by Mark Finkelstein February 14, 2006 - 19:52 Thirty-six minutes into tonight's Hardball, host Chris Matthews finally permitted a Cheney defender, former Cheney aide Ron Christie, to grace his program. Even then, Christie was not given an unobstructed opportunity to make his case, having to share the segment with hyper-partisan Dem consultant Bob Shrum - he of the record-breaking number of losing presidential campaigns - who tried to drag in everything from Iraq to Hurricane Katrina. Until Christie's belated appearance, Hardball was an absolutely ceaseless calvacade of criticism heaped on the Veep and his handling of the shooting incident that...