Devoted marine (Oliver North) skips ex-boss's funeral

[rooboy]

Oliver North, the decorated marine who personified the Iran-Contra scandal with his ramrod-straight testimony to Congress, made a final sacrifice for his former boss: He did not attend former president Reagan's funeral.

Recalling words he had on Wednesday with the former national security adviser and Reagan confidant William Clark, North said: "I told him I did not think I should be a distraction at this, and if I went, I would be.

"Every doggone camera in the place would be shooting pictures of me instead of paying attention to what was going on," North said.

The host of the Fox News Channel program War Stories with Oliver North said he was sure the media would have tried to make something out of his presence if he had turned up at the Washington National Cathedral.

"I had the national press corps camped on my front lawn for nine straight months" during Iran-Contra, said North, who was a national security aide in the Reagan White House. "And that's not what this is about."

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/11/1086749894066.html

[Submariner]

1. As a "TRAITOR" he should not be allowed anyway

Nancy would have had him kicked out of the cathedral if he was there.

[lebkuchen]

20. Bush, who sanctioned torture, was allowed to speak

North would have fit perfectly into the lineup.

[0007]

23. How many other Iran/Contra convicts attended Saint Ronnie's funeral

[The Zanti Regent]

38. Don't forget the drug pushing

One day, Oliver North WILL answer for his cocaine dealings that Gary Webb documented!

[underpants]

2. Ollie seems to have quite a granidose problem

Every camera? I thought it was going to be on a C-Span type feed.

Get over yourself Ollie. The truth is he probably wasn't invited (NAncy wanted him to take the fall and get it over with).

[scarletwoman]

3. He certainly thinks highly of himself, doesn't he...

"It's all about ME!"

:puke:

sw

[wryter2000]

4. It's always about you, Ollie

What a psychopath. I've seldom seen such a fine example in my entire life.

[calimary]

14. Oh yes you have. Son-of-Twerp, who, with his Texas twang, is

presuming to eulogize Reagan at the moment (at least while I write this).

[wryter2000]

34. LOL

That's why I said "seldom," not never.

[yellowcanine]

5. I suspect Ollie was too ashamed to go - after all he did more to discredit

Reagan than any of Reagan's political opponents.

[PATRICK]

7. And Nancy gutted his Senate bid

n/t

[aquart]

17. Did she?

I didn't know. My, my, my.

[underpants]

28. Not really Nancy, it was Sen John Warner

I've never heard that Nancy "gutted" his Senate race.

Warner got Marshall Coleman, former Lt.Gov or Atty. Gen, to run. Coleman was a long time candidate in Va. and a moderate (back when such a thing existed) and he took the moderate Republican vote away from Ollie and Robb won.

[displacedtexan]

6. Interesting article. North never says he was invited.

hhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..........

[Dulcinea]

8. That's my guess.

Why would Nancy want him there anyway?

North is a loser. He was a loser then & he is one now.

[gratuitous]

9. His "ramrod straight testimony"?

:wtf:

North weaseled, wriggled, obfuscated, and dissembled his testimony. It was in no way "ramrod straight." This is one guy who should be an EX-marine.

[klook]

10. Sanctimonious pseudo-patriot

That schmuck North embodies one of the worst aspects of the Reagan presidency.

[2Design]

11. doesn't anyone think this guy was the fall guy for higher criminals

I always did. I never felt they got the right people. Am I missing some important information that I am sure some here could give me links to...that would say that this guy alone should be guilty.????

[klook]

12. Iran-Contra Trading Cards

tell a lot of the story:
http://homepages.cs.ncl.ac.uk/chris.holt/home.informal/bar/corsair.afdq/contra.cards/

For example, from Card #18 - Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams:

Abrams has lied to Congress repeatedly. He misrepresented his role in soliciting a contribution for the contras from the Sultan of Brunei (see card #17). When the Hasenfus flight was shot down (see card #29), Abrams testified to a House sub-committee that the U.S. government was not involved in any way, and later he helped concoct a story laying the blame on General John Singlaub (see card #7). A few months prior to this, he had helped win $20 million in "emergency" aid to Honduras by greatly exaggerating claims of Nicaraguan incursions into Honduran territory.

Abrams' actions form a pattern of disinformation that characterizes the Reagan Administration as a whole and George Schultz's State Department in particular. From the beginning, the Administration lied about its intentions in Nicaragua, claiming that its "covert" actions were intended to cut off arms shipments from Nicaragua to El Salvador, when in fact they were creating an invasion force.

more:
http://homepages.cs.ncl.ac.uk/chris.holt/home.informal/bar/corsair.afdq/contra.cards/18.html

[gratuitous]

13. North alone?

I don't see anyone saying that, but since he's the subject of the thread, it's worth remembering what a lying piece of excrement the Lt. Col. was.

