"A little sunlight is the best disinfectant."
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis
OLIVER NORTH and IRAN-CONTRA:
American Governmental Stupidity
I was a big supporter of President Ronald Reagan during his presidency. I believed in his vision of America as a "shining city on a hill." I believed in his placing the West in a stance squarely opposed to the totalitarian Soviet Union. And I firmly believe that history will ultimately judge him favorably for the role he played in the collapse of the Soviet Union and ensuing onslaught of freedom and democracy worldwide. But I still don't understand what the hell went wrong in his presidency with the Iran-Contra arms deal.
OLIVER NORTH:
"What the hell went wrong with that?"
I was a political science college student at the time the Iran-Contra Arms Deal story broke in the press and I remember it like it was yesterday. "WHAT? The government sold WEAPONS to the IRANIANS?, of all people, to raise money for their own little private war? They actually helped arm the fundamentalist mullahs of IRAN? WHAT?!? HAVE THEY GONE NUTS?" My total stupefaction at the utter lameness of this governmental policy lasted a number of days. And as Marine Lieutenant Coronel Oliver North appeared on television and wrapped himself in the American flag defending his amateurish policy, I wondered if my ears indeed did not fail me. In my opinion, the elevation of a relatively low-ranking and feeble-minded military official into a position of responsibility in the National Security Council is as striking an indictment as one will find of the Reagan Presidency. North is one of those military officers who you want to charge a machine gun emplacement on a hill, not the kind you want making or implementing important policy decisions. Clearly there were other parties above him, but North is the perfect embodiment of the knuckleheaded-ness in the Reagan Administration, in my opinion.
And when the truth of this pathetic matter came out, I was not the only person thinking this by any means. The Reagan Administration had an embarrassing disaster on its hands! Whether it be the Tea Pot Dome scandal, Tammany Hall, Watergate, Iran-Contra, or any of a thousand other malfeasances committed by the government, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis put it best: "A little sunlight is the best disinfectant." Government might be all too prone to error, but a free and independent press is the best manner in which to keep it honest.
And Ye shall know the Truth,
And the Truth shall set you free!
St. John the Gospel
Some discussions...
Think about what was accomplished by Mr. North.
"Get your head out of your rear end...!"We owe our freedoms to Ollie North?
"What has the author who wrote the remarks about Oliver North done lately
besides positing his or her own left-wing ideals
about how things 'should have been done?'"
