He Is A Robot Possibly, Or One Of The Undead

Dick Cheney.  He has no pulse now.

No, literally.

Cheney, who likely has end-stage heart disease, was fitted with a special pump last week to help his heart pump blood through the body. The left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is consider a last step before a full heart transplant.

"It's reserved for people who have end-stage heart failure, and advanced and heroic therapies have been tried, and after folks have optimized evidence-based and guideline-recommended drug therapies," said Dr. William Abraham, director of the division of cardiovascular medicine at Ohio State University. "Their heart conditions have progressed to a state where the mortality risk is very high and they turn to LVADs and transplants."

Cheney's doctors describe the operation as a success and say he is now recuperating.
But the device does have one almost creepy side effect. The former vice president will not have a pulse, according to Dr. Alan Stewart, director of the Aortic Surgery Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Medical Center.

"This is a continuous ventricular assist device, meaning that blood is impelled. It is not a pulsatile device. So if someone were to feel Mr. Cheney`s wrist, Mr. Cheney will have no pulse," Stewart told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Wednesday.

"You can have a pretty decent quality of life on a ventricular assist device. The devices are smaller now and they`re quite durable. This device could be expected to last for three to five years and then could even be changed out for another device," Stewart explained.

On one hand, medical technology is amazing...if you can afford it.  On the other hand, Dick Cheney's circulatory system is a scary, scary place.

But in all seriousness, Dick Cheney is someone I happen to have serious and massive political disagreements with and I don't like the guy.  He is however a human being, a husband, and a father.  Late stage heart disease is not anything I would wish even on Dick Cheney.