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Dick Cheney's Second Act: President Obama Plays Defense On National Security
The Wall Street Journal ^ | 5/26/09

Posted on 05/26/2009 4:14:38 PM PDT by lewisglad

By goading a sitting president into responding to his arguments on his terms, Dick Cheney won the contest with Barack Obama last week before either said a word. And his re-emergence onto the public square seems to be driving everybody nuts.

Ironically, it was left to Chris Matthews -- one of the vice president's most unrelenting critics -- to offer the best take on last week's dueling speeches. On his Sunday show, he put it this way: "I saw something from Barack Obama I never even saw in the campaign, a sense he was listening for footsteps, that he could hear Cheney coming at him and he was defensive."

Think about that. Back in those heady days after the 2008 election, anyone who suggested that Mr. Obama might find himself playing defense to Dick Cheney on Guantanamo would have been hauled off as barking mad. Yet that's exactly what Mr. Cheney has pulled off, leaving a desperate White House to try to drown him out by adding an Obama speech the same day Mr. Cheney was slated to address the American Enterprise Institute.

Of course, the effect was just the opposite. The White House reaction ended up elevating Mr. Cheney to Mr. Obama's level, and ensuring that his words would be measured directly against the president's. Mr. Cheney forced the president to engage him.

For much of the Beltway, the Cheney surge is baffling. After all, when Mr. Cheney left office, his reputation seemed divided between those who thought him a punch line on late-night TV and those who thought him a war criminal. As so often happens, however, the conventional wisdom seems to have blinded Mr. Cheney's ideological opponents to the many advantages he brings to the table.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS: cheney; obama
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1 posted on 05/26/2009 4:14:38 PM PDT by lewisglad
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To: lewisglad

2 posted on 05/26/2009 4:17:14 PM PDT by Colonial Warrior (Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or a fool from any direction.)
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To: lewisglad

Obama doesn’t hold a candle to Cheney’s brain! Totally unmatched. Cheney is a PATRIOT also.....Obama has DUAL allegiances.


3 posted on 05/26/2009 4:17:32 PM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion....the Human Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: lewisglad

Maybe the former VP ought to take BO hunting????

“Lookit the grouse...” Curly


4 posted on 05/26/2009 4:17:35 PM PDT by Paul46360
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To: Ann Archy
Is that dual or DULL????
5 posted on 05/26/2009 4:18:22 PM PDT by Paul46360
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To: lewisglad
What is that adage about old age and guile?
6 posted on 05/26/2009 4:19:03 PM PDT by Excellence (What Madoff is to finance Gore is to global warming.)
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To: Colonial Warrior
Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

7 posted on 05/26/2009 4:22:06 PM PDT by gorush (History repeats itself because human nature is static)
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To: lewisglad

Dick Cheney - An Inconvenient Truth


8 posted on 05/26/2009 4:23:25 PM PDT by Right Wing Assault ( Obama, you're off the island!)
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To: gorush

Obummer’s strategy is right out of the pre-8/11 textbook and we all know how that ended.

If we are attacked again, Obummer won’t be able to blame Bush at all and if he tries, he won;t be able to make it stick for a single minute.

This is why Obummer is a national disgrace and a supreme joke that only the MSM could admire.


9 posted on 05/26/2009 4:25:16 PM PDT by Ev Reeman
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To: lewisglad

The “Conventional Wishdom” is wrong. Cheney is highly respected amongst adults who prefer to have truly patriotic people in charge of government.


10 posted on 05/26/2009 4:25:39 PM PDT by Hoosier-Daddy ("It does no good to be a super power if you have to worry what the neighbors think." BuffaloJack)
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To: gorush

11 posted on 05/26/2009 4:26:01 PM PDT by Colonial Warrior (Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or a fool from any direction.)
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To: Ev Reeman

Typed too fast. Should be 9/11. Sorry for the typo.


12 posted on 05/26/2009 4:26:08 PM PDT by Ev Reeman
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To: gorush

13 posted on 05/26/2009 4:27:47 PM PDT by lewisglad
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To: gorush

Your photos tell it all. Most of us women prefer real men, like Reagan, Bush, and Cheney.

Did you ever notice that these good guys got the prettier, nicer, and smarter women? (I am including myself in that category, by the way!)


14 posted on 05/26/2009 4:32:20 PM PDT by jacquej
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To: Ann Archy

The difference between Cheney and Obama is that Cheney is a man.


15 posted on 05/26/2009 4:33:33 PM PDT by y6162 (uish..)
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To: lewisglad

Cheney’s going Revolutionary War on Obama’s a$$.


16 posted on 05/26/2009 4:35:05 PM PDT by Hoosier-Daddy ("It does no good to be a super power if you have to worry what the neighbors think." BuffaloJack)
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To: lewisglad; ExTexasRedhead

Gee, Beltway we don’t want to die.


17 posted on 05/26/2009 4:36:07 PM PDT by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote.)
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To: Hoosier-Daddy
Cheney is highly respected amongst adults who prefer to have truly patriotic people in charge of government.

Unfortunately, there seem to be fewer and fewer adults around.

18 posted on 05/26/2009 4:36:26 PM PDT by ALPAPilot
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To: jacquej

Yes we do.


19 posted on 05/26/2009 4:37:23 PM PDT by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote.)
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To: gorush
I am glad to make your aquaintance.

An absolutely hilarious juxtaposition of presidential photos (revealing who has the old presidential timber, and who is curtains).

And a tagline to your moniker that is brilliant. Is it an original?
20 posted on 05/26/2009 4:39:02 PM PDT by jobim
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