Darth Cheney Leaves Hospital

Former Vice President Dick Cheney was released from the hospital yesterday one month after being fitted fitted with a heart pump called a ventricular assist device.

The battery-powered pump is mainly used for short periods by a heart transplant candidate awaiting a donor organ. Such devices are being studied for use by people with severe heart failure who aren't candidates for transplants. The pump relieves pressure on the heart by rerouting blood. Cheney said last month that he chose the surgical procedure after testing and consultation with doctors.

The machine leaves patients with no discernible pulse or heartbeat. Have all the "undead" jokes already been made?