McCain Defended North on Iran-Contra; North Returns Favor
On Monday, the Republicans' campaign of appeasement smears against Barack Obama went from the sublime to the ridiculous. In an amazing if predictable display of chutzpah, Fox News commentator and Iran-Contra mastermind Oliver North rushed to John McCain's defense over the GOP nominee's spurious charges regarding talks with Iran. Of course, he was only repaying McCain the favor.
Back in 1986 and 1987, as the New York Times noted, John McCain "defended Ronald Reagan during the Iran-contra inquiry." As a 2006 profile later detailed, that defense by the self-proclaimed foot soldier in the Reagan revolution extended to one of the scandal's key perpetrators, then Lt. Colonel Oliver North:
He empathized with his fellow Vietnam veteran Oliver North, a central figure in the scandal. "Some of these people like Ollie North," he explained to Michael Killian for the Chicago Tribune (July 29, 1987), "who saw their comrades and friends spill blood and die on the battlefields in a war that they believe the politicians wouldn't let them win--I think that leads to a mind-set which could rationalize deviating from the established rules and regulations."
On Monday, McCain collected on his debt from North. Joining the Arizona Senator in a bout of selective amnesia (McCain hallucinated last Thursday that Reagan "didn't sit down in a negotiation with the religious extremists in Iran"), North told his Fox colleague Sean Hannity:
"As you know, I'm the history guy at Fox News Channel, right? I've done this WWII series - 52 of our episodes about WWII. Had it not been for Chamberlain going to sit down with Adolf Hitler and try to cut a deal in Munich, WWII might never have happened, but it emboldened the dictator. That's what the President said yesterday in Jerusalem. And a little reminder today, a shot across the bow here at the NRA, when John McCain got up and said, 'You cannot have these kinds of unconditional, no preconditions discussions, with despots and dictators' - dead on the mark."
North, like McCain, is a revisionist historian and a bad one at that. Both men are hoping that the American people forget the Reagan administration's convoluted - and illegal - scheme to sell weapons to Tehran and then funnel the proceeds to the Nicaraguan Contras in violation of U.S. law. For his part, North takes for granted Americans will overlook his record - a conviction later overturned on appeal by reliably Republican judge Laurence Silberman. Of course, to win the White House in November, John McCain needs voters to forget his record altogether.
(For more on McCain's head in the sand approach to his own Iran-Contra history, visit here.)
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You, yes you who have hijacked the Demoncratic Party; you should be thankful for the very existence of a candidate John McCain and do everything you can to see that he wins the presidency in 2008. When three candidates threaten to bollix up our nation even further than it is, wouldn't you rather have a Repulican do the damage and catch the heat? It'd make for a Democratic slam-dunk in twenty-12! The only person who knows less about current events, names and places than George Bush Jr. is Barrack Obama. If JFK were alive today he'd be considered a staunch front line conservative and if he met Hillary he'd know our electoral process had been infiltrated by programmed automatons of the Red Chinese government. One look at McCain's ideas and policies would likely convince JFK that McCain was a Commie as well. McCain has always remeinded me of Droopy the Dog; he of cartoon fame (Quotes from Droopy: "Hello you happy people" and "Which way did he go George?") I categorically despise Hillary but I'd rather have her for president than Barrack. I'm a Republican but in a three-way race I can't name which two candidates I'd rather see lose, and I can't face the thought of McCain as the winner! The plot sickens! Go ahead and do your worst, or best; defeat McCain and let one of your own candidates draw the fire when he/she jacks this nation up. You'll be wishing you GAVE the election to McCain. If these three had their images on the wheels of a slot-machine all three would be superimposed over a lemon. No matter who you pull the lever for, this election... you're gettin' lemons!
Posted by Uncle Jedi on May 21, 2008 2:02 AM