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by C. William Chattin
Christopher,
The motives of the ”shutter Gitmo” advocates vary enough not to be easily pigeon-holed. For sure, a large block of the Left seeks to advance a transformed America, as you identify. But, that’s not necessarily true of all of them, nor is it the case that calls for Gitmo closure should be casually dismissed by the Right. It’d be helpful to hear a compelling argument from someone on this blog for the need to close Gitmo asap.
As to Fred Kaplan, Dick Cheney and the Left, the former Veep long ago emerged as one of those eternal boogeymen that fuels the juices of true blue members of the Left. And, while Kaplan’s feckless attack lacked any meaningful detail (“Cheney . . . built a case on straw men, red herrings, and lies.”) – indeed, I can just as easily, and conclusorily, reply that Kaplan built his critique on straw men, red herrings and lies – that doesn’t mean Cheney is going to emerge as an effective spokesman for the Right. In fact, far from it, if yesterday’s face-off was any indication. PBHO is simply playing a different ball game when it comes to communication.
In the end, I suspect we’ll see Cheney effective at moving policy, but less effective at swaying the public on himself, the Bush Administration, or the Republican Party.
