President Obama's Disingenuous Attack on Outsourcing

[sabrina 1]

204. Yes, I am aware, and even support, cooperation between the two parties. But we are talking about

today's Republican Party. Can anyone deny that the current Republican Party is led by the likes of Grover Norquist, that every single Republican in Congress signed Norquist's pledge to refuse to raise taxes on no matter how detrimental that might be to the country?

They started a war. They never intended to be cooperative. Imo, keeping Gates eg, fed into the Right Wing false claim that Democrats are weak on security, so they needed to turn to a Republican 'warrior' in order to 'protect this country'. Is this the message we want to convey?

Gates, eg, betrayed President Carter and enabled Reagan in his treasonous dealings with Iran and helped put Reagan in power, a pivotal point in the decline of this country as I would think, most Democrats agree on.

Level of involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal

Because of his senior status in the CIA, Gates was close to many figures who played significant roles in the Iran-Contra Affair and was in a position to have known of their activities. In 1984, as deputy director of CIA, Gates advocated that the U.S. initiate a bombing campaign against Nicaragua and that the U.S. do everything in its power short of direct military invasion of the country to remove the Sandinista government.[24] The evidence developed by Independent Counsel did not warrant indictment of Gates for his Iran-Contra activities or his responses to official inquiries.

Gates was an early subject of Independent Counsel's investigation, but the investigation of Gates intensified in the spring of 1991 as part of a larger inquiry into the Iran/contra activities of CIA officials. This investigation received an additional impetus in May 1991, when President George H.W. Bush nominated Gates to be Director of Central Intelligence (DCI). The chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) requested, in a letter to the Independent Counsel on May 15, 1991, any information that would "significantly bear on the fitness" of Gates for the CIA post.

And more on Gates:

Gates’ role in Iran-Contra scandal still debated

Converging scandals

Iran-Contra was the convergence of two covert operations run by the Reagan White House — selling arms to Iran in an effort to free U.S. hostages in Lebanon and supplying arms to the Contra guerrillas fighting the leftist government of Nicaragua.

NSC aide Oliver North oversaw the Contra resupply network during a congressional ban on military aid to the rebels.

Congress was kept in the dark. The two operations were exposed when a resupply plane was shot down over Nicaragua and when a Middle East newspaper disclosed the Iran initiative.

In 1991, as Gates prepared to testify at his confirmation hearings for the CIA, new evidence emerged that raised additional questions about whether he had told the truth in Iran-Contra.

The fact that this unelected official has managed to remain in a powerful position through several different administrations, despite the questions about his role in Iran Contra is disturbing to say the least and should have completely disqualified him from a Democratic Administration.

Maybe I am way too cynical when it comes to Republicans, but because of the current political climate, the absolute refusal of that Party as a whole, to ever put the country before politics, I don't think it is advisable to do what was possible in the past. I cannot think of a prominent Republican that I would trust in any position of power and/or who cares more about this country than the idealogy that has taken over that party.

But I do thank you for your willingness to discuss the issue in a civil manner