A Republican congressman shouting down the president might not be what Dick Cheney had in mind, but he started it. At the beginning of the year, when the GOP was cowered by Barack Obama's momentum, it was Cheney who first dared to attack, pressing his claim that the new president would get us killed by dropping the ball on national security.
By the end of summer, Republicans upped the ante, accusing Obama of plotting to kill old people with health care "death panels." The Cheney formula is now the norm for Obama foes -- outlandish claims based upon shaky ground. Then apply a basic marketing principle -- say it loud and say it often.
What more might GOPers borrow from Cheney? After all, calling the president a liar on the House floor is tame compared to what Cheney once said to Sen. Patrick Leahy on the Senate floor: "Go f--- yourself."
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