Caspar
I was just reading the WaPo obit for Reagan Defence Secretary Caspar Weinberger. Old Cap was Secretary from 1981 to 1987, and ruled over the largest peace-time arms build-up in the history of man. I mean, dogs were carrying M-60 machineguns under Cap. In his previous OMB job he was known as "Cap the Knife" for his savage budget cutting - and there are lots of kids who grew up without school lunches and health care who I'm sure would love to get out from under their bridges and go to his funeral. As Sec o'Defense, he morphed into "Cap the Shovel" for his lavish spending. Yes, trillions for guns, not a penny for butter.
But what struck me was the passage in the obit that talked about his role in the Iran-Contra scandal. If you recall, Ronnie sold weapons to Iran (to support their war effort against Iraq a few years after the Hostage Crisis) and turned the money over to the Nicaraguan Contras. Cap hid his notes about the whole thing and was indicted for obstructing justice until Poppy pardoned him.
But here's the line in the obit:
"After he left office, Mr. Weinberger became a leading figure in the Iran-contra affair, in which U.S. officials covertly sold arms to Iran to win the release of U.S. hostages in the Middle East and used some of the profits to support Nicaraguan rebels known as the contras. This went against stated U.S. policy."
No. It did not go "against stated U.S. policy." It went against U.S. law. Congress passed a law making it illegal for the executive to support the Contras. A Law. When Ronnie got Ollie North and friends to circumvent that law, they were guilty of a crime.
That was back when Americans like Sen. Mitchell of Maine were willing to bring an out-of-control executive to account. Are we so far past the rule of the Constitution that we can't even call past crimes what they were? Do we have to parse them out to "against policy?"
Congress makes the laws and the executive must obey them. That's how the U.S. became the greatest democracy and economic engine in human history. When we turn the whole operation over to dictatorial ideologues, we cripple ourselves. There are lots of tinplate dictatorships in the dustbin of history.
Shall we now join them?
But what struck me was the passage in the obit that talked about his role in the Iran-Contra scandal. If you recall, Ronnie sold weapons to Iran (to support their war effort against Iraq a few years after the Hostage Crisis) and turned the money over to the Nicaraguan Contras. Cap hid his notes about the whole thing and was indicted for obstructing justice until Poppy pardoned him.
But here's the line in the obit:
"After he left office, Mr. Weinberger became a leading figure in the Iran-contra affair, in which U.S. officials covertly sold arms to Iran to win the release of U.S. hostages in the Middle East and used some of the profits to support Nicaraguan rebels known as the contras. This went against stated U.S. policy."
No. It did not go "against stated U.S. policy." It went against U.S. law. Congress passed a law making it illegal for the executive to support the Contras. A Law. When Ronnie got Ollie North and friends to circumvent that law, they were guilty of a crime.
That was back when Americans like Sen. Mitchell of Maine were willing to bring an out-of-control executive to account. Are we so far past the rule of the Constitution that we can't even call past crimes what they were? Do we have to parse them out to "against policy?"
Congress makes the laws and the executive must obey them. That's how the U.S. became the greatest democracy and economic engine in human history. When we turn the whole operation over to dictatorial ideologues, we cripple ourselves. There are lots of tinplate dictatorships in the dustbin of history.
Shall we now join them?
posted by fiduciary at 8:23 AM
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