The ABC‘s 7.30 Report had a great interview with Chris Patten last night on his thoughts on the Iraq War which included the following snippet:

KERRY O’BRIEN: Why do you dislike Dick Cheney?

LORD PATTEN: I think he gives conservatism a bad name. I think he associates conservatism with making rich people even richer, with more perks for the corporate world, with the most assertive sorts of nationalism. If you look at things – the arguments at the moment, America 2001 had the huge sympathy of the world after the attacks on New York and Washington. Now, three years down the road, four years down the road, we see the Administration, particularly Vice-President Cheney, trying to prevent Senator McCain writing into American law the fact that Americans don’t torture people. So America is on the back foot on human rights issues. America, which stood for and argued for Helsinki and the sort of approach to human rights which eventually helped us sink the Soviet Union. How have they got themselves into this mess? They’ve got themselves into this mess because of that implaccable ultra-conservative presence at President Bush’s right hand and I think that it’s a pity that the President doesn’t listen more to his father and less to Vice-President Cheney.