Harry Reid: "Why would I want Cheney president?"

Via froomkin:

Tim Grieve interviews Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid in Salon:

Reid: "I think we've come to learn that the intelligence community in America is run by one person -- one person -- and that's the vice president. [Sen. Pat] Roberts, who is the supposed chair of that committee -- I shouldn't say 'supposed chair'; he is the chair -- he can't do anything without [Dick Cheney]."

Grieve: "We saw some of that last week , when Arlen Specter went public about Cheney's efforts to block him from having the telephone companies testify on the NSA database program before the Senate Judiciary Committee. . . . What kind of pressure does Cheney exert on these guys?"

Reid: "I don't know. A phone call? I don't know what he does."

Grieve: "But what's the threat?"

Reid: "I guess he won't like them anymore. Maybe he'll use, like he did with Leahy , the F-word. I don't know."

Grieve: "Whatever it is, they ultimately buckle under. Specter talks a good game, but -- "

Reid: "It's not 'ultimately.' Specter is the only one who's given an ostensible reaction, negatively [to the NSA program]. But that didn't last. He caved in like soft cake, you know. . . . "

Grieve: "[House Minority Leader] Nancy Pelosi has apparently taken impeachment off the table, even if the Democrats win in November."

Reid: "But see, I've cooled that impeachment [talk] from the beginning. You know why? Who would be the president if the president were impeached? Why would I want Cheney president?"