The “Cheney as Honored Speaker at American Museum of Fly Fishing” story continues to grow legs, capturing the hearts and minds of reporters at what we’ll (for now) call “the mainstream media.”

One even included a link to the Trout Underground, which forces us to question his sanity.

ABC News posted a short piece (which referenced the 40Rivers blog); Alan Gregory of the Standard Speaker weighed in; and in a Daily News story, we learn that one AMFF Board Member has resigned in protest, and that another – a noted podiatrist (congratulate me on my podiatry-joke related temperance here) – hints at the real reason Cheney got the invite:

Gary Sherman, a New York podiatrist on the museum’s board of trustees, called Cheney “a fine speaker” and “a man who has the ability to help us raise money.”

It’s possible both are true, though the Underground’s Historical Division would like to point out the fact that Cheney’s “fine” auditory qualities are accompanied by the stench of tens of thousands of dead salmon, courtesy the Klamath fish kill.

Perhaps podiatrists are good at making money in the face of strong odors, but we’ll reiterate: Inviting Cheney to their fall fundraiser is a little like inviting Joe Camel to an American Lung Association meeting, and then wondering why all the noise.