Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

May 21, 2009

Previewing Obama's Speech

President Obama will give a speech this morning on national security at the National Archives. The setting is no mistake. The president will refer to documents at the site -- the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights -- as the foundation of our nation and our policies as well.

According to Politico, Obama will say that America "lost its way in fighting terrorism over the last eight years by failing to trust its institutions and values." It's a direct hit at former Vice President Dick Cheney, who will give his own speech just minutes after Obama finishes.

Obama will say that the Bush administration "established an ad hoc legal approach for fighting terrorism that was neither effective nor sustainable, and alienated the nation from our its allies" and he will argue "that so-called enhanced interrogation techniques such as waterboarding are not the most effective, undermine the rule of law, alienate the U.S. in the world, serve as a recruitment tool for terrorists, and increase the will of our enemies to fight us, while decreasing the will of others to work with America."

"Obama will also renew his pledge to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying he will honor the commitment he made in the first week of his presidency."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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