Tom Ridge: Cheney Is Wrong About Obama (VIDEO)

In an interview airing this Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," former Bush Administration Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told John King that he thinks former Vice President Dick Cheney is wrong in his assertion that the Obama administration has made the country less safe. Ridge also expressed disappointment in President Obama's characterization of the Bush administration.

KING: You had the intelligence. You served in a very sensitive position in those days after 9/11. Do you believe we are less safe today, because of steps taken by President Obama?

RIDGE: I do not.

KING: You disagree with Dick Cheney then?

RIDGE: Yeah, I disagree with Dick Cheney. But I also disagree with the approach both men are taking. [...]

At the end of the day as Americans, e pluribus Unum. We're in this together. And at the end of the day, it is a challenge that we're going to need to confront together.

The full interview, in which Ridge discusses Sen. Arlen Specter's senate seat and criticizes Rush Limbaugh, will air Sunday.

WATCH:

Comments

[PCMinistry]

"RIDGE: Yeah, I disagree with Dick Cheney."

This is a pretty universally liked and agreed upon statement. Dick Cheney is disliked by almost everyone. I was thinking fnord that if I wanted everyone to support an individual it would be pretty clever to place some of the most universally disliked characters in opposition to them. Then, if you disagreed with Obama you would automatically be on the same side with guys like Cheney. This is a good way to discourage dissent.

[denicci1977]

How is prosecuting war criminals looking back ? If we held this same stance on all criminals including murderers, rapists, burglars etc then where would we be ? This is absurd. Keeping someone from getting oxygen which is required to LIVE (to commit a conspiracy and lies to justify an invasion) was wrong. There is no excuse for allowing anyone who participated in it to roam around free. They are the most dangerous nutbags on earth. It says they are so powerful they could do what they wanted no matter what the rules are or who got hurt and there is nothing that will be done to them. No one should be above the law. Sick of this crap.

[hemnebob]

i am with you on this post.
the laws applied to others that broke it, it should apply to our war criminals.
it is interesting to me that when someone does it to us, no laws or geneva convention
or anything else applies, but if the table is turned, they they want blood!

i am so glad that the last administration is out...
totally out.
and if the present republican party doesn't get itself in check, they will be out too...

[JohnHKennedy]

re: TomTheAlmostUgly "[If Obama prosecuted Bush war criminals,] he wouldn't be able to fulfill his campaign goal of making his term a bipartisan one. " Obama has learned by now that to Repubs, "bipartisanship" means "total Dem appeasement, as if the Repubs had never lost."

I agree.

Unfortunately, Obama will be very unpopular within his own party come the next election if he fails to prosecute Cheney. Think that might be a deal breaker for many Dems.

Failure to enforce Federal Laws in cases like Cheney's where it is obvious he broke the laws is not going to go down well.

Still I support Obama. I think he will do the right thing. "When" is the question?

SIGN THE PETITION To Prosecute Them For Torture

http://ANGRYVoters.org

Over 250,000 have signed
Join them and call yourself a Patriot
.

[economics101]

And Iran,and North Korea are not pushing the little community destroying organizer around.

[ObjectiveRealist]

You would feel safer if President Obama was scared out of his wits by Ahmadinejad and Jong Il's internal posturing against "the West" like Cheney/Bush, Inc. were? I prefer a steady hand at the helm.

[leftbehind2000]

news flash - he's wrong about pretty much everything else too, Tom.

[Paramendra Bhagat]

Why is Cheney still in the news?
http://technbiz.blogspot.com

[mistlesuede]

When will Ridge have to go on Limbaugh's "show" now and apologize for anything positive he said in the interview? Tuesday or Wednesday I would imagine.

[liberal54]

Of course Obama should look forward not back!!! What are we thinking! If I had been a member of the Bush administration and a potential 2012 GOP presidential candidate I'd be sh!tting bricks right now myself.

Of course Ridge doesn't want Obama looking back - he might go to jail with the rest of them!

[conservicide]

NOTICE THAT RIDGE couldn't ANSWER the QUESTION

[applescruff]

Has anyone ever done any analysis on those that still remain fans of Cheney? Were they abused as children? Where does this eternal respect for a lying,sadistic authority figure come from? There has got to be a scientific expalnation.

[Tom Joad]

To the HP community:

Before you respond to tr011s, look at their profiles. Many new tr011s on this thread have been members since May 2009 - The Republiban is flooding progressive blogs hoping to 'shape the dialogue'. Don't respond; It's that simple to make them go away.

[billbb]

You are correct. However, they have tried this before and all it does is hack everyone off to the point where we would never consider voting for anyone with an (R) after their name, assuming them to be in the company of morons.

What's amusing is, the Republicants are so bankrupt of ideas, they are at the namecalling / trollflame level. That's certainly a way to boost their ratings and give them a chance at winning, but only among the basest of the R base, an aging, shrinking minority. I said long ago that the modern Republicans lack a sense of irony, otherwise they might find their being so out of control of things that they have to resort, in effect, to terrorism. Is to laugh...

[BambooHarvester]

Indeed, But ya can smell'em too . . .
~

[Matthew Benzor 1]

Ridge thru there freemason secret society agenda under the bus.where it belongs.Wa­tch the youtube video (JFK warned us) and you will see the bush and cheney policy right before your eye's.WAKE UP we've been hijacked by the freemason secret society agenda

[rain33]

john king sucks an the interviewe­r.they should have gotten fareed zakaria too because he wouldn't give him softball questions too like king does with cheney.

[scottymac11]

I agree John Kings queations are about as probing as Larry Kings. I know its going to be softball,but does it have to be slow pitch?

[barackobama4prez]

lookie here Tomcat. As long as you GOP people keep attacking our Prez, he is going to hit you where you live..and remind everyone of the truth. It's not Nancy Pelosi that willingly destroyed the nation. Bush and his cronies must pay for what they have done. Let's look backward so we can move forward.

[dadw5boys]

It was a YES or NO question !!!!!!!

Ridge never answered the question.

Bible verses on the breifing memo's ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cheny running the war Bush on Vaction !

[munki]

If anyone can say YES or NO in a simple, but complicated factors involved in that simple question..­.

THINK TWICE before taking BLACK or WHITE response..­.

BE OPEN MINDED...

[norkas]

Please bring Cheny, Runsfeld. Tenet,Bush on trial for Treason aganust America.

Over 4000 brave soldiers have lost their lifes. Children have lost fathers and mothers, parents have lost children all for a lie that they knew about ahead of time.

I beleiev Bush was the least informed but Cheny knew well he was passing lies to Bush with Runsfeld.

There is no other word then TREASON to explain what these two did this thsi country .

Please understand Republicans have been tring to do this for more then 3 years and have not had sucees. Please get involved otherwise will be living in a time when a Pres.can do whatever they regardless of law and order.

from WE THE PEOPLE

[liberal54]

"I beleiev Bush was the least informed but Cheny knew well he was passing lies to Bush with Runsfeld."

Balony! Bush was the DECIDER - he knew exactly what was going on!

As the DECIDER, I hope Bush has to face this role as the DECIDER in prison after he's found guilty by the Hague. I hope he has to stay there for the rest of his life and I hope he is joined by Rumsfeld, Cheney, Ridge, EVERYONE in the DECIDER'S administration.