Posted on 05/22/2009 7:14:35 AM PDT by lewisglad
For the first time in his presidency, Americans are getting a glimpse of Barack Obama on the defensive.
Over the past few weeks, Obama has been back on his heels over torture and terror, issues on which he surely thought he had the upper hand.
And he spent Thursday battling charges from a man he surely thought he had vanquished in November, former Vice President Dick Cheney.
It took some worried calls from Capitol Hill Democrats, congressional aides said, to convince him otherwise – that he needed to give a speech defending his plan for closing the terror prison at Guantanamo Bay, and rebutting Republican claims that the move would endanger Americans where they live.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and others made clear “that we’re going to need a lot more cover if we’re going to be able to deal with this issue,” said one Democratic leadership aide.
So on a day when Obama would have rather been anywhere else – remaking the auto industry or cheerleading an economic recovery – he was sharing TV screens with Cheney, the two men equals, at least for one hour.
“The White House didn’t want to do it — they want to drive the agenda, they want to be focused on health care right now,” said Heather Hurlburt, the executive director of the National Security Network, a Democratic think tank. “The Hill asked him to do this and he did it.”
That forcing of Obama's hand marks a remarkable turnabout for a president who holds the most commanding position in American politics in two decades.
The most popular politician in the country found himself pushed up against a wall by one of the least popular in Cheney – the leading voice in a budding Republican attack on Obama over national defense, one of the GOP’s oldest (and most successful) cudgels against Democrats.
With some Democrats worried that Cheney is building a case to blame Obama if the United States is attacked again, the new president argued on Thursday that the former vice president's ideas for harsh interrogations and holding prisoners indefinitely made the nation less safe, not more.
White House officials deny that they felt any pressure from Cheney’s prior attacks to give a speech like the one he delivered on Thursday, but they did concede that Obama’s stance has been distorted in the debate over terrorism.
Congressional Democrats, however, tell a different story. Aides to top Senate and House Democrats say congressional leaders dragged the White House into delivering a speech Obama was reluctant to give, pleading directly with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
They warned of the revolt that finally materialized Wednesday when a solid Democratic majority in the Senate was stampeded into a landslide 90-6 vote against the president on funding the closure of Gitmo.
“He was responding to signals coming from the Hill in recent weeks that intensified in recent days,” said the Democratic leadership aide. “I’m not quite sure how we got into this situation, and I’m not sure what the hesitancy was on the part of the administration.”
lol
Maybe the unreleased memos show Cheney is right?
I saw right through this, 0 is out there fighting for and defending !slamic terrorists. That’s what I saw from Osama Hussein.
God Bless former VP Cheney.....he is only one with guts to speak up. All at GOP, US Congress and State Elected Officials all over country needs to stand up and be heard NOW!
Zero was all style no substance as usual, and Cheney came with the goods yesterday.
How for the first time in his LIFE? This girly-boy has never been challenged on anything. I fully expect him to burst into turns and go run & hide behind Michelle's skirt.
Oh please. As a leader, I seriously doubt that a majority of Americans have any confidence in him.
[the new president argued on Thursday that the former vice president’s ideas for harsh interrogations and holding prisoners indefinitely made the nation less safe, not more.]
Does anyone buy this crap? It is a very weak, idiotic argument.
Oh, how awful for The First Thug. Having to do something where the Tingly Media isn't fainting and having multiple orgasms on his every teleprompted word.
Maybe The First Thug should put a bumper sticker on the Presidential Limo: "I'd rather be campaigning."
A clown honking his nose vs an adult telling us what reality is.
Wow, this piece of commie propaganda is really reaching.
Hussein was destroyed by the VP yesterday, and now he is blaming his speech on Congress?
Very good article. The touchy feely administration of Obama has finally met its match in Cheney.
This guy is a stuffed shirt, why are the republcan’s running scared from this idiot? Challenge him, refute him, don’t back down, make him defend his idiocy, he’ll blow up like the barney fife that he is.
It's obvious, isn't it? Even if the Politico couldn't bring itself to mention it.
Yesterday's speech was supposed to provide "the plan" for closing Guantanamo and disposing of its prisoners. Yet, it did no such thing. There was no "plan" at all -- only anti-Bush (Cheney) rhetoric.
So, the Congress was asking for a plan they could agree with. The administration's "hesitancy" traces to the fact they had no plan. At least, no plan that anybody in their right mind would agree to.
He's ugly enough when on the offensive, just watch him when he gets cornered!
“With some Democrats worried that Cheney is building a case to blame Obama if the United States is attacked again”
Ya think?
[they did concede that Obama’s stance has been distorted in the debate over terrorism. ]
No matter how idiotic an Obama idea is and how obviously pernicious the likely outcome, it is always distorted.
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