Every single person who underestimated Dick Cheney got it up the rear without lube. He knows power, likes power, and understands it. He has no morals, no values beyond himself and his minions. Where Bush failed at just about everything he undertook, Cheney never did.
And, you don't think we're in a police state now? Try to fly anywhere lately? Last time I flew I kept wondering if this was still America. Some minimum wage jerk asking where I was going and why? I told him I was a sex tourist, because I was on union business, and he is not in the union, and has no right to know any of that. Now they want to check bags on the train. How the hell do you hijack a train? Really.