Cheney Needs to Stop

I must confess, I was heartened, slightly, by some words from the president over the weekend, in which he asked for an "open, honest" debate over Iraq and said that "people should feel comfortable about expressing their opinions." I just wish he'd added another word: civil.

Dick Cheney's continued screeds against the critics of the war at every available opportunity are getting really pretty tiresome. Yesterday at the American Enterprise Institute, Cheney started off on a conciliatory foot (as Dana Milbank notes today), saying "I do not believe it is wrong to criticize the war on terror or any aspect thereof." Not wrong, but apparently it's worse: three minutes later Cheney returned to diatribe mode, calling critiques of the use of prewar intelligence at various times "dishonest," "reprehensible," "shameless," and "corrupt."

Those are not the words of an honest, open debate. If Dick Cheney cannot give a speech without spewing this kind of vile and unnecessary rhetoric, it's time for the Administration to find a new spokesperson. Turn to John McCain, John Warner, Richard Lugar, Colin Powell, people who can engage the other side without impugning their motives or resorting to childish name-calling. Enough with the nonsense.