It's called the heartland - not the brainland

"TOPEKA, Kan., Oct. 12 — Grace Mosier lives with her mom and dad, goes to birthday parties, takes ballet classes and is just like a lot of other 6-year-old girls. Except that she happens to be obsessed with Dick Cheney.

“I really, really like him,” says Grace, who can tell you what state the vice president was born in (Nebraska), where he went to grade school (College View, in Lincoln) and the names of his dogs (Dave and Jackson). She gets her fix of Cheney fun-facts by visiting the White House Web site for children. It says there that his favorite teacher was Miss Duffield and that he used to run a company called Halliburton."

- NY Times

Well, they certainly do indoctrinate them early out there in red state America.

Of course, those poor kids don't stand a chance. Later, in that Times piece about the hero worship that apparently envelops Dick Cheney - Dick Cheney, for Christsakes! - when he ventures out from his secret, undisclosed bunker, you get a sense of some of the scary adult numb nuts they are surrounded by.

“There was a peacefulness and a truthfulness to this man that really caught my heart,” says the congressman’s wife, Anne Ryun, who is clutching a Bush-Cheney placard from the 2000 campaign that the vice president has just autographed.

Ms. Ryun had spoken briefly to Mr. Cheney and says she had told him she was praying for him. She adds that his wife, Lynne, “is the most gracious, intelligent woman I’ve ever known of,” and that she wants to model her life after her. Recounting this, Ms. Ryun’s voice goes soft, and her eyes become a little glassy.

Seriously, what is wrong with these people?