Obama vs Cheney, with Obama vs The Senate on the undercard

Barack Obama's name was on the card twice today --first in a fight with the Senate and then with America's former top dick, Vice President Cheney.

He lost the first fight, but it was not due to his own ineptitude as a fighter, but rather to a series of low blows by a spineless Senate that voted 90-6 not to close Guantanamo Prison and transfer its occupants to prisons in America.

This was pure politics on the part of the Senate with no concern for American safety whatsoever. Though they might have framed it as "looking out for the best interest of Americans," it was instead a case of covering their political ass. They did so for fear that in the next election, their opponents would run ad spots saying that by voting to have prisoners transferred to the states, "Candidate so-and-so jeopardized your safety!"

It is complete nonsense. No one has EVER escaped from a federal Super Max prison --ever. To frame this as looking out for Americans is shite. It is nothing but political cover for the next Congressional race.

As Obama himself said:

"These are issues that are fodder for 30-second commercials. You can almost picture the direct mail pieces that emerge from any vote on this issue -- designed to frighten the population. I get it. But if we continue to make decisions within a climate of fear, we will make more mistakes."

No argument here. I was just glad that Obama called out the Senate for what it is --spineless.

Obama vs Cheney

Following the loss, Obama changed venues to the American National Archives --where they should probably retire Cheney's cranium. It was there that Obama delivered an eloquent speech on the current controversy surrounding the battle in the press between Top Dick and himself over torture, Gitmo and national security.

Obama opened strong saying, "I've heard words that, frankly, are calculated to scare people rather than educate them. Words that have more to do with politics than protecting our country."

Cheney, in a speech directly after the presidents, struck back heartily, calling the president stupid: "Now and for years to come, a lot rides on our President’s understanding of the security policies that preceded him."

Obama, I believe, has a full understanding. The dividing factor between the two is that Obama is a trained lawyer and is approaching it from a broader perspective --I like that. Top Dick, on the other hand, is a former defense secretary, and thereby constrained to only militaristic viewpoints. Or, as Chris Matthews cleverly put it, Cheney is like the troll living under the bridge who bites at little children's ankles.

To his credit, Cheney did have a few great lines about the far left and their absurd notions that somehow we should be kind to terrorist because --after all-- they are human. Cheney said:

"In the category of euphemism, the prizewinning entry would be a recent editorial in a familiar newspaper that referred to terrorists we’ve captured as, quote, “abducted.” Here we have ruthless enemies of this country, stopped in their tracks by brave operatives in the service of America, and a major editorial page makes them sound like they were kidnap victims, picked up at random on their way to the movies."

I liked that --it is a good illustration that there are not only problems on the far right --of which Cheney represents-- but also on the far left --who are at times nonchalant about the seriousness of terrorist threats.

If Americans learned anything today, it is the tired old lesson we have learned so many times before: Politicians are far more concerned with protecting themselves than the voters who put them into power.


Here is a good post-fight interview with David Axelrod.

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