Video after the jump:

Indict Cheney

The title of his very next post from 11 days later:

On Second Thought, Pardon Cheney

Newsmax.com, funded by staunch foes of the Clintons, does not have the world’s most diverse set of bloggers. Davis’s colleagues include neoconservative think-tanker Frank Gaffney, David “brother of Rush” Limbaugh, and Pat Boone — the only other people who might sometimes be called “liberals” are Susan Estrich and Ed Koch. Davis’ last post attempted to tackle “concerns” from American Jews about the president’s Cairo speech, which might “embolden Arab hard-liners and extremists.”

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So as to Mr. Cheney: I think it is time to take him up on his implicit dare and indict him for violating the 1994 federal law against torture.

Not to do so, in light of Mr. Cheney’s arrogant public challenges, may reinforce the notion that Mr. Cheney can get away with lawbreaking, and be proud of it, because he is a former vice president, and because he is the tough, intimidating Dick Cheney who everyone (at least many) in the Bush administration feared.

I hereby pass Davis a ceremonial bong.

Writing for FoxNews.com, Davis joined the chorus of critics who have assailed the Arizona senator’s VP pick as a cynical, sexist ploy that raises serious questions about McCain’s judgment. The argument may carry extra weight from Davis, however, because of his solid standing among Republicans and past praise for McCain. The “patronizing” pick was just too much for Davis, even from his G.O.P. friend:

Do women care less than men about issues? John McCain (and Sarah Palin) seems to think “Yes.” But the answer, or course, is “No.” Yet there seemed to be that assumption — in my view, if so, patronizing and politically wrong — underlying at least part of Sen. McCain’s judgment.

Davis, who was heralded by some Clintonites for his unyielding support for Hillary Clinton for president, and then for VP, also says the pick’s attempt to woo Clinton backers is dead on arrival:

It appears Sen. McCain hopes that the governor’s gender will help his appeal to disenchanted female Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters — and Gov. Palin explicitly was aiming to do so when she appealed to the “18 million cracks in the glass ceiling” represented by Sen. Clinton’s total vote in the primaries. However, while some Hillary supporters may still not have completely gotten over their disappointment at her loss to Sen. Barack Obama, or his failure to make her his VP choice, is it likely they will be attracted to vote for a McCain-Palin ticket because Gov. Palin is a woman — even after they learn that the governor who, if elected, will be by constitutional definition one heartbeat away from the presidency, and who opposes the right of a woman to choose to terminate a pregnancy under all circumstances, even if caused by rape or incest, in the earliest stages of pregnancy? I don’t think so.

The nation’s eyes turn to Palin tonight. But it doesn’t really matter what she says, ultimately, if people accept the idea that her very selection reflects the kind of bad judgment and political pandering that they would never want in a president.

In a stirring essay that ran in The Washington Post on Monday and also on his blog, Wolfson narrates his feelings as a “Clintonite in Denver“:

….Then came Thursday night at Invesco Field. During the campaign, we scoffed at events like this, mostly because we were not capable of producing them. A cross-section of voters waited for hours to enter the stadium and take their seats. As one friend put it, it looked more like an American convention than the convention of any particular political party. Clinton delegates greeted one another with tears and hugs and were greeted in turn by Obama delegates. Several Obama supporters took my hand to thank me for what the Clintons had said that week, urging that they stay involved in the campaign. Every so often, I would simply look around me, amazed at the significance not just of the day but of the entire campaign.

Wolfson describes the embraces and excitement of a party uniting behind Obama:

No one in recent history had attempted this kind of a political conversation with 75,000 people. Barack Obama pulled it off. For 18 months, I listened to Obama on television, sometimes intently, often just barely — background noise to a running series of conference calls and meetings and emails. In person, my attention undivided, I saw something of what so many others had seen for so long. Progress in America is never cheap, and even today history exacts a price for Obama’s victory — the dreams of electing the first female president, the dreams of so many who rushed toward Hillary Clinton on rope lines across America and refused to give up her hand and their hopes. Today these dreams are giving way to another kind of progress….

On Wolfson’s blog, a woman named Donna, who said she was an Obama delegate from North Carolina, wrote that the essay was moving, and told Wolfson, “I have tremendous respect for both Clintons and believe that you ran a campaign you should be proud of.” Another commenter called the essay “beautiful,” and one Clinton supporter said it elicited a first-time response to a newspaper article:

This is the first time I have ever responded to a newspaper article, but wanted you to know that I admire and applaud you for your article in “The Washington Post” today. I voted for Clinton in the Florida primary but am now supporting Obama 100 percent.

Back in Denver, Wolfson and I also discussed the job he did take after Clinton bowed out — a regular commentator for Fox News. I mentioned that the GOP sends out press releases promoting comments from Democrats that might undermine Obama, often from Fox broadcasts. For example, for two days leading up to the convention, the Republican National Comittee press releases highlighted comments from another Clintonite-turned-Fox commentator, Lanny Davis.

Wolfson agreed that a fair way to test his commentary is to see if it provides fodder for Republicans. So far, I count several RNC emails about Davis, but none about Wolfson.