The 10 punches Dick Cheney landed on Barack Obama's jaw

Telegraph.com ^ | 5/21/09 | Toby Harnden

[LdSentinal]

The spectacle of two duelling speeches with a mile of each other in downtown Washington was extraordinary. I was at the Cheney event and watched Obama's address on a big screen beside the empty lectern that the former veep stepped behind barely two minutes after his adversary had finished.

So who won the fight? (it's hard to use anothing other than a martial or pugilistic metaphor). Well, most people are on either one side or the other of this issue and I doubt today will have prompted many to switch sides.

But the very fact that Obama chose to schedule his speech (Cheney's was announced first) at exactly the same time as the former veep was a sign of some weakness.

The venues for the speeches said something. Obama showily chose the National Archives, repository for many of the founding documents of the US, and spoke in front of a copy of the Constitution - cloaking himself in the flag, as Republicans were often criticised for doing.

To hear Cheney speak, we were crammed into a decidedly unglamourous and cramped conference room at AEI, favourite think tank of conservative hawks.

The former veep's speech was factual and unemotional and certainly devoid of the kind of hokey, self-obsessed, campaign-style stuff like this, from Obama's address today: "I stand here today as someone whose own life was made possible by these documents. My father came to these shores in search of the promise that they offer. My mother made me rise before dawn to learn their truths when I lived as a child in a foreign land."

In terms of Obama's purported aim for his speech - to present a plan for closing Guantanamo Bay aimed at placating Congress - he failed.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Please Help Keep The Lights On

[2ndDivisionVet]

Intellectually, it’s like a grown man, in his prime, fighting a 13 year old boy in an iron lung.

[Islaminaction]

If only Cheney and Bush would of spoken out like this before the election.

[river rat]

Obama is a very dangerous black racist post turtle.
Those who still can't see that are delusional..

[combat_boots]

Hey!

Post turtles might take umbrage at being included, you know.......

[jeffc]

But the very fact that Obama chose to schedule his speech (Cheney's was announced first) at exactly the same time as the former veep was a sign of some weakness.

If you are one of the two or three people who still watch MSNBC, you were told by Rachel MadCow(disease) that Cheney's speech was in response to BO's! What spin!

[Frantzie]

Yeah really. I like turtles. They sort of just do their own thing and they don’t bother anyone.

Obama is like a tick or some other parasite.

McCain (spewing crap again today) is only slightly further up the development chain.

[John Leland 1789]

I keep wondering, what is the best way we can work to keep Mr. Cheney around for a good while? What is the best support and encouragement we can give him, and how do we deliver it to him?

what exactly do we need to say and write to our elected representatives to keep the criminalization wolves away from Mr. Cheney, Mr. Bush, and others in the Bush Administration?

[Mr. Mojo]

"I stand here today as someone whose own life was made possible by these documents. My father came to these shores in search of the promise that they offer. My mother made me rise before dawn to learn their truths when I lived as a child in a foreign land."

< / eyeballs rolling all the way to the back of my head >

B-HO is in constant campaign mode; he just doesn't know any other way to be.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

I myself don’t think this article supports the headline. It’s that very diffuse British writing style that celebrates one person’s subtle perception of nuance over what multiple people could agree on if it were cogently written.

[Kenny Bunk]

IF ONLY....
GW had put this man out front on a few issues ...domestic drilling and refining ... Iraq ... shoulda ....woulda ....coulda prevented this disastrous preposterous unconstitutional Chicago crook out of office.

[RasterMaster]

"My mother made me rise before dawn to learn their truths when I lived as a child in a foreign land."

DUh-bama can't even come up with a better lie than that? His whore mamma had young Barry rise early so he could make it to the mosque in time for morning prayers.

[celtic gal]

I think Cheney would have,I think Bush put the muzzle on him as he did not think getting into the fray with detractors was good for the office of Pres and VP. The other thing Bush failed to do was use that veto pen on the spending sprees by the congress. The only reason dems bitch about this is because the spending was not done by Gore or Kerry..otherwise there was not a dimes worth of difference there.
All that said, Bush kept the terrorists at bay for more than 7 years and that says one whale of a lot. Had we had more attacks, noneo of the other issues would have made any difference anyway.
I think Dick gave Obama a good ol shiner today,

[celtic gal]

I agree and it is a concern that there are so many who do not recognize the threat from within with this angry racist in the WH.

[csense]

Excellent speech By Cheney. I can only guess that the rhetoric will get much worse if Obama doesn’t smarten up, which doesn’t seem like he will anytime soon, and I think Cheney knows that. He’s pretty much stopping short of calling this administration incompetent, which they are. It will be interesting to see how this evolves because Cheney isn’t the type to go quietly into the night, and I don’t think he gives a rats ass about GOP strategists who wish he would.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Excellent article...

[Brad’s Gramma]

https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Go Cheney!

[steel_resolve]

I’m a dude and I’m married to a lovely woman, but DAMMIT I’m in love with dick cheney!!!!! Take the fight to these LOSERS!!!