Dithering and Dick Cheney’s chutzpah

Nobody ever said Dick Cheney lacked chutzpah. He has criticized Obama for taking over the economy, even though the huge flow of cash into Wall Street came under Bush-Cheney (with Obama’s support). He excoriated Obama’s for ending torture, claiming it was making America less safe, even though John McCain, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and many others believe that the Bush-Cheney torture policy created thousands of dedicated, active enemies of America. He blasted Obama for running up huge deficits even though Bush-Cheney turned a budget surplus into the biggest deficit in American history.

But his most vile display of chutzpah and hypocrisy came this week when he said President Obama "seems afraid to make a decision" about General McChrystal’s call for 40,000 more U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

"The White House must stop dithering while America's armed forces are in danger," Cheney said in a speech at the Center for Security Policy on Oct. 21.

Dithering, huh? How about when, in mid-2008, General McChrystal’s predecessor in Afghanistan asked for three more combat brigades—about 15,000-20,000 more troops. The request was ignored for the last eight months of Bush-Cheney. Not until February 17, 2009, was the increase approved—not by Bush-Cheney, but by President Obama on his twenty-seventh day in office.

It’s certainly legitimate for the ex-Vice President to criticize President Obama, but the savage and hypocritical carping on serious national security issues is simply ugly politics at our nation’s expense.

Obama’s press secretary, Robert Gibbs, had the right analysis of Cheney’s criticism. “What Vice President Cheney calls ‘dithering,’ President Obama calls his solemn responsibility to the men and women in uniform and to the American public,” Gibbs said. “I think we’ve all seen what happens when somebody doesn’t take that responsibility seriously.”

Investigate Cheney?

Some readers strongly believe that someone—either Congress or a special prosecutor—should investigate whether the people responsible for torturing detainees should themselves be held to account.

The argument goes that the American people deserve the truth. And ethically that would be a good thing, but, alas, this is one of those times when ethics demands a difficult choice, not between good and bad, but between good and good.

It was good to punish the soldiers who tortured and killed prisoners at Abu Ghraib, Baghram Air Base, and Guantanamo. It would be good to punish the higher-ups who set them on that path or at least tolerated their evil. But there’s another good at issue here: the social harmony of the American people.

Our American community has deteriorated to the point that large numbers of Democrats believe that George W. Bush was complicit in the attack of 9/11, and large numbers of Republicans believe that Barack Hussein Obama is a Kenya-born fascist who is plotting to murder grandma. And worse, far worse, “adults” in both parties are standing by in silent acquiescence.

The greater good is the restoration of American comity. My political mentor, former congressman James Leach (R-IA), explained,

“I’ve always believed in the philosophy of [Christian theologian] Reinhold Niebuhr, ‘The temper of and integrity with which the political fight is waged is more important for the health of our society than the outcome of any issue or campaign.’”

It’s time to restore the temper and integrity of the political fight. The best way to start is to follow the direction that President Obama has pointed: forward.