President Barack Obama has finally met his match. The Republican Party has finally found its spokesman.
Vice President Cheney is back, and people should heed every word from this man.
I have said it over and over again, and I will keep saying it. Vice President Cheney gets it because unlike his childish critics, he is an adult.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/05/21/cheney_obama_keeping_america_safe_96615.html
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/toby_harnden/blog/2009/05/21/the_10_punches_dick_cheney_landed_on_barack_obamas_jaw
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/05/22/obama_vindicates_bush.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124295772566745907.html
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22833.html
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/05/22/president_above-it-all_96629.html
Barack Obama ran as somebody new and “post-partisan.” While most Republicans knew this was gobbledygook, President Obama won the election. Yet like a typical Democrat, President Obama forgot that the campaign was the means to an end, not the end itself. He is in perpetual campaign mode.
Mr. Obama gets away with this because Republicans have been lacking in leadership since January 20th (Some would say the entire country is lacking leadership as well, but that is for another time).
All conservatives have to be described as dumb or evil. This allows liberals to afford the rhinoplasty that keeps their noses so far in the air above us mere mortals.
President Goerge W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Dan Quayle, and Sarah Palin have all been treated as if they weere complete imbeciles.
Yet some conservatives are too intelligent to be given the dunce treatment. Newt Gingrich may be controversial, but he is no fool. So he has to be caricatured as mean, to the point of evil.
This is how Democrats win arguments. They destroy the Republican personally, and therefore any Republican argument becomes invalid because that person said it. If Sarah Palin says something, what she says does not matter. She says it, therefore it must be bad.
Yet the one person that will not back down is Dick Cheney. He has his critics on the defensive.
Some people are wondering why Vice Presidency did not speak up sooner. I asked Dana Perino and Ari Fleischer personally when the Bush Administration would start hitting back.
The answer to why Mr. Cheney did not hit back while Vice President is because he was not the boss. George W. Bush was determined to be gracious and polite to the end, as Reagan was.
Sure, occasionally Cheney would properly express his true feelings, as when he told uber-critic Patrick Leahy what he thought of him. How else does one respond to a man that repeatedly stabs your back, and then reaches to shake your hand?
As for Vice President Cheney, I am a believer that leaders that leave power should shut up, and fade into the background. I am also a believer in Presidential prerogative, and that we have one leader at a time. So normally I would want Vice President Cheney to just be quiet and let President Obama. So why should there be an exception in this case?
Because President Obama started it. To be more specific, he never stopped it. He is running a perpetual campaign, attacking the Bush Administration on a daily basis. Does anybody remember Ronald Reagan doing this, despite succeeding the dreadful president, king of stagflation, and all around terrible human being, Jimmy Carter?
Of course not. It was beneath the Gipper’s dignity.
This dignity is the same reason why George W. Bush refused to blame Bill Clinton for the 2000 stock market crash. This crash was deeper in percentage magnitude than the 2008 stock market crash, but George W. Bush truly did want to move America forward. He had better things to do than attack an attention craving adolescent has been.
Barack Obama preaches about crossing the aisle, but he never does it. What he does is incredibly clever. He absolutely acknowledges the opposing point of view, in a very polite manner. He then goes on to completely discount that view. He preaches respect toward conservative thinkers, but then dismisses every word they say.
Yet that is partisanship. That is politics. Repeatedly excoriating a previous political administration is unprecedented.
The actual issue is the War on Terror. Barack Obama speaks in platitudes. Dick Cheney helped make all of the tough decisions.
From warrantless wiretapping to Guantanamo Bay to Waterboarding to military tribunals, President Obama is acting like a naive child that is finally realizing that maybe our enemies want to kill us.
This is not the halcyon 1990s Seinfeld decade, where a Seinfeld President can romp and laugh and play with interns fat, dumb, and happy.
This is the real world, and Barack Hannah Montana Obama needs to grow up, and fast.
Enter the adult, Vice President Dick Cheney.
Before he gave his speech, he had already cleaned the Barack Clock. His speech was set weeks in advance, and President Obama, childish little boy that he is, had to schedule his speech on the exact same day. The problem for BHMO is that President Cheney spoke to the heart, while BHMO continued his pointy headed academic speech from Notre Dame.
