GOP is from Mars, Democrats are from Venus

Listening to President Obama and former Vice President Cheney give national security speeches put me in mind of John Gray, author of "Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus." Different men, different planets. Or are they?

Obama was the calm voice of confidence, redeemer of reason. He spoke loftily of American ideals and invoked our better angels. He said there's no guarantee that terrorists won't attack again or that Americans won't die as a result. But, we'll win anyway. How? By being good people.

"Because the terrorists can only succeed if they swell their ranks and alienate America from our allies, and they will never be able to do that if we stay true to who we are; if we forge tough and durable approaches to fighting terrorism that are anchored in our timeless ideals."

Thus spake Venus. And I thought: What a good man. This is what America needs.

Then came Cheney. He pulled no punches in his criticism of Obama's security policies or in defending the Bush administration's.

His voice was also calm and reasonable, his remarks sharp and blunt. Cheney remains a strong proponent of enhanced interrogation, which he said was used with only "hardened terrorists after other efforts had failed."

Cheney was especially forceful in criticizing Obama's "selective release" of documents on the interrogation program without also releasing the intelligence those interrogations produced. "The public was given less than half the truth," he said.

Hail, Mars! I think: This is just what the nation needs.

Soaring, inspiring rhetoric on one hand and gritty determination on the other. Two very different men, worlds apart in nearly every way. The old-timer with decades of experience versus the newcomer with a moonbeam in his eye.

Perhaps both are right in their own time and place, given their experience. From the security of hindsight, it is easier to say what we might have done differently. As Cheney put it: "Watching a coordinated, devastating attack on our country from an underground bunker at the White House can affect how you view your responsibilities."

Obama said it best: "There are no neat or easy answers here."

But it is true that seven years ago, the burden of protecting the nation did not fall on Obama's shoulders. Since taking office, he has discovered the weight of that burden and tweaked his promises and policies accordingly.

Transparency isn't always in the national interest, he said Thursday. Obama sounded like George W. Bush or Cheney when he reversed himself on releasing photos of detainee abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying the release would inflame anti-American sentiment and endanger troops.

Likewise, Obama has reserved the right to order enhanced interrogation techniques should circumstances warrant. What would those be, one wonders? Perhaps a massive terrorist attack on American soil? Bloody right.

Yet, as Cheney said, Obama's team speaks "as if they have resolved some great moral dilemma" in how to get terrorists to talk. In reality, they've postponed the decision "while assigning a presumption of moral superiority to any decision they might make in the future."

Nobody ever said Obama wasn't artful.

Whether Obama's worldview is the right one - and Cheney's wrong - may become clearer with time. We can all pray that Obama doesn't have to experience the revelations that occur in the White House bunker. But if he does, we might also pray that the man from Venus indulges his inner Martian just a little.

© 2009, Washington Post Writers Group