Did Dick Cheney make Tim Russert his ass monkey?

Memo to Tim Russert: Dick Cheney thinks he controls you.

This delicious morsel about the "Meet the Press" host and the vice president was part of the extensive dish Cathie Martin served up yesterday when the former Cheney communications director took the stand in the perjury trial of former Cheney chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Flashed on the courtroom computer screens were her notes from 2004 about how Cheney could respond to allegations that the Bush administration had played fast and loose with evidence of Iraq's nuclear ambitions. Option 1: "MTP-VP," she wrote, then listed the pros and cons of a vice presidential appearance on the Sunday show. Under "pro," she wrote: "control message."

"I suggested we put the vice president on 'Meet the Press,' which was a tactic we often used," Martin testified. "It's our best format."

I wonder how this makes Mr. Russert feel? And if this will color how he interviews White House propoganda spewers in the future. It would certainly make me get nast with them.

By the way I "borrowed" this story from Americablog, and they really deserve the credit for the story. But I thought it was definitely something that my visitors would enjoy learning about.