'Psychopath': Jon Stewart is as impressed with Dick Cheney's torture views as you'd expect

&#039;Psychopath&#039;: Jon Stewart is as impressed with Dick Cheney&#039;s torture views as you&#039;d expect — (Image credit: The Daily Show)

Former Vice President Dick Cheney is so cold and remorseless about the CIA torture outlined in last week's Senate report, he said last weekend he feels worse about the released U.S. detainees that took up arms than the innocent people who died in CIA black sites. "It's like this guy's the vice president in a Cormac McCarthy novel," said Jon Stewart on Monday night's Daily Show. The only remaining question, Stewart added, is this: "Is Dick Cheney a righteous warrior or a psychopath?"

You can probably guess Stewart's conclusion, but it's much more effective when his commentary is interspersed between Cheney's pretty chilling, definitely self-assured responses to NBC's Chuck Todd. Stewart was so disturbed by Cheney's torture boosterism and use of 9/11 to justify it that he ended up on a note of gratitude to George W. Bush. --Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.