Reply #7: I think they were cocky to the point of expecting everyone to be a yes-man

[Brotherjohn]

They thought this was one of the few things they could lay their hopes on. But to them, "check it out" means "make it look good". They figured, if someone doesn't play along, we'll just ignore them. If need be, we'll hush them up.

That succeeded with most. They tried it with Joe and it didn't.

Or then there's the possibility that Cheney et al were so delusional, they believed their own hype.

I go with the former: cocky and arrogant.