Cheney vs Obama on Guantanamo

New York Times POLITICAL MEMO

A ‘Freer’ Cheney Makes Case (With Dual Focus)

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

Guests and members of the media awaited Dick Cheney’s speech on Thursday in Washington while President Obama’s remarks played on a screen.

By JIM RUTENBERG

Published: May 21, 2009

WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Dick Cheney made clear on Thursday his disdain for President Obama’s “presumption of moral superiority” and the “contrived indignation” from liberal critics of the interrogation techniques he is so strenuously defending.

But there was also a culprit that went unmentioned in his speech: the Bush administration, which in its later years began shifting away from some of the policies the former vice president viewed as central to a strong national defense.