Liz Cheney to Obama: Stop letting the polls shape your policy on terror

The money bit comes at 1:45 in the exchange about what her dad meant when he said there was no “middle ground” on this subject; ironically, this is a rare case where the left would probably agree. As I said in the post on Obama’s speech, his policies in this area are defined by half-a-loaf gestures meant to appease critics on each side. He’ll release the torture memos but he won’t release the detainee photos; he’ll stick with military commissions but he’ll add a few extra procedural safeguards; he’ll ban torture but he’ll appoint a task force to decide if the CIA needs any additional interrogation techniques; and on and on. LC’s point is that he needs to decide what’s more important, fighting terror by the most effective possible means or placating his detractors with middle-ground muddles. Although, of course, The One would claim that those muddles are in fact the most effective possible way to fight terror, just as universal health care is the best way to end budget deficits, just as everything he does for political reasons supposedly isn’t done for political reasons but because it’s “pragmatic” or the only sensible solution or whatever.

As for Cheney herself, I’m surprised at how much of a fan base she’s built on righty blogs over the past month. I think it’s the fact that she comes at this with the same perspective and eloquence as Dick but minus the Palpatine vibe. Note her shrewd point in the middle here, too, about how the recidivism among detainees is likely to be greater among the hardcore group still left in Gitmo than it was among those already released. Luckily for us, Obama has a very principled, Hopenchange-y solution for that.

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