Obama, Cheney spar in speeches over Gitmo closure

President Barack Obama forcefully defended his plans to close the Guantanamo detention camp Thursday and said some of the terror suspects held there would be brought to top-security prisons in the United States despite fierce opposition in Congress.

He spoke one day after the Senate voted resoundingly to deny him money to close the prison, and he decried “fear-mongering” that he said had led to such opposition….

Obama used the speech as an effort to try to retake the initiative on the matter. He spoke a day after the Senate, led by majority Democrats, followed the lead of the House and voted decisively to deny his request for $80 million to close the prison. Lawmakers said they would block the funds until he gave a more detailed accounting of what would happen to the detainees.

He provided some details in his speech but stopped short of offering specifics on what to do with detainees who won’t be tried for war crimes but are likely to be held indefinitely.

Maybe the vote would have been different if it wasn’t yet another case of “Just give me the money…then you’ll see what I do with it.” After teh use of that method for the multitude of failed and semi-failed “bailouts”, even the Donk dominated Congress is reluctant to keep issuing blank checks to the B.O. administration.

Meanwhile, former V.P. Cheney fired some shots of his own about national security:

Cheney praised Obama for two “wise” decisions — his handling of the war in Afghanistan and his decision to try to block the court-ordered release of detainee-abuse photos. “He deserves our support” for such actions, Cheney said.

But, the former vice president said, the current administration’s actions on Guantanamo and other steps in the war against terrorism “should not be based on slogans and campaign rhetoric, but on a truthful telling of history.”

Cheney has become the most outspoken high-ranking Bush official in criticizing the Obama team, suggesting steps the new president has taken have made the country less safe.

Cheney denounced Obama’s announcement on his second day in office that he would close Guantanamo. He said the decision came with “little deliberation and no plan.”

“Now, the president says some of these terrorists should be brought to American soil for trial in our court system. Others, he says, will be shipped to third countries. But so far, the United States has had little luck getting other countries to take hardened terrorists.”

Scoring the day’s efforts?

B.O. gets the points for his approach to a sort of Castro-style longevity to his latest rhetorical effort…with a gold star to his tech crew for keeping the teleprompters humming along smoothly. As far as content, the Chief is rather baffled as to what his circumstances with his biological father had to do with national (in)security issues, but hey, why quibble about B.O. ex cathedra? Isn’t he The One? Oh. Never mind.

That leaves Cheney with the nod for appropriate gravitas…and a reminder what it is to have a grown-up taking a grown-up approach to the subject.