What a Fascinating Day!

Greetings from the Left Coast, where we here at Left Coast Blues do the heavy thinking for those who just can’t be bothered.

Earlier today, former Vice President Dick Cheney delivered an absolutely brilliant speech on national security to the American Enterprise Institute. This speech, as you might expect, was scheduled weeks in advance. What a coincidence, then, that President Obama also chose to make a speech on national security today, just 45 minutes before Cheney’s remarks were due to begin! One can’t help but wonder if this has something to do with the fact that President Obama’s approval rating has fallen by 9 points since his inauguration (from 65% down to 56%, according to Rassmussen), while Cheney’s has actually risen by 8 points, according to a CNN poll! In campaign-speak, that’s referred to as a “17 point swing.”

One might almost think that President Obama’s speech was intended to be a pre-emptive rhetorical strike against Cheney, who has been increasingly vocal lately. One thing is certain – Obama’s remarks sounded downright defensive.

If you missed Cheney’s speech, and would like to read it in its entirety, you can find the text at http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/21/raw-data-text-dick-cheneys-national-security-speech-aei/. I would strongly recommend that you read it, since it’s not going to be fairly reported by most media outlets. Indeed, liberal commentators are already frothing at the mouth over the fact that anyone is paying serious attention to anything Cheney says. Of course, they don’t debate the substance of what he’s saying, they just attack him personally. Most debate coaches will tell you that when you move to personal attacks, it’s a sure sign that you’re not capable of winning the contest of ideas.

One thing is for sure: if you wanted a clear contrast between the conservative and liberal positions in the war on terror, you now have one.

Some people are wondering out loud why we didn’t hear this kind of straight talk while Bush and Cheney were still in office. My guess is that it was because Cheney was, at the time, working for George Bush, who was content to let history be the ultimate judge of his national security performance. Cheney doesn’t work for Bush anymore, so he is as free as any other private citizen to speak his mind. And he’s doing so. Brilliantly.

Thanks for listening.