Yes, it's hard to envision Dick Cheney as the mouthpiece for democracy. But the true lesson from his freedom tour is that in Bush/Cheney world, oil trumps democracy:
Vice President Dick Cheney made democratic reform his calling card throughout his just-completed overseas trip - everywhere except Kazakhstan, a land judged poor in human rights but rich in oil and gas.
"Obviously Kazakhstan is important given their considerable resources," the vice president told reporters Sunday aboard Air Force Two on the way home. "It's one of the few places where we're going to see an increase in oil production from a non-OPEC state over the next few years."
