Robert Schlesinger

Cheney and Torture--the Democrats' Gift that Keeps Giving

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September 2, 2009 RSS Feed Print
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By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Is Dick Cheney's ego writing checks his poll numbers can't cash? That seems to be the bet the Democratic National Committee is making, going back to the Cheney well again with a new TV ad slamming him for being "wrong" and "wrong again" on a host of issues, including Iraq (both how we'd be greeted and what we'd find) and most recently "enhanced interrogation techniques" (or what before 9/11 we simply called "torture"). As The Plum Line's Greg Sargent points out, this appears to be the first time the Democrats as a party have said that Cheney was flatly wrong on torture.

Previously, the DNC — and other White House allies — had mostly lampooned Cheney as a figure of fun on the sidelines, largely declining to engage the substance of the torture debate to avoid elevating his claims. ...

I wonder whether this means Dems are anticipating a higher profile debate over torture — and over national security in general.

Cheney's approval ratings crept up in the spring (and there's even been a Cheney '12 boomlet—please, oh please), but you've got to figure that he retains a special mix of high name recognition and toxic appeal for the Democrats to continue painting him as the face of the GOP on national security policy.

 Here's the DNC ad:

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Okay, I'll play. So we've got a terrorist with a bomb vest on a bus, wearing a heavy coat in warm weather to disguise it, a not-unheard-of scenario in Israel, Who do you propose we torture to uncover this dastardly plot? How likely is it that we have someone in custody who knows which bus the bomber is on? How do we distinguish him from the other 200+ "suspected terrorists" in custody? Do we simultaneously torture the innocent along with the guilty? How do we know which is which, and who is telling the truth and who is just making up a story to stop the torture? What question do we ask them -- "Know of any imminent bombing attacks?" Do we get the information we need in time to thwart the plot?

My point, which I apparently failed to make, is that the "ticking bomb" scenario, which those who think torture works use to justify it, doesn't occur in the real world.

Torture is (1) ineffective, and (2) illegal. If in a very rare scenario torture proves to be effective in defusing the ticking bomb, it is still illegal. In that case, if you are a moral person, you fess up, base your defense on the carnage you prevented, and trust the jury to reach the decision that in this moral dilemma, your action was justified. If you're not willing to do that, don't torture.

Bob of MO 1:01PM September 04, 2009

It is truly pathetic that the Obama administration thinks it has to continue to dump on Dick Cheney. He has no office. He aspires to no office. He has no power and will have no power in the future. He pulls their chain and they bark. Limbaugh (who has no power) pulls their chain and they bark. The White House needs to just shut up and do the job they were elected to do. They come off as a bunch of amateurs. I guess that's what happens when you elect someone to the Presidency who has a resume that would fit on the back of a post-it note.

Joe of MO 12:06AM September 04, 2009

As Far as I know President Obama himself is to busy to go after bush and said at one time if I remember That "we need to move on". But there is some democrats for what ever reason cannot forget about what cheney did. And he did confess and it is against all the rules of the united nations. So I do not know if it is possible for President obama to sweep it under the carpet. He can hand the matter over to the secret police or another aid but is other nations and the UN going to forget what Cheney did?.

I heard A term the other day. Lets see if I get it right "super fan" I think is what it was. But it is the most important part of the republican and democratic party because they believe whole heartily in what there party says without question. They are good little soldiers

Don D. Brock

Don D. Brock of AZ 11:12PM September 03, 2009

Robert Schlesinger

Robert Schlesinger

Robert Schlesinger is managing editor for opinion at U.S. News and World Report, overseeing all opinion editorial content. He is the author of "White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters." E-mail him at rschlesinger@usnews.com. Follow him on Twitter: @rschles.

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