"The latest Obama cheerleader is ... Dick Cheney?"

[sabrina 1]

While I wouldn't exactly call Cheney an Obama 'cheerleader',(he's not happy with President Obama's Domestic policies eg) and I'm not sure that gaining the approval of one of the most unpopular men in the world on anything, is something to be grateful for, he has shifted his views regarding the President's handling of the Bush/Cheney 'Great War On Terror'.



Former Vice President Dick Cheney during the
ground breaking ceremony for the President George W. Bush
Presidential Center in Dallas, Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010.

The latest Obama cheerleader is ... Dick Cheney?

In May 2009, just a few months into the Obama administration, President Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney gave dueling speeches on national security in Washington, with Cheney accusing the president of making Americans less safe.

20 months later, Guantanamo is still open, the CIA agents accused of Bush-era torture are still free, and Obama is conducting covert air wars in at least two countries. And an ailing Cheney has now changed his tune and is actually praising Obama on foreign and national security policy.

An interview that will air tomorrow morning on NBC would have been unthinkable in 2009, when Cheney was Obama's chief antagonist. Excerpts released by NBC show a remarkable shift. Here's Cheney on Gitmo and CIA torture:

Dick Cheney seems very pleased that President Obama has begun to see the light. As Cheney sees it, the President now agrees with Bush/Cheney on torture and drones and terrorism. It's almost as if he believes that his public tutorials on how to deal with terror, directed at the President from his platform on Fox last year, have been understood by the WH and he gives the President a passing grade.

After offering his opinion on President Obama's domestic policies (not pleased, the usual, commie/socialist/big government etc. etc) and stating that he still thinks Obama will be a one-term president, the questioning moves on to Foreign Policy and Jamie Gangel points out that President Obama's poll numbers have risen over the past few weeks:

Cheney On President Obama

DICK CHENEY:

Well, I think perhaps he learned a lesson or two in the off term elections, the off year elections. The Democrats suffered major defeats. The Republican victory in the House was one of the most momentous changes, if you go back and look at our history, that we've ever had in terms of the number of seats captured.

He obviously has been through the fires of becoming President and having to make decisions and live with the consequences. And it's different than being a candidate. When he was candidate he was all for closing Gitmo. He was very critical of what we'd done on the counterterrorism area to protect America from further attack and so forth.

I think he's learned that he's not going to be able to close Guantanamo. That it's-- if you didn't have it you'd have to create one like that. You've got to have some place to put terrorists who are combatants who are bound and determined to try to kill Americans.

I think he's-- in terms of a lot of the terrorism policies-- the early talk, for example, about prosecuting people in the CIA who've been carrying out our policies-- all of that's fallen by the wayside. I think he's learned that what we did was far more appropriate than he ever gave us credit for while he was a candidate. So I think he's learned from experience. And part of that experience was the Democrats having a terrible showing last election.

So long as Cheney's torture chambers stay open, the man is happy. And does he really think that people didn't show up for the November elections because they WANTED President Obama to keep torturing and bombing people? So it seems, in the delusional mind of one of the world's most evil men:

JAMIE GANGEL:

You said you believe President Obama has made America less safe. That he's actually raised the risk of attack. Do you still feel that way?

DICK CHENEY:

Well, when I made that comment, I was concerned that the counterterrorism policies that we'd put in place after 9/11 that had kept the nation safe for over seven years were being sort of rapidly discarded. Or he was going to attempt to discard them. Things like the enhanced interrogation techniques or the terror surveillance program.

They'd been vital from our perspective in terms of learning basic fundamental intelligence about al Qaeda, about how they operated, who they were, where we could find them. And we were able to put in place a successful policy that did prevent any further major attacks against the United States over all those years. And he campaigned against all of that.

As I say, I think he's found it necessary to be more sympathetic to the kinds of things we did. They've gotten active, for example, with the drone program, using Predator and the Reaper to launch strikes against identified terrorist targets in the various places in the world.

He still can't say the word 'torture' but you can tell that just thinking about it turns him on! A very sick man, both pysically and emotionally and if I were President Obama I would rush to dispel any notion that he has become 'more sympathetic to the kinds of things we did', because one day, and I have never given up hope of that, these criminals will be prosecuted for crimes against humanity. Even if it takes, as it has in some countries, 30 or 40 years.

