Liz Cheney on July 13's "Joe Scarborough Show"

Do you agree with Peggy Noonan that Sarah Palin is bad for the Republican Party or do you agree with Pat Buchanan that she could be good at healing the party?
"I ... have a lot of respect for Peggy Noonan but I think she's been living in Manhattan for too long. So, I'd have to say on this one I'm with Pat. I think that, you know, Governor Palin is somebody who's going to surprise a lot of people. I think that she's going to be very interesting to watch in the coming months and years and somebody who really inspires the base of the Republican Party. And, you know, she's been saying she's going to be out there talking about limited government and low taxes and strong national defense and I think those are things that are going to have broad appeal even beyond the base of the party..."

Is Palin ready to be president in 2012?

"I think we'll see. You know, I think that over the next three years here we're going to have all the candidates for president on both sides ... have to sort of prove themselves and have to show that they've got the ideas and the substance to really lead the party."

"I think that, as a woman, I'd really like to see this discussion be about things like what is Governor Palin's view of missile defense and what is Governor Palin's view about health care? And, you know, not so much about hairstyles and hip-waders, frankly. And I think she deserves better than that."

Cheney instructing CIA not to brief Congress on "program."

"Well, first of all, the program appears to be classified, so I want to be clear that my dad is not commenting on the program."

Effect on Obama agenda?
"I would also say, you know, there was a piece on the front page of the Wall Street Journal this morning saying that the program apparently was some kind of an effort to come up with ways capture or kill al-Qaida leaders. Now if the Democrats really want to fight a fight over that kind of a program, you know, I say that will just confirm for the American people once more why they can't be trusted with our national security."

What are Democrats doing wrong on national security?

"Well, in my view, you know, I think they don't understand that it's a war. And you know, they sort of, some of them have started to adopt the language of acknowledging it's a war because they understand the American people know it's a war. But fundamentally, deep down, I think they really are uncomfortable with the notion that we have to capture and kill al-Qaida, that we have to get information, that we can't win the war without intelligence, that if you just ask terrorists nicely and read them the Miranda rights they're not going to give you intelligence. They're uncomfortable with those notions, they'd rather treat this as law enforcement, they'd rather run these guys through the American court system and so I think this is in part an effort to discredit all of those programs that were very effective precisely because they did recognize that we were at war. But I think, you know, we've been down this path before and the American people have an awful lot of common sense about this: they know it's a war. And I do think the Democrats are entering very dangerous territory here of reminding everybody once again why the Republicans do a better job of defending the nation."

Why hasn't Obama gotten Democrats to focus on his agenda rather than rehashing possible problems with Bush CIA?

"I also wonder if it isn't because fundamentally, deep down the president really does believe some of those story lines. And, you know, you saw this on his most recent trip abroad yet again, this notion of, sort of, an unwillingness to stand up and say, 'It is a lie to say that America is a force for evil in the world.' This unwillingness to stand up and talk very proudly about the fact that America has accomplished more in this world, more for the good than any other nation that's ever existed in the history of the world. A willingness to sort of accept our enemies' story line and narrative about us..."

"If he's not standing up and defending us ... if he's not perpetuating the correct lessons then I think, you know, people start to say, well, who is? And if our own president won't defend us then it certainly does give credence to those lies about us and I think the American people will, very quickly here, become very fed up and frustrated with that. I mean, it's sort of the basic, most fundamental thing you expect an American president to do. But I think that's part of the reason why he has not sort of stood up more strongly against the kinds of attacks and criticisms you're seeing on CIA operatives, for example, here at home. I think fundamentally, at some level, he agrees with them."