By that definition, did Vice President Cheneys vision make us less strong and less safe?
I think we are strongest when we adhere to what has always made this country great, adhering to the rule of law, following our moral precepts, and we are weakest when we have failed to do that. Great presidents have sometimes deviated from that path. Roosevelt did, with regard to the internment of the Japanese. Lincoln did, to some degree, with regard to the whole question of suspending habeas corpus. And I think the past administration, though they were under enormous pressure after 9/11, made some mistakes. Is that a yes? Did those policies make us less strong and less safe? I think that those policies left us with some rebuilding to do, both in terms of the relationships that we have around the world and rebuilding the mechanisms that we use in order to keep this country safe and that are consistent with our values. There’s been this troubling rash of arrests and foiled terror plots in recent weeks. The conventional wisdom for a long time has been that in this country, because of op
