THE DAILY BLADE: The "Duel" On Terror Policy Was Two Against One
President Barack Obama’s pre-buttal at the National Archives Museum on Thursday of ongoing criticisms of his national security policies by Dick Cheney was immediately followed by the former vice president himself restating his précis on Bush administration anti-terror achievements in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute. Guess which man made the following statements in his speech:
Obama or Cheney?:
We are less than eight years removed from the deadliest attack on American soil in our history. We know that al Qaeda is actively planning to attack us again. We know that this threat will be with us for a long time, and that we must use all elements of our power to defeat it.
Obama or Cheney?:
After 9/11, we knew that we had entered a new era – that enemies who did not abide by any law of war would present new challenges to our application of the law; that our government would need new tools to protect the American people, and that these tools would have to allow us to prevent attacks instead of simply prosecuting those who try to carry them out.
Obama or Cheney?:
[T]oo often – our government made decisions based upon fear rather than foresight, and all too often trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions. Instead of strategically applying our power and our principles, we too often set those principles aside as luxuries that we could no longer afford. And in this season of fear, too many of us – Democrats and Republicans; politicians, journalists and citizens – fell silent.
Obama or Cheney?:
Military commissions have a history in the United States dating back to George Washington and the Revolutionary War. They are an appropriate venue for trying detainees for violations of the laws of war. They allow for the protection of sensitive sources and methods of intelligence-gathering; for the safety and security of participants; and for the presentation of evidence gathered from the battlefield that cannot be effectively presented in federal Courts.
Obama or Cheney?:
Al Qaeda terrorists and their affiliates are at war with the United States, and those that we capture – like other prisoners of war – must be prevented from attacking us again.
Obama or Cheney?:
In our constitutional system, prolonged detention should not be the decision of any one man.
Obama or Cheney?:
[T]he American people are more interested in doing what is right to protect this country than in political posturing.
Obama or Cheney?:
Unlike the Civil War or World War II, we cannot count on a surrender ceremony to bring this journey to an end. Right now, in distant training camps and in crowded cities, there are people plotting to take American lives. That will be the case a year from now, five years from now, and – in all probability – ten years from now.
All of the statements above were in Obama’s speech (“Obama In Bush Clothing,” as Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer put it to describe a series of recent flip-flops by the president on Bush policies he vowed to abandon). His words rang hollow, however, because time and again Obama immediately followed the tough talk with unfounded accusations and wobbly equivocations.
The “duel” on Thursday wasn’t Obama vs. Cheney, it was Obama vs. Obama. His speech could only have been given by someone with multiple personality disorder – or a deeply conflicted liberal who (to borrow a phrase from the 1964 Goldwater campaign) in his heart knows Cheney is right. Obama must summon the backbone to squelch his inner McGovern and embrace his inner Cheney, because he is not going to be able to talk his way out of the national security threats we face in Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan and even here at home.
Editorial Note: The Wall Street Journal put together side-by-side snippets of the dueling speeches that show the stark contrast in the worldviews of the two men.
Think Adam Wuz Robbed? Blame Perez Hilton.
Aaron Hicklin, editor of Out magazine describes “American Idol” coming down to a choice between “a gutsy eye-liner-wearing Californian with a big voice” and a “clean-cut, evangelical Christian.” When - as Hicklin put it – "Twilight" lost to "High School Musical," the chattering classes and “Idol” fans began debating whether the Adam Lambert, 27, was the victim of anti-gay bigotry, or whether Kris Allen, 23, benefitted from “conformist” and “conventional” fans who live in flyover country. Triangulation suggests a third possibility: Red State America bitch-slapped Perez Hilton by proxy.
There are those who believe Hilton deliberately (last item) set Carrie Prejean up because she attended San Diego Christian College and denied her the Miss USA win by voting against her because she supports traditional marriage (second item). Red Staters voted for Allen - a married college student who was a church worship leader - denying Lambert the “Idol” win. And while gay marriage bans voted in by citizens or their elected representatives are nearly always overturned by activist judges, this time the voters get the final say.
So Lambert’s loss wasn’t anti-gay bias as much as it was payback.
Remembering And Honoring Our Fallen Warriors
The Washington Times and Footnote.com have teamed up to create an virtual Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial on which you can search the names on the wall, learn about each of the 58,000-plus fallen heroes, and personal stories, remembrances and photographs.
CNET News reports that Google engineer Sean Askay, created an interactive Google Earth layer, “Map the Fallen,” with detailed information about the 5,700 American soldiers, sailors and airmen killed in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars – including photos, how (s)he died and memorial Web sites with comments from friends and families. You need to download Google Earth 5.0 to view the map.
And The Associated Press covers a 10-day roll call by 300 volunteers of the 148,000 names of veteran buried at Riverside (CA) National Cemetery:
They read in pairs, rotating through 15-minute shifts in the beating sun, in the chilly desert night and in the pre-dawn hours thick with mosquitoes.
Some time on Memorial Day, they will read the last name on the 2,465th page.
Some read for their country.
Others read for a father lost in battle or a beloved son cut down in his prime.
And one man reads for no one in particular - except, maybe, for himself.
Thanks for taking the time to note the tributes to our Fallen Warriors on Memorial Day 2009.
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