Loose lips sinking former vice president’s ship.

Tradition holds that presidents and vice presidents just out of office perform one simple duty for their successors: They stay quiet for a while.

Apparently Dick Cheney didn’t get that memo. Several times since leaving office, he’s directly criticized the two-month-old Obama administration. The latest time came last weekend in a CNN interview, when Cheney said Obama has made Americans less safe by taking steps to close the detention center in Guantanamo Bay and to try terror suspects in civilian court.

Of course, as an American citizen Cheney has every right to speak up, as do we in noting that he didn’t add anything new to the debate or any shine to his reputation. His views are well-known, and were rejected by the majority of voters who supported Obama’s stances. The latter deserves more than two months to determine his legacy.

The entire reason this tradition of silence exists is to show respect for the choices voters make in a democracy. The few men who know how hard it is to run the country should respect that formidable task enough to let their successors begin their work without sniping from the sidelines. It says more about the critics than it does the current officeholder. Leave the second-guessing to those still inside the political arena with the ability to do something about it. …

-Journal Star, Peoria, Ill.