Just to plan your morning, President Obama’s speech will begin at 10:10 AM (watch live video here) and former Vice President Cheney’s will begin at 10:45 AM (watch live video here). We’ll be here live-blogging. Here’s our preview.
Right-wingers seem to have lost interest in third-rate terror plots under the new regime.
Latest from Blago: Please compare me to FDR, TR and Truman.
So those CIA documents that supposedly show that Nancy Pelosi was briefed on waterboarding also identify Porter Goss as a member of Congress at the time he was actually Director of the CIA.
10:37 AM … Obama’s making a very powerful case for the familiar and powerful argument that setting aside our values to protect ourselves actually makes us less safe. Pulls in McCain, to make the point that both parties nominated candidates who opposed torture last year. Actually, takes a shot at journalists too for not doing their job in recent years.
10:40 AM … Again, referencing McCain.
10:41 AM … Here’s the transcript of the speech, as prepared for delivery.
10:43 AM … Obama: The existence of Guantanamo probably created more terrorists around the world than it ever detained.
10::49 AM … Making the pretty straightforward case that no terrorist is going to escape from one of our supermax facilities. Enlists Lindsey Graham to make the point. Sort of sad that the point needs to be made because the underlying claim is so inane.
10:54 AM … Obama, from the prepared text, addressing claims he changed his position on military commissions …
The second category of cases involves detainees who violate the laws of war and are best tried through Military Commissions. Military commissions have a history in the United States dating back to George Washington and the Revolutionary War. They are an appropriate venue for trying detainees for violations of the laws of war. They allow for the protection of sensitive sources and methods of intelligence-gathering; for the safety and security of participants; and for the presentation of evidence gathered from the battlefield that cannot be effectively presented in federal Courts.
Now, some have suggested that this represents a reversal on my part. They are wrong. In 2006, I did strongly oppose legislation proposed by the Bush Administration and passed by the Congress because it failed to establish a legitimate legal framework, with the kind of meaningful due process and rights for the accused that could stand up on appeal. I did, however, support the use of military commissions to try detainees, provided there were several reforms. And those are the reforms that we are making.
Instead of using the flawed Commissions of the last seven years, my Administration is bringing our Commissions in line with the rule of law.
10:55 AM … Just as a sidelight, there seems to be a thought out there that it’s much better to find other countries to detain some of the Gitmo detainees. This is deeply silly. If these are people you really, really don’t want escaping you won’t send them to any other countries. You’ll incarcerate them in US prisons. The record in other countries, particularly in the Middle East, is not good at all.
11:01 AM … Key passage …
As our efforts to close Guantanamo move forward, I know that the politics in Congress will be difficult. These issues are fodder for 30-second commercials and direct mail pieces that are designed to frighten. I get it. But if we continue to make decisions from within a climate of fear, we will make more mistakes. And if we refuse to deal with these issues today, then I guarantee you that they will be an albatross around our efforts to combat terrorism in the future. I have confidence that the American people are more interested in doing what is right to protect this country than in political posturing. I am not the only person in this city who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution – so did each and every member of Congress. Together we have a responsibility to enlist our values in the effort to secure our people, and to leave behind the legacy that makes it easier for future Presidents to keep this country safe.
11:04 AM … Not about Obama, but Republicans are now calling for a one-person Truth Commission, only about Pelosi.
11:09 AM … From the prepared text …
I will never hide the truth because it is uncomfortable. I will deal with Congress and the courts as co-equal branches of government. I will tell the American people what I know and don’t know, and when I release something publicly or keep something secret, I will tell you why.
11:20 AM … Cheney starts things off classy with some snide comments about Obama’s speech length.
11:24 AM … Transcript of Cheney’s speech. So far basically 9/11, 9/11, 9/11 sort of echoes of Rudyism.
11:27 AM … Still trying. Cheney hinting at the Iraq/al Qaida tie … “We had the training camps of Afghanistan, and dictators like Saddam Hussein with known ties to Mideast terrorists.”
11:28 AM … Cheney now seems to be arguing he was psychologically traumatized by the experience of watching the 9/11 attacks like the rest of us did.
11:30 AM … Shorter Cheney: If you don’t agree with my torture policies, you don’t take 9/11 seriously.
11:31 AM … Now discussing how New York Times put American lives in danger.
11:33 AM … In many ways, it’s obvious. But listening to Cheney, you get such a rich sense of the difference between these two men. Cheney, grizzly, paranoid and feeling and more than anything harshly partisan.
11:39 AM … Calling torture ‘torture’ is libel.
11:42 AM … I think the truest read on Cheney is his cutting and snide anger contrasted with his history of personal cowardice, ducking service in the Vietnam war he himself vociferously supported. Fear and anger are his defining emotions.
11:45 AM … Wondering how long it took Bill Kristol to write this speech.
11:46 AM … Looking forward to the usual special pleading and kid glove treatment Cheney gets from the Washington press corps.
We’ve got reaction to and analysis of the Obama speech at TPMDC and the Cheney speech at TPMmuckraker.
I particularly want to flag Zack’s post noting that Cheney pulled out another reliable standby from the Bush years: a democratic society even debating the proper balance between national security and individual liberty is a boon to terrorists.
It seems to be a new Cheneyite talking point that x% of those already released from Guantanamo have “returned to the battlefield.” From the evidence I’ve seen the claim itself is questionable. But if it’s true, how is this a point in favor of Cheney and the Bush administration?
Now Liz Cheney is explaining how she and her father and the rest in the administration thought that some rehabilitation program would be more effective. Are they for real about that?
Late Update: On the potential flimsiness of the underlying claims, see this.
If you missed the live version, here’s Obama’s National Archives speech in its entirety.
Some other guy, name of Cheney, gave a speech this morning, too.