Cheney hopes that this president shares what he calls 'that same attitude' with Bush and Cheney that they will 'do anything' to fight 'terror'! ANYTHING! Even WAR CRIMES!

I think this should act as a warning to President Obama.

It is not just 'the left' who have noticed the move towards the right in this administration's policies, especially on the critical issues that he was elected to change, such as torture and war and corruption and lies.

Dick Cheney, the orchestrator of the war crimes himself, sees it also.

[Lasher]

1. If Dick Cheney approves of something you've done,

you've done something wrong.

[sabrina 1]

7. It's sort of like having the devil on your side!

[Skittles]

2. Cheney is a fan of Obama

that about says it all :puke:

[sabrina 1]

18. Not so much a fan of Obama, it's worse, he 's a fan of his

'terror' policies now.

And yes, nothing could make it more clear that this administration is on the wrong path.

[DrDan]

3. a wakeup call . . . . (I wish)

[sabrina 1]

17. Approval from the 'Dick' himself. I'd like to think it would be

a wake-up call, but nothing so far makes me think it will be. The killing continues at even greater rate in Afghanistan under this administration. And Dick must have been orgasmic when he heard about the order to assassinate a U.S. citizen.

So sad to think this was what we were supporting two and a half years ago, when we thought it was what we were fighting to change.

[KG]

4. !

:popcorn:

[monmouth]

5. Cheney is no friend to Obama, "one termer???" I don't think so..n/t

[sabrina 1]

6. No, Cheney is no friend of anyone, He is an enemy of all that is

decent, an evil man, a proponent of torture and other war crimes without an ounce of empathy or compassion or remorse for all the lives he has destroyed. In a decent society such a man should never have risen to the top as he did here. And if he did, he certainly would have been prosecuted and that society would feel shame that the managed to rise so high.

But he does say that Obama is on the right track regarding the vicious and brutal Drone attacks on innocent civilians, and the failure to close America's most infamous Gulag.

This is not the 'left' saying these things. It is Dick Cheney, psycho, insane, mad and obsessed with harming people.

I hope the president will respond, but the truth is Cheney is right. And that is a horrible thing to have to say.

I will not support torture or cowardly, deadly drones killing innocent people and I really don't care who is doing it.

I am appallled that Democrats are so silent on these war crimes that are continuing under this administration.

I have a conscience and it is far more important to me to speak out and not be silent on this, even though no one may be listening, than to remain silent just because Democrats are now doing it.

And if having the approval of Dick Cheney doesn't prove that those angry at the continuation of Bush policies were right, I do not know what will. And if all people care about is politics, then screw them, is the politest thing I can say about that.

[monmouth]

8. You said it perfectly...Almost forgot where I was, was going to F&F you..LOL...n/t

[sabrina 1]

9. But what is F&F?

It sounds ominous! :-(

[monmouth]

11. Hahaha, over at HuffPo if someone posts something you like you

can "Fan" and "Friend" them. It's all good...

[sabrina 1]

16. Lol, okay, thanks for the explanation ~ n/t

[Uben]

10. I care about what he says......

...about as much as what the Arizona killer says. Nada, zip, zilch. They are the words of a man I have zero respect for. A man that is responsible for some of the most horrific war crimes to date. Fuck that piece of shit coward.

[sabrina 1]

12. That's true and he's the last person you would want

claiming that your policies are in line with his.

[sabrina 1]

13. Cheney said what he said, unrec'ing it doesn't change that

Only Obama can bring about 'change' in these policies. That's why he's there, maybe someone needs to remind him.

[Bobbie Jo]

14. Perhaps it's the spin that's attracting the unrecs.

Of course, I can only speak for mine.

[sabrina 1]

15. The headline was written by the author of the article.

I did say I wouldn't describe Cheney as a 'cheerleader' for the president. But he does approve of the policies. Cheney put his own spin on it and spoke for the president which is why I said I hope Obama addresses it.

The interview will be aired tonight.

The problem is no matter what spin Cheney puts on it, patting himself on the back for Obama's adaption of 'what we did', drones are killing innocent civilians every day and Guantanamo is still open and renditions are continuing.

Had these war criminals been investigated and their policies condemned rather than continued, Cheney would be singing a different tune. This is not the change people worked for for eight years. The author's only spin is that Cheney likes Obama which he did not say, but he did say he likes his policies.

Personally I would prefer that he liked Obama but was unhappy with his policies.