade Iraq"

"The beer and the sandwiches are still sitting there by my chair with the remote.  I know if I return to the house, I will eat, drink, and watch those videos again.  I don't want to do it.  I'm tired of going before the cameras every weekend to fabricate another version of what we were did.  We wanted the oil from Iraq and we wanted Saddam Hussein eliminated.  At least, that is what I used to think.  Now, I just want it to end.  I'm tired.  I've got nuthin'."