In which Appalachians who were derided as racist a few weeks ago for voting en masse for the white Democrat over the black Democrat have their honor defended from the malign insinuations of Darth Cheney. Eventually some liberal will make a joke in this vein and all the conservatives who are shrugging this one off will shift to exquisite high dudgeon while liberals assume the lighten-up posture, and a good mindlessly partisan time will be had by all. Bonus points to any lefty who went the extra hacky mile on this and made a that-explains-a-lot crack about inbreeding in the Cheney family tree.

West Virginia pols are responding as they must. Exit quotation: “It’s no more than you can expect from someone who doesn’t know how to aim a shotgun.”