Pedantic note:

The full quote from Cheney about Powell vs. Limbaugh ended with him saying he, as a Republican, would choose Limbaugh over Powell "politically speaking". He wasn't saying that Limbaugh is a nicer guy or anything else....just that he didn't think Powell's views were as
'Republican' as Limbaugh's.

What is he doing? He's doing 'pre-emptive strikes' on certain topics- trying to load the news with a set of opinions designed to obfuscate the issues about his clearly illegal activities. I suspect he has actually convinced himself he believes it.
It was noted by friends and associates that "Cheney was a different person after 9/11". He seems to believe that we are all in mortal danger from "them". Now, how he gets to "the end justifies the means" mystifies me. He even suggests that **believing** that the means 'might' get you the desired end qualifies. I doubt he'd like my 2 hour lecture on the fallacies in his logic.