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Oh, please, please, please... 

If he testifies, Cheney will bring to the jurors the awesome authority of his office and could attest to Libby's character as policy adviser and family man, to his crushing workload and dedication to keeping the country safe. That could give extra heft to Libby's defense against the charge that he lied to the FBI and grand jury: that he was so occupied with important matters of state, he did not accurately remember conversations from July 2003.

But the first 10 days of testimony has already exposed some of the long-hidden workings of Cheney's extraordinary vice presidency, revealing how deeply the vice president himself was engaged during 2003 in managing public relations as the administration's case for war came under attack.

Under cross-examination by Patrick Fitzgerald, a veteran prosecutor who is likely to be deferential but dogged with questions, the vice president may be forced to describe in uncomfortable detail how he directed the counterattack on Joseph Wilson 4th, the former ambassador who accused the administration of twisting pre-war intelligence.

"This could be great theater," said Peter Shane, a law professor at Ohio State University. Anything Cheney says for the defense, Shane said, becomes "fair game" to be picked apart by the prosecution.

If Cheney makes a statement that conflicts with the public record — and nearly every witness so far has done so at least once — it could prove embarrassing for him and for the administration.

"If Cheney said anything that's contradicted in the record, though I think that's unlikely, Pat will slam him," said a former federal prosecutor who knows Fitzgerald. "He'll do it respectfully, but I have no doubt he'll do it," said the attorney, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of his relations with people in the case.

No testimony so far has supported the idea, proposed by some critics, that Cheney deliberately sought to punish Wilson by ordering the exposure of the covert employment by the CIA of his wife, Valerie Wilson. It was the disclosure of Valerie Wilson's CIA job that sparked the criminal investigation that ultimately led to perjury and obstruction of justice charges against Libby.

But the trial has chipped away at the public image of Cheney as a sober- minded policy architect and tough political combatant who is never rattled by the sniping of critics or the fickle commentary of the press.

Hello, brittle, supersized ego.  Meet your date with destiny.  Under oath.  Under penalty of perjury.

Anyone else having one of those "A Few Good Men" moments in their mind?  Somehow, I think Jane is going to have an awfully good week this week, either way.  Boo yah!