Too Far, or the Usual?

This Monday morning The Drudge Report features a menacing picture of former Vice President Dick Cheney looking at President Barack Obama (his back to the camera), with the headline, "Cheney: Obama Endangers the Nation."

The text links to this article, which does indeed cite Cheney as stating that President Obama is rolling back measures taken by the Bush Administration that Cheney felt were responsible for saving American lives by preventing another terrorist attack on American soil after 9/11.

Cheney's statement is hardly surprising, and for anyone who follows national security, not that controversial. Like him or loathe him, Cheney has been Secretary of Defense and Vice President for longer than Barack Obama has been in politics. He is correct in noting that President Pollyanna's return the failed 9/10 policies of treating terrorism as a law enforcement matter is likely to get innocent Americans killed in attacks here at home.

That said, I wonder about the wisdom of Drudge's inflammatory image, and what sort of feeling it is meant to evoke. Mike Potemra says it has a Seven Days in May vibe to it an I won't disagree that the mood is sinister, but I doubt there is any reason for Naomi Wolf to descend into another unhinged rant, either.

And perhaps such dark questioning of a President is simply old hat but new to my eyes... when focused on an incompetent Democratic President instead of a Republican.