People not buying the BS? Hey, why not have a cute photo op during the Neverending Campaign
President Barack declared defiantly Thursday that the U.S. “went off course” in fighting terrorism over the past eight years, and said his policies will “better protect” the country against al Qaeda.
In a remarkable split-screen presentation of opposing worldviews, former Vice President Dick Cheney spoke across town moments later, saying he supported the controversial policies “when they were made, and without hesitation would do so again in the same circumstances.”
“The point is not to look backward,” Cheney said. “A lot rides on our President’s understanding of the security policies that preceded him. And whatever choices he makes concerning the defense of this country, those choices should not be based on slogans and campaign rhetoric, but on a truthful telling of history.”Â
Obama, in a major address at the National Archives, argued that waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods “did not advance our war and counter-terrorism efforts – they undermined them.”
Is there any point towards doing this except to turn it into a campaign stop? Full text of Obama’s campaign stop here. Shockingly, the same NY Times doesn’t bother with a transcript of Cheney’s speech. They have a link to it at another site. The Weekly Standard has it in non-PDF form.
Staying over at The Weekly Standard, some good stuff
Regarding what Obama was going to say, It’s worth remembering that the Bush administration didn’t have the “luxury of starting from scratch,” unless you mean the exciting opportunity to create a whole new building in the crater where the Trade Towers once stood. Bush, if you’ll remember, was cleaning up “a mess” that left “in its wake” a “flood” of dead Americans and immediate threats to the rest of the country. It’s a bit unseemly for Obama to whine about the “legal challenges” left by an administration that was successful in protecting the country from those threats for seven years.
Obama’s is the speech of a young senator who was once a part-time law professor–platitudinous and preachy, vague and pseudo-thoughtful in an abstract kind of way. This sentence was revealing: “On the other hand, I recently opposed the release of certain photographs that were taken of detainees by U.S. personnel between 2002 and 2004.” “Opposed the release”? Doesn’t he mean “decided not to permit the release”? He’s president. He’s not just a guy participating in a debate. But he’s more comfortable as a debater, not as someone who takes responsibility for decisions.
Cheney’s is the speech of a grownup, of a chief executive, of a statesman. He’s sober, realistic and concrete, stands up for his country and its public officials, and has an acute awareness of the consequences of the choices one makes as a public official and a willingness to take responsibility for those choices.
Michelle Malkin: Cliff Notes’ version of Obama’s speech: I blame Bush (but, uh, I will follow his “lost way†on preventive detention. Just in a kinder, gentler, more, uh, moral way).
One thing I do have to give Obama credit for is that he at least tries to fight back to support Bush’s his policies. One of the big complaints we on the Right have had is that the Bush admin. never really tried to defend their policies. They should have let Cheney loose 7 years ago.
