The Challenge That Went Unanswered

To my ears, this challenge from Vice President Cheney ranks among the most important and powerful passages in his speech:

By presidential decision, last month we saw the selective release of documents relating to enhanced interrogations. This is held up as a bold exercise in open government, honoring the public’s right to know. We’re informed, as well, that there was much agonizing over this decision.

Yet somehow, when the soul-searching was done and the veil was lifted on the policies of the Bush administration, the public was given less than half the truth. The released memos were carefully redacted to leave out references to what our government learned through the methods in question. Other memos, laying out specific terrorist plots that were averted, apparently were not even considered for release. For reasons the administration has yet to explain, they believe the public has a right to know the method of the questions, but not the content of the answers.

And this is the passage that went strangely unanswered by the President. President Obama spoke about the need to balance security against transparency. Vice President Cheney in effect accused the President of striking that balance with an eye to political advantage. That's a serious charge. And yet from a President of many words it is met with ... silence.