After the 9/11 attacks, President Bush famously declared that he would capture Osama bin Laden “dead or alive.” However, less than a year later — in March 2002 — Bush said that he was “not that concerned” about the al Qaeda leader. Today on CNN’s Late Edition, host Wolf Blitzer asked Vice President Cheney, “How frustrating is this to you personally, knowing he’s [bin Laden] still at large?” Cheney hesitated, then simply replied that he would “obviously…like to solve that problem.” He added that it’s more “important” to “keep…this country safe,” indicating that bin Laden is inconsequential.

But should we be glossing over the first part of Cheney’s answer to the question of why hasn’t the administration captured Bin Laden yet? Does “well, we have a few days left, Wolf” mean that the “history will prove us right” spin of the Bush Legacy Project is foreshadowing the upstaging of the Obama inauguration with an Osama capture? Is that a Chesire Cheney we see in this interview?

If not, Cheney’s nonchalance and off the cuff retort does nothing but denigrate the memory of those lost on 9/11 and prove to the families affected by the tragedy just how much he really cares.