Fake Outrage over Gibbs' Response to Cheney

There is an unwritten rule in politics: The outgoing administration gracefully exits the stage and does not criticize the current one. Dick Cheney broke that rule with ample aid from a swooning John King who launched softball questions with no follow-up questions. This prompted Arianna Huffington to lament that she wished Jon Stewart had interviewed the former VP. Really?!? a comedian? It has come to this.

From Plumline, we get this:

The gang at MSNBC’s First Read, who are generally an important daily read, joins the chorus of White House reporters pillorying White House press sec Robert Gibbs for responding disdainfully yesterday to Dick Cheney’s disdainful criticism of President Obama:

Is Robert Gibbs’ open disdain for Cheney acceptable to a president who promised to move beyond petty political squabbling? And does the president agree with Gibbs’ description of the loyal opposition as “the Republican cabal”?

Ask those questions if you want, but if they are going to be asked, simple fairness dictates that the following questions should also be asked:

Did Cheney’s claim to CNN that Obama has raised the risk of another attack constitute “open disdain,” and is it “acceptable” to both the White House press corps and the current GOP leadership? Does the current GOP leadership — which has called for Obama and Dems to be “bipartisan” — agree with Cheney’s assertions? Why is Cheney’s attack getting a free pass from the press, and why shouldn't’t Gibbs aggressively defend his boss against Cheney’s broadside?

There’s no sign that First Read had any problem with Cheney’s assault — its only other post on this that I can find is a neutral report on the Cheney interview. But again, simple fairness dictates that at a minimum Cheney take a hit here, too. Does the First Read crew really think Gibbs’ attack was less “acceptable” than Cheney’s? Doubtful.

Either way, this meme is snowballing — CBS’ Chip Reid hammered it yesterday, as did ABC’s Rick Klein, and First Read helps set the Beltway conventional wisdom. So expect Gibbs to be hit with questions again about this today.

Get it? Gibbs should NOT have dared to ridicule Cheney, who had no business criticizing a sitting president while waving the fear card. He repeated the GOP meme "at least Bush kept us safe" while insinuating that any future terror attack will be Obama's fault.

Dems would be wise to push back on this tortured logic.

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