The Cheney Gambit
In all the commentary surrounding Cheney’s latest media blitz, most observers I’ve seen have missed the most pertinent thing about his argument. That argument can be boiled down to a few simple messages:
- we were right to use torture
- torture kept us safe, and gave us intelligence that saved lives, and
- Obama’s decision to forego torture (and all the other extralegal escapades of the Bush years) puts us at risk.
The fact that Cheney is taken seriously as a commentator on this topic, after he, his party, and their firmly-held beliefs plunged us into two losing wars and The Great Recession, demonstrates the impotence of the “liberal” media. The fact that he, and the Republican party, have succeeded (partly through the bumbling ineptness of Pelosi) to turn this conversation to what Democrats knew and when they knew it, illustrates the inability of the Democratic Party to stir the pot on these issues like the deeply experienced Republican machine can.
WIth all the petty tit-for-tat, however, it becomes easy to overlook the explosive strategy behind Cheney’s position. The fact that Republicans are influencing the debate in Washington, as evidenced by Obama’s acquiescence in military affairs this week…that’s the short game. The long game is far more insidious – Cheney and his party are betting that there will be another spectacular terrorist incident, and they’re setting the seeds for the only rescue position Republicans are capable of at this moment – the big-daddy, keep you safe party that’s not afraid to ‘break a few eggs’.
Think about the narrative that a terror catastrophe enables. There’s Cheney, reminding the world on “Meet the Press” that he told us so. There’s the elder wise man (believe it or not) George W., reminding regular folks how tough but effective the Bush adminstration was, with all the softening benefits of nostalgia that moves the Palin yokels so effectively. And there is the chorus of neo-conservatives, reviving their debunked mythologies alleging that American power can control the world.
So, Democrats can console themselves all day with the comforting notion that Cheney is the worst possible spokesman for the sinking Republicans, like we see them doing on every talking-heads show, but he may have the last laugh. If the worst comes to pass, and the forces arrayed against American power are again successful in perpetrating an atrocity, how long will it be before the Republicans, and, unbelievably, even Dick himself, seem like a comfort to a polarized and terrified America?
Betting that another terror extravaganza will hit us, and will benefit their party if it does, may be cynicism to the nth degree, but remember…this is Dick Cheney we’re talking about.
Stumble it!
Tags: Dick Cheney
May 19th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
You’ve nailed it. There are short term issues too, but they are not as important as the long term, and probably inevitable, issues you raise. Biden tried to disarm that but no one has followed up.
May 22nd, 2009 at 2:10 pm
[...] Even so, there’s a point to calling the bluff of the posturing phonies who advocate torture publicly. As anyone familiar with framing understands, the purpose of their argument is to shore up the right-wing pose of being morally self-assured tough guys who are willing to do what it takes to defend America. [...]