Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:44 pm
The biggest news to come from Sec. of State Hillary Clinton’s testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee today came when she was asked about former vice president Dick Cheney’s call for the release of memos that prove torture works. Clinton said, “I don’t consider him a particularly reliable source.”
Here is the video courtesy of Think Progress:
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Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) who once called torture “hazing” tried to push Hillary Clinton to say that she will support the release of the memos that Cheney claims will prove that torture works. Rohrabacher was laying the groundwork for Republicans to claim that the Obama administration is not open. If Obama doesn’t release the memos, critics will say that he hiding them. Clinton said that she did not know of any facts to support Cheney’s claim, so she wasn’t going to publicly state her position.
As vice president Dick Cheney lied to the American people. He lied about WMD. He lied about outing Valarie Plame. He held secret meetings to determine energy policy. He advocated torture, and then claimed that the United States wasn’t torturing. The examples go on and on. Dick Cheney has no credibility, yet he expects people to believe him over the current administration? Knowing the Bush administration’s habit of politically cooking the books, how can we trust any memo that “proves” that torture was effective?
This is whole thing is turning into a nightmare for the Republican Party. Dick Cheney is now front and center, and some less than intelligent Republicans are fanning the flames by defending him. If the GOP is going regain its footing, Dick Cheney needs to shut up and lay low.
The Obama administration and Democrats in general, are having a field day with this. Every time Cheney speaks in public he reestablishes the connection in the public’s mind between the Republican Party and the Bush administration. As long as that connection remains strong, the GOP won’t win another election.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
