The White House pushed back at Dick Cheney after the former vice president said Obama's "low-key" response to the failed Christmas Day bombing of Flight 253 proves he's "trying to pretend we are not at war," which "makes us less safe." White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said Wednesday that Obama "doesn't need to beat his chest" to fight al Qaida, and that Cheney and other critics could help make the country safer by focusing on the enemy instead of pointing fingers at the administration. Will either side win a war of words over the war on terrorism? (Watch Rachel Maddow respond to Dick Cheney's attacks on Obama)
Cheney should stop lying: Dick Cheney is using a terrorist attack to score political points, says Eugene Robinson in The Washington Post. But his "shrill screed" is based on a "big lie" — that Obama takes terrorism lightly. Obama has said repeatedly that we are at war with terrorists, so perhaps it's time for Cheney to drop the "histrionic Rottweiler-in-Winter act" and "put country first" for a change.
"Dick Cheney's lies about President Obama"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Obama reacts quicker to Cheny than to terrorists: It "beggars belief" that the White House would "accuse of all people, Dick Cheney," of being soft on al Qaida, says Mark Hemmingway in the Washington Examiner. But the real outrage is that the White House found time for a petty "rapid response" to Cheney's jab, after Obama took four days to respond to this "barely averted domestic catastrophe." Um, "priorities!"
"White House...responds to Cheney criticism in matter of hours?"
Obama is too similar to Cheney: Dick Cheney's argument may be "stupid," says Jacob Sullum in Reason, but so is his — and Obama's — fixation on the word "war." It's not like "an insufficiently martial attitude explains the intelligence screwups" that allowed the "underwear bomber" to walk on a plane with explosives. So Cheney should relax: if anything, Obama's terrorism policies aren't, unfortunately, "substantially different from his predecessor's."
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
-
China: a superpower’s slumpThe Explainer After 40 years of explosive growth, China’s economy is now in deep distress — with no turnaround in sight
-
Retirees’ biggest surprise expense
Feature And more of the week's best financial insight
-
The United Auto Workers’ strike has put Democrats in a bind
Feature President Biden will have to pick a side in the dispute
-
Trump surrenders in Georgia election subversion case
Speed Read
-
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries chosen to succeed Pelosi as leader of House Democrats
Speed Read
-
GOP leader Kevin McCarthy's bid for House speaker may really be in peril
Speed Read
-
Are China's protests a real threat for Beijing?
opinion The sharpest opinions on the debate from around the web
-
Who is Nick Fuentes, the white nationalist who dined with Trump and Kanye?
Speed Read From Charlottesville to Mar-a-Lago in just five years
-
Jury convicts Oath Keepers Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs of seditious conspiracy in landmark Jan. 6 verdict
Speed Read
-
A look at the White House's festive and homey holiday decor
Speed Read
-
Bob Iger addresses 'Don't Say Gay' bill, says inclusion is part of Disney's values
Speed Read