“When my parents came to this land, blah blah blah, nose in the air, serious head tilt, etc…”
Mr. Obama, you are liberal, you are boring, and you are wrong.
Platitudes won’t cut it. It’s about saving lives from genocidal Islamofacist lunatics. They don’t want to shake our hands. They want to cut off our heads.
Mr. Obama, you might want to start pretending that you are a Muslim sir, because once they discover you are as Christian as you say, they will kill you too.
For those that need a crash course in reality, including BHMO, here are some teachings of Cheney 101.
“Today I want to set forth the strategic thinking behind our policies. I do so as one who was there every day of the Bush Administration -who supported the policies when they were made, and without hesitation would do so again in the same circumstances.”
This is called conviction. It is not based on polls. This is why Democrats fail to grasp it.
“…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.”
This is why Vice President Cheney must keep speaking. The left must not ever be allowed to rewrite the history of the Bush years.
“Nine-eleven made necessary a shift of policy, aimed at a clear strategic threat – what the Congress called ‘an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.’ From that moment forward, instead of merely preparing to round up the suspects and count up the victims after the next attack, we were determined to prevent attacks in the first place.
We could count on almost universal support back then, because everyone understood the environment we were in. We’d just been hit by a foreign enemy – leaving 3,000 Americans dead, more than we lost at Pearl Harbor. In Manhattan, we were staring at 16 acres of ashes.”
For 30 years we did nothing. Repeated
Howard Kurtz of Reliable Sources this morning on Imus In the Morning.
No one knows who the he11 is running the North Korean Government.
http://youhavetobethistalltogoonthisride.blogspot.com/2009/05/i-fav-howard-kurtz-no-one-knows-whothe.html
They also discuss the dueling Cheney-Obama speeches.
You know- I just don’t like Obama. Apparently the man cannot see past a persons gender or skin color in his nominations.
“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion [as a judge] than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” — Judge Sonia Sotomayor, in her Judge Mario G. Olmos Law and Cultural Diversity Lecture at the University of California (Berkeley) School of Law in 2001
http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/openingargument.php
Great- so we’ve got a highly likely judge who thinks white men are incapable of making good decisions based SOLELY on the color of their skin and whether they’ve lived her life or not.
Justice is supposed to be blind and impartial. Of course, so is the news- who are hailing this as a historic THIRD Nomination of a woman to the court.
Let’s see…
Ruth Bader Ginsberg is a woman and was nominated and confirmed.
Sandra Day O’Connor- woman, nominated, confirmed.
Harriet Miers- woman, nominated by George W Bush, revealed to be a ridiculous choice, and not confirmed.
And now this douche of a nomination makes FOUR!
You know what I miss about George W? He picked his cabinet based on what people could do- and got Colin Powell- who was the best person for the job. His skin color was incidental. Same with Condi Rice.
Of course, that was just about the only good thing about W’s presidency, but at least he wasn’t racist. I suppose we have to wait and see if she’s paid her taxes or not.
And now the CA Supreme Court is going to take a constitutional amendment that was LEGALLY and DEMOCRATICALLY made a part of the state constitution and repeal it. Much as I loathe what was made a part of our law, it was done so by the People in a democratic fashion. Are we a democracy or not?
I love this land, but I fear for my country. The scourge of particularism will destroy us in the end.
As I was- they upheld Prop 8. Which is really a surprise.
I personally still oppose that bill and hope we get an amendment to repeal it on the next election.
Of course, I’ll be in Connecticut at that point, so good luck to CA!
I voted against the bill, however the court made the right decision based on the law. I am quite certain had they voted the way they felt the proposition should have gone they would have overturned the proposition, but they followed the California constitution and the law. The truth is probably that no matter how they ruled some version of a proposition on this issue will probably be on the ballot (no matter which side wins) for the next several elections.
Cheny was workin on the hill since Obama was 8 years old.
Yea, I’d say he knows the ropes.
Hes called on the little whippersnapper to instead of releasing only the memos that describe the techniques to also release the memos describing the results of those techniques.
Gee, if I flew a plane into an Iranian office building killing 3000 innocent Iranians would anyone be upset if they waterboarded me ? Especially if I said theres more to come ?
Sotomayer will get her confirmation.
