In that remarkable speech last week, the former vice-president was also able to say:

And when they see the American government caught up in arguments about interrogations, or whether foreign terrorists have constitutional rights, they don’t stand back in awe of our legal system and wonder whether they had misjudged us all along. Instead the terrorists see just what they were hoping for  our unity gone, our resolve shaken, our leaders distracted. In short, they see weakness and opportunity.





As a reader noted, Cheney seems to forget that he is no longer one of the country's executive leaders. So at this point, he, by his own argument, is the one destroying "unity," "distracting" the new president, and "shaking" our resolve. By his own logic, he is now refuting his own position.

Obama's mandate on these questions was and is very clear. It was debated in the election campaign and the commitment to end Cheney's torture regime was actually embraced by both candidates, including the candidate of his own party. I think Cheney has every right to speak out, and thereby reveal both the hollowness of his arguments and his direct responsibility for war crimes. But Cheney doesn't. By his own logic, he should shut up and wait to be prosecuted by a united government under one supreme leader.

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