Dick Cheney is unleashed! After eight years of being nearly invisible to the media, the former vice president has come forth bearing wrath. He is now a man on a mission, an angry messenger. Very simply, Dick Cheney believes the Obama administration is putting the United States in danger by dismantling the Bush anti-terror programs.
And Mr. Cheney has one very large point. After the sneak attack on September 11, 2001, America has not suffered another violent terrorism episode on its soil. That is not in dispute and the former vice president believes tough interrogations and aggressive anti-terror moves were the cornerstones of the shield.
Mr. Cheney also has two big bullets in his rhetorical arsenal. First, the Obama administration recently released classified interrogation memos, but did not release the follow-up reports detailing what was gleaned by water boarding and other rough stuff. Cheney wants those memos out.
And second, there is no doubt that Democrats like Nancy Pelosi knew all about water boarding and went along with the interrogation program because the CIA told them it was vitally important for national security.
So, believing the truth is on his side, Mr. Cheney has launched a one-man jihad against the Obama administration for canceling what he believes are life-protecting anti-terror strategies.
The reaction on the left has been just short of hysterical, with personal attacks on Cheney all day long. At the White House correspondents' dinner last week, comedian Wanda Sykes said she advised her kids to get in a car with strangers rather than with Cheney.
Writing in the New York Times, Maureen Dowd spoke for many liberals when she called Cheney, among other things, "batty" and "jejune" (lacking value). Ms. Dowd's disdain poured out as she described the former vice president's "Genghis Khan side," his "numbskull ideas," and his "nasty campaign of fear and loathing."
The only thing missing in Dowd's column was holding Cheney responsible for the swine flu.
As best I can tell, the left is growing desperate because they are losing. This week, President Obama announced he will fight the ACLU over releasing pictures of captives hurt by the American military, with the President rightly saying those pictures were part of criminal investigations, some of which led to the conviction and punishment of the American perpetrators. Even though the vile ACLU doesn't care a wit, Mr. Obama understands that any damaging photos put U.S. forces in the field in even more danger.
Also, the President has no heart for a witch hunt against those who ordered tough interrogations on al-Qaeda big shots. Again, this would damage America. Mr. Obama understands his own party would be hurt as well, as Nancy Pelosi and others would have to testify under oath about what they knew.
So the vengeance-minded far left is bereft. They so want to "get" Bush and Cheney, but now their dreams of revenge show trials are vanishing quicker than MSNBC's ratings.
And to make matters even worse—Dick Cheney may be the one getting revenge.