"To me, energetic debate on issues facing our country is more than just a sign of a healthy political system, it's also something I enjoy. It's one of the reasons I've stayed in this business."*

What's significant here is not so much a matter of temporality, but of agency. The timing of this speech by Cheney aside, his so-called "choice of words" would lead one to believe that the Vice Presidency refers to one's commerical private-sector status. Unless, that is, one sees "business" as a metaphor, as Dick's waxing poetic, a view of which I'm highly skeptical.