Editorial By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Editor (Saskatoon/Key Largo)
Illustrations by Jack Brummet, Arts Editor (Seattle)
President Barack Obama said yesterday that the U.S.
Point--> "
went off course" in fighting terrorism over the past eight years, and said his policies will "
better protect" the country against al Qaeda.
And, moments later, across town, ex-Vice-President Dick Cheney crawled out of his coffin in broad daylight, transmogrified into a Republican Talking Points machine, and said
Counterpoint--> that 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."
Point-->President 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."Point--> The president then methodically tackled (actually, decimated) the chain of national-security decisions that have drawn criticism from the shrieking banshees political right. He called the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay an inherited "
mess" that
"has weakened American national security" by providing a rallying cry for enemies.
Point--> The President then turned to one of Republican's most ridiculous but potent and emotional arguments: "
Let me begin by disposing of one argument as plainly as I can: we are not going to release anyone if it would endanger our national security, nor will we release detainees within the United States who endanger the American people."
Point--> Obama rejected calls for a
"truth commission" (as if something confected by the republicans could possibly even have a whiff of truth) about the Bush administration's handling of the war on terror, saying he has "
no interest in spending our time re-litigating the policies of the last eight years."Mr. Ex-Vice-President, isn't it time you put a cork in it? I don't know who out there is clamoring to hear you emit wisdom other than say, Anne Coulter, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh.
In every poll since November 2008, the Republicans are rapidly losing ground--and, most importantly, voters--and while Dick Cheney may succeed in drawing support from the lunatic fringe of the party, in general he seems to be helping hammer a stake into the heart of the G.O.P. I'm all for that, but baffled why party functionaries (let's face it, it won't be Michael Stelle) have not yet found a way to muzzle the attack dog, before he drags the entire party of Lincoln into the gutter. On the other hand, keep it up Ex-Veep Cheney! At this rate, by the next election, the Republican Party will have roughly the stature and vote-getting ability of the libertarian, green, or communist parties.
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