Well that guys actions resulted in only 3 women and a child being locked up and tortured for a length of time that is now over...

I said might.

Actual outcomes need to be weighed against counterfactuals, and I think the claim that the alternative would have been worse in Cheney's case - while I dispute it - is better than in the other.

I understand you were not being definitive and I doubt very much that people would disagree that Cheney is a better person than that rapist given the same ability to effect the world.

Having said that Cheney had a lot of power and a lot of impact. In relative terms the alternative to Cheney in power does not need to be much better to result in an absolute impact greater than the 4 lives affected by that rapist.

My statement was meant to point out that the absolute rather than the relative "evilness" of him is a viable reason for some to hate him.

I understood, and I don't mean to say there's not some validity to the perspective.