So while the Plamegate probe gets ever closer to Dick Cheney, and while Cheney spends what little political capitol he has left defending George W. Bush’s taste for torture, Mary Cheney is going back into the private sector. Mary, of course, is Cheney’s carpet-munching daughter, the lesbian Cheney, the one who use to work for Coors, promoting their beer to the gay and lesbian community. Despite the Bush administration’s terrible record on gay issues—including the administration’s support for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning gay marriage—Mary Cheney stuck by her father’s side, managed his campaign during both the 2000 and 2004 elections.

Which lead to a surreal moment: Bush won, in part, by beating up on gays, scare-mongering on gay marriage, and making common cause with gay bashers on the religious right who believe that gays and lesbians—particularly gay and lesbian couples—are a threat to the family, the country, even the survival of the planet. And who was up there on the stage with George when he made his election-night victory speech? Why, Mary Cheney and her bull-dyke girlfriend, that’s who. Twenty million gay Americans have wanted to slap some sense into Mary Cheney—I’m speaking figuratively, of course, as actually slapping Cheney would be a crime—for the last five years.

So what are we to conclude when Cheney picks this moment in time to take a job with AOL?

Time Warner’s America Online has hired Mary Cheney, the daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, an AOL spokesman confirmed on Tuesday.

Mary Cheney will work closely with Ted Leonsis, vice chairman of America Online and head of the unit whose function it is to increase AOL’s Internet audience via Web-based programming and products, AOL spokesman Nicholas Graham said.

Does Mary, who has been an aide to her father throughout his time as VP, know something we don’t know? Is dad about to lose his job? Has, who by her silence condoned the GOP’s campaign against gay and lesbian Americans, suddenly found her scruples and can’t stand by dad now that she knows him to be a crime-committing, torture-happy felon? Or, more likely, is Mary getting out while the getting out is good, and lining up a nice paying job for herself at the same time?

I think it’s telling that Mary Cheney is bailing now. It half-convinces me that it’s not just Libby who’s facing indictment. Mary Cheney deserted gays and lesbians when she moved from shilling for Coors to shilling for Bush, and I don’t doubt that she would do the same to her father. She may be the first rat coming off this sinking, stinking ship.