Joe Klein on Obama and Cheney

Time's Joe Klein on today's contrasting speeches on national security by President Obama and former Vice-President Cheney:

From the very first--the notion that those who oppose his policies saw 9/11 as a "one-off"--Cheney proceeded to mischaracterize, oversimplify and distort the views of those who saw his policies as extreme and unconstitutional, to say nothing of the views of the current Administration. This is the habit of demagogues. Cheney's snarling performance was revelatory and valuable: it showed exactly the sort of man Cheney is, and the sort of advice he gave, when his location was disclosed. I hope he continues to speak out. We need his voice to remind us what we've happily escaped.

Contrast that with the President. He spoke with reason and dignity. He treated his audience--the American people--as adults, capable of assimilating a difficult argument. He presented the views of his opponents, on both sides, fairly. His speech acknowledged the difficulty in balancing our democratic values against our very real national security needs.

Hat tip to Steve Benen of Washington Monthly who summed up Cheney's speech nicely:

Watching Cheney's speech, the one phrase that kept coming to mind was, "He must think we're idiots."

--Ballard Burgher