But theres a history on the woman that is no doubt racist and I’m going to enjoy watching those examples tossed in her face during her confirmation hearings.
Conservatives shouldnt fight it too much because it’ll only make us look like (in the eyes of moonbats) were discrminating against women and latinos.
We dont have to do anything.
Let her have her appointment with no objection from the right.
Obama and crew are doing a fine enough job of ensuring that soon to come everyones gonna be pi$$ed at them.
His and his partys numbers are tanking
The American got what they voted for, Barack Hussein Obama.
We will rue the day we were so gullible as to fall for his schtick.
Virtually no campaign promises have been fulfilled, starting with
cap and trade, to international trade, to bringing the boys home from
Iraq.
Insurgents in Baghad and greater Iraq have threatened a return to
the days after 2003, once we withdraw. The Sunnis who we have
been paying to fight Al Qaeda..are ready to start Jihad again (against
the government).
True, Obama has authorized thousands more troops in Afghanistan.
Won’t we ever learn from the Sovietskys?
We cannot win in Afghanistan. 60m Pashtuns will deprive US of
any kind of victory.
Funny, but the Taliban did not participate in 911, did they? I thought
Al Qaeda did? Why are we fighting what amounts to an intra-Muslim
rivalry?
While all this is happening, No. Korea, (why did we not listen to
Bolton?), has exploded a 15kt bomb and launched several short
range missiles. Japan is up in arms. China is displeased. The US
is fuming..but their 1m man army and thousands of artillery
pieces aimed at So. Korea, will thwart any significant moves by
any of us.
They are testing Obama..is is Iran..and have won.
If Obama were the man he claims to be, he would be
immediately loading our H-bombs on B1s and flying from Guam
to that area..while sending a few aircraft carrier groups.
Ahmad will be elected next P.M. of Iran, you can bet on it.
He wants to debate Obama. Debate?
Cheney was strident in his assumption that Saddam Hussein
was planning another 911 type attack..but using WMD, which
he had or had the abilityh to manufacture in a few months.
Cheney said, as did Bush, that we DID not go to war with Hussein
over WMD, we went to war to change regimes (even though Saddam
could have avoided that).
Every news commentator has said Powell and Obama won the debate
with Cheney.
The next 911 will have mud on their faces, while tens of thousands
of Americans are affected.
BTW, Saddam had the ability and stores of highly toxic biological agents
and chemicals. A study prior to 911 showed that smallpox, if released
in an Eastern State, would result in 1m casualties within 3 months.
Are you hearing that Obama?
Eric, Great post… and a day after Memorial Day, it is fitting that you highlight the thoughts of someone true to his country and true to his command – the unity of leadership, unity of command, and unity of policy. How does one fight a war under circumstances wherein one’s actions were legal yesterday but deemed illegal today?
Soldiers understand platitudes, condenscending attitudes, and what it takes to be free. Maintaining freedom is noisy, bloody, smelly, filthy, and ugly – and some people get it. Dick Cheney is one of those people. Those who voted for Obama didn’t get it…but time will bring true change.
I have to laugh – am reading “Ideological Bigotry” and cannot help making the comparison to a totally unrelated topic except that it is mentioned above: Sotomayer says she is supposed to legislate and feels a mandate to use her race, ethnicity, and womanhood to influence her decisions… how quickly crucified would be a white male who said, “I can better make these kinds of decisions because I’m a male, and white”. It’s a black thing, you wouldn’t understand…
Eric,
I disagree with you about Cheney. Not only is it difficult to argue with Obama on an issue where even McCain in on his side but the whole debate is a distraction from more important issues. Ultimately, the decision to move some terrorists from a military base in Cuba to a maximum security jail in Wyoming will have little impact on the wider GWOT. In contrast, Obama’s failure to clamp down on Iran and his decision to let matters deteriorate in both Afghanistan and Iraq have the potential to cost hundreds, thousands or even (in the case of Iran and the bomb) millions of lives.
Indeed, from a cynical perspective one could argue that this was Obama’s strategy all along. Pick a fight with the most unpopular figure in the Bush administration on a relatively peripheral issue – and use the resulting furore to distract people while he delay and delays any action to defend Israel with vague promises of “action” in the future until Iran gets the bomb and the point becomes moot. As an added bonus Obama will get plaudits from the right when he (temporarily) changes his mind on Guantánamo (as he inevitably will – at least in the short term).
