Will Morning Joe press Liz Cheney on conversations with her father?
Written by Jamison Foser
Published
MSNBC's Morning Joe will apparently host Liz Cheney tomorrow to talk about CIA practices and policies during the Bush administration.
Over the past few months, there has been some complaining that Liz Cheney keeps popping up on television and in print to opine about various topics. I actually don't have a problem with that, in the abstract. She did have a pretty good gig in the State Department during her father's Bush's administration, which gives her better credentials than a lot of the “experts” and “analysts” television - and cable news in particular - tends to turn to. Unfortunately, she uses her television appearances to make outrageously partisan and inaccurate claims, often without being challenged by her hosts.
And if Liz Cheney is going to appear on television to defend Dick Cheney's actions - including his reported role in blocking Congressional notification of CIA activities -- she should face some tough questioning. What has her father told her? Has he disclosed classified information to her? What has he told her about recent reports that he ordered the CIA not to tell Congress about a secret and possibly-illegal program?
Dick Cheney has been notoriously secretive with Congress and the public; there isn't anything viewers could learn from a Liz Cheney television appearance that is more important than whether Dick Cheney has been more forthcoming to people -- like Liz Cheney -- who have no legislative or oversight role, and if so, what he has told them. Morning Joe can find any number of right-wing guests who will simply rattle off pro-Cheney, anti-Obama talking points. The whole point of hosting Liz Cheney should be to question her about things only she can answer.
Liz Cheney's relationship to the former Vice President helps get her these TV appearances, which she uses to defend him, but she also seems to benefit from an apparent unwillingness by reporters to ask her about conversations between father and daughter. Reporters shouldn't let her have it both ways.