Obama v. Cheney

On Thursday, Dick Cheney will give a major speech at Neocon Central, a.k.a. the American Enterprise Institute. One hour later, President Obama will give a major speech on foreign policy at an as-yet unknown location.

Coincidence? Absolutely not, and Robert Gibbs is lying when he says it is. The White House saw Cheney's speech on its radar, decided the President needed to respond in real time, and quickly scheduled a speech.

What will Cheney say? Exactly what he's been saying for months years: "Torture saved America. Ending torture endangers America."

What will Obama say? Exactly what he's been saying for weeks: "Whatever Torture accomplished, we can accomplish without Torture."

Unfortunately these positions are nothing more than bumper sticker slogans. After years of debate, when will the American people get the hard facts so they can come to their own conclusions?

While we haven't seen all the documents - especially IG John Helgerson's 2004 report - all available documents indicate Cheney is lying. Torture didn't save a single American life, and actually cost the lives of more than half of the U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq.

So why won't President Obama come out and say it?

The most obvious explanation is that Obama doesn't want to unleash a war between the White House and the CIA, which still harbors Torturers. That's why he let DCI Leon Panetta attack his vital ally Nancy Pelosi, even though Pelosi is entirely right and the CIA is entirely wrong.

So why doesn't he just fire the Torturers? Is he afraid they'll seek vengeance? Do Torturers actually run America?