In rejecting George W. Bush's insistence that the new occupant of the White House "deserves my silence," Liz Cheney Tuesday defended what she deemed her father's "obligation to speak out." But by likening former vice president Dick Cheney to his predecessor Al Gore, daughter Liz made her dad's critics' point for them. Despite his warnings on global climate change and later criticism of Bush over Iraq and torture, throughout Dubya's first year Al Gore showed public respect and vocal support for the man he called "my president."
Dick Cheney's vitriolic attacks on President Obama began almost from the moment he assumed power. But appearing on MSNBC Tuesday, Liz Cheney blasted the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson for suggesting her father's unprecedented attacks were in fact unprecedented. Responding to Robinson's suggestion that Dick Cheney was a "crazy old coot" who should go back to Wyoming, the vice presidential offspring and GOP operative raged:

"I haven't seen similar columns from you or, frankly, anybody else saying things like Al Gore should go back to Tennessee and Al Gore somebody who is very vocal, very much out there."

But as the record shows, in 2001, Al Gore wasn't in George W. Bush's face, but instead calmly standing with him.
Vice President Gore's declarations of support for George W. Bush as "my president" started even before the man anointed to the presidency by the Supreme Court entered the Oval Office. Despite having won the popular vote and arguably a majority of the Electoral College as well in the most contentious election in modern U.S. history, Gore responded to the Court's 5-4 decision against him on December 13, 2000 with a full-throated call for Americans to unite behind their new President:

"Almost a century and a half ago, Senator Stephen Douglas told Abraham Lincoln, who had just defeated him for the presidency: 'Partisan feeling must yield to patriotism,'" Gore said. "Well, in that same spirit, I say to President-elect Bush that what remains of partisan rancor must now be put aside, and may God bless his stewardship of this country."

Al Gore's pleas for the American people, including his own despondent - and indignant - followers, did not end there. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Gore told a Democratic state convention:

"George W. Bush is my president, and I will follow him, as will we all, in this time of crisis."

As the history shows, Gore took great pains to avoid stirring controversy during the first year of the Bush administration. Only later, after the disaster in Iraq, the national taint of torture and the President's betrayal on the environment did Gore emerge as a vocal Bush critic.
But that was then, this is now. After a fiercely disputed presidential election, Al Gore insisted, "it's time for me to go." Worried about his legacy and helping heal a divided nation soon to be at war, Gore emerged from the sidelines in 2001 only to express support for his president. In contrast, Dick Cheney, a man unencumbered by either the truth or a political future, had decided to ignore Gore's example and instead freelance as a partisan mercenary.
When George W. Bush entered the White House, he knew Al Gore had his back. Eight years later, Barack Obama knows Dick Cheney wants to stick a knife in his.
UPDATE: Over at Media Matters, Eric Boehlert chimes in that "Liz Cheney ought to learn her media history."