You knew it was coming, folks. Joe Biden went after Dick Cheney today in an interview with Wolf Blitzer--in a way that one can only conclude his boss gave him clearance to come after him with both barrels, with double-aught ammo.

"I don't think [Cheney] is out of line, but he is dead wrong," he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "This administration — the last administration left us in a weaker posture than we've been any time since World War II: less regarded in the world, stretched more thinly than we ever have been in the past, two wars under way, virtually no respect in entire parts of the world. "...I guarantee you we are safer today, our interests are more secure today than they were any time during the eight years" of the Bush administration.

Ouch. You can tell Biden's been wanting to let Cheney have it for some time. I can see him now in the White House ... "Come on, Mr. President, let me at him, let me at him!"

Biden went on to say that Cheney's power actually weakened our standing in the world.