This is, and always has been Obama’s strategy ever since he became the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination: avoid any debates on major issues unless the odds were greatly in his favour, even at the cost of an embarrassing backtrack in the short run, and focus instead on a series of peripheral debates, even if the latter was on unfavourable ground. This can be seen in his seemingly counterintuitive decision to focus on the racial aspects of “Wright-gate”, his strategy of de-emphasising Iraq during the election, his seeking of McCain’s support for a common position in favour of the bailout and his baiting of Limbaugh and then Cheney.
I have said it before – and Obama’s failure to pressure Iran and his recent shabby treatment of Israel have dashed any remaining doubts about the dangerous course that he is pursuing – the only way to get Obama to pursue a semi-sensible foreign policy is for the Republicans in the Senate (and Bayh and Lieberman) to ignore the bait over Gitmo and to directly focus on the wider War on Terror. If past form is any guide there is a chance that Obama could be forced to move to the centre on this issue.
“If past form is any guide there is a chance that Obama could be forced to move to the centre on this issue.”
Not releasing the memos that define what the techniques renered makes it pretty apparent that this will never happen.
Like you said, he likes to use distractions to avoid isues and this is one issue he’ll try as long as he can to keep out focus off of.
Before he would move any further to the right he’d have to acknowledge that many of our national security policies were spot on.
He wont do this because the Bush policies he has retained were simply a matter of him being clueless and left with no other choice after reality dawned on him. They were not aggressive proactive choices of his own.
His reaction to N. Korea, Sotomayers nomination, his woosey apprach to Iran and Israel, socialist economic policies, leaves me little hope that he’ll do anything but fall off the left side of the planet
Sorry bout the typos, its getting worse, time for the optometrist
It’s difficult to put to words what I think about Richard Cheney.
The other day I was talking with a man who actually knows Cheney (or at least met him on a couple occasions). Apparently, everyone in Wyoming knows each other. This guy had a high opinion of the man. I remember thinking rather highly of Cheney myself some years ago. I remember when almost all – right, left, and middle – were bashing GHW Bush for neglecting to depose Saddam Hussein after the Gulf War. Bush’s decision made perfect sense to me at the time, and it made perfect sense to Richard Cheney as well. Who’d be stupid enough to want that mess?
Cheney, back then, was who we used to call a “Realist” (not many around anymore). Kissinger, Cheney, Baker, Nunn, Kemp, Reagan, and many more, these people came from that school of thought. They put reality ahead of ideology. For whatever their motives, whatever their interests, whatever their biases, they were realists – they believed there was a wall of separation between where failing ideology and reality met. Cheney gave up on that. Failure, after all, is not always unprofitable (just ask a derivative trader!).
Cheney is now proving something that I and many others suspected from the beginning of the “GW Bush” adminstration – that he, at least in many ways, was the 43rd President of the United States. He is defending his legacy, his foreign policy.
No wonder President George W Bush is keeping quiet. As far as I’d be concerned, if I were GWB, I’d be happy to give Cheney his due. And I’d be happy to let him defend his legacy. I have the feeling that one day, when Bush publishes his definitive memoires, he only contrition will be the power he ceded to people like Richard Cheney. Something tells me Bush would have been a much better president were it not for the likes of Richard Cheney (and Karl Rove and a few others). Whatever one thinks of Dubya, he’s still the kind of guy anyone could enjoy a beer with. Cheney is only the kind of guy you’d want to give you industrial military contractor investment advise, just before the war he promises to come.
JMJ
eric,
Great post and great comments.
Poltipster brings up a point that we should watch very closely, distractions.
The Dems use this ploy to try to hide their real intentions. It’s a military trick as old as the military. Set up an ambush, create a diversion, attack.
This is also in the teaching of Saul Alinsky.
The economy will get worse in the next two years as soon as the “Cap and Trade” and additional “Carbon” taxes are passed and take hold. People are not spending anything that they don’t have to. People know that energy costs will soar, personal taxes will soar and cripple every sector of the economy.
The “bailout” is creating a bubble and the bubble will burst very soon.
Toma
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