Ready to shake your hand, America. (ap photo)
So much drama on the Sabbath Gasbags today. On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” suddenly ubiquitous former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich threw his lot in with former Vice President Dick Cheney, saying President Obama is wrong on national security and is making the country less safe. Even bolder, Gingrich attempted to explain a question that persists: What is up with Cheney these days?
“The thing that I think motivates Cheney, and I watched this firsthand after 9/11, is the shock of 9/11 — the reality that his children and his grandchildren could die; that he has an obligation to America to take extra steps to keep us alive,” Gringrich said. “And I think this was burned into him that day and the following day and the realization we have been caught totally off guard despite all the warnings of the ’90s, we had been caught totally off guard.”
Cheney never gave a toss while he was in office what anybody thought of anything he was doing. Now that he’s out, it’s all about explaining himself and defending Bush administration policies. Why does he care all of a sudden? Other than the fact that some want to see his ideas criminalized.
In his speech last week at the American Enterprise Institute, Cheney briefly addressed his own mysteriousness.
“I’ve heard occasional speculation that I’m a different man after 9/11. I wouldn’t say that, but I’ll freely admit that watching a coordinated, devastating attack on our country from an underground bunker at the White House can affect how you view your responsibilities,” he said.
It was Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser to former President George H.W. Bush who famously said of Cheney in a 2005 New Yorker interview that, “I consider Cheney a good friend – I’ve known him for 30 years. But Dick Cheney I don’t know anymore.”
(A side note: Cheney after the 2008 election offered warm praise for Obama’s national security team.)
Back on “Meet the Press,” Sen. Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, lumped Gingrich, Cheney and — yes! — Rush Limbaugh into the same category of reckless fearmonger.
“It’s a message of fear — be afraid, be very afraid — and to say that this president is not doing everything in his power to keep America safe is just as irresponsible as anything I have ever heard said on your program,” Durbin said.
