You know the old saying: Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

Why, then, is the beaten-down Republican Party using Dick Cheney and Karl Rove - two of the most unpopular people from one of the most unpopular presidential administrations in history - as its most visible spokesmen?

Evey time I turn on Fox News, there's Rove, bloviating about how bad President Barack Obama is for America. And every time I turn on, well, almost any news channel, there's Cheney, bloviating about how bad President Barack Obama is for America.

Don't these guys, and the party they represent, understand they're a large part of why the Republicans got their butts kicked in the 2006 midterm elections and the 2008 presidential vote? Do they really think their continued noisemaking on cable TV news shows will lead to a different result in 2010 or 2012?

Obama has a 65 percent approval rating, according to the latest Gallup Poll. President George W. Bush, thanks in large part to Cheney and Rove, left office with an approval rating in the low 20s.

If these guys spend much more time on the air, telling people exactly what they don't want to hear, the Democrats can start engraving the invitations for the 2012 inaugural balls today.