As for others, unfortunately we'll never know, because Poppy issued a bunch of pardons just before he left office. Among the lucky recipients of presidential "Get Out of Jail Free" cards were Eliot Abrams, Robert McFarlane, and Caspar Weinberger. These pardons effectively decapitated the Iran/contra investigation, just two weeks before Weinberger's trial was to begin, and in which the evidence and testimony would have shown that Bush the Elder was not "out of the loop" as he claimed. In effect, George H.W. Bush let himself off the hook with the 1992 Christmas Eve pardons.

[aquart]

18. Well, my goodness. Of course he wasn't alone.

Sure acts like he did it all by himself, though, doesn't he?

[troublemaker]

15. As if he had the option of attending. WTF?

Nancy hates him. 10-1 He wasn't invited and that's why he's saying this.

[Timefortruth]

16. He didn't get a ticket.

No doubt about it. The family had only a thousand and someone who brought shame to Reagan just didn't make the cut. Good God, Ollie can't even tell the truth about that, instead he comes up with this self aggrandizing egomanical bull shit.

The freepers will admire his courage and selflessness.

[progressivebydesign]

19. The GOP probably told him not to go!

It would be a bad association for Reagan's supposedly saintly legacy.. heaven forbid ANYONE remember or speak of Iran/Contra.. and how Reagan's numbers dropped into the 40s because of it. North is a political albatross.

[leQ]

21. the gossip columns were abuzz a while back about north not being invited

when word of his deterioration started months ago, that he was basically the man who brought shame to ronnie and nancy never got over it. my guess is she specifically told organizers she didn't want to see him.

[Zero Gravitas]

22. Remind me again

Why is Ollie North not in prison and what is the penalty for treason?

[sofa king]

32. North faced 16 felony charges.

I don't know (but I doubt) that any of those charges were for treason. He was convicted on three counts: taking illegal gratuities, obstructing a Congressional investigation, and destruction of documents. Treason as defined by the Constitution (Article 3, Section 3) is only applicable to those who actively wage war against the United States or give aid and comfort to the enemy. Iran was not technically an enemy of the United States, so North was unlikely to have been charged with treason.

In return for squealing, North was given some obscure form of immunity which I do not entirely understand. His lawyers successfully argued in appeals court that his tesimony influenced other witnesses to testify against him, or something like that. When the Supreme Court denied cert in 1991 the case was remanded to the original District Court judge, who dismissed the charges. A classic walk on a technicality.

Admiral Poindexter also walked on a similar premise--something to do with his self-convicting testimony being immune from prosecution. Poindexter was stone-cold busted lying to Congress in uniform, and that charge has never been disputed.

It will take someone else to better explain the above than I can, but if I may be permitted a side-track, I can't help but point out one of the many crushing ironies of the W junta. Both Poindexter and North were busted for attempting to destroy all of their e-mail correspondence. Neither considered the possibility that all of that information would also be saved to a tape backup, and that's what busted them for document destruction and deceiving Congress.

Perhaps as a reward for so effectively shooting himself in the foot with technology, Admiral Poindexter was returned to service by the current Administration and placed in charge of DARPA's Information Awareness Office and the Orwellian Total Information Awareness program, which--even though Congress cut funding for the program last year--still exists. Poindexter has since resigned.

I guess smearing his own reputation for life gave Poindexter the level of competence we have now grown accustomed to within the Bush Administration.

Wanna see something really spooky? Here's the IAO's seal:



Their motto is "Scientia ist Potentia," or "knowledge is power." However, a more informal translation is "knowledge is political power." That should scare the living shit out of all of you.

[chelsea0011]

24. A criminal and a prick

[wndycty]

25. LOL. . .all of the ex-presidents and world leaders and North thinks. . .

. . .he would be a distraction? LOL

[Jabbery]

26. Just Another Republican Convicted Felon

Was the criminal Cap Weinberger there? He and Oliver North and G. Gordon Liddy and Chuck Colson and all the rest are the textbook example of how the Republican party counts felons as their greatest heroes.

[sidpleasant]

27. Rot in hell, Ollie North. Soon. Please.

My late father was a career Marine who enlisted in 1945 on the day he graduated from high school. He served with distinction for 26 years including a tour of duty in Viet Nam when he over 40. Dad did work for Navy intelligence in the chaos of post war Europe, infiltrated one of the Zionist gangs in Palestine posing as a mercenary, and did work for the CIA ("I wasn't in the Agency but I did work for them" was all he'd say). He'd been under fire and he had killed people for the United States. In other words his credentials as a Marine and patriot were unquestionable. My father completely and deeply despised Oliver North for a lot of good reasons but especially for wearing his Marines uniform to testify to Congress. Dad observed that North had worn a suit while working in the White House when he could and should have worn his uniform and only dragged it out of the closet like a Halloween costume for that theatrical appearance before Congress. My father and many other Marines felt that North disgraced the uniform that day, and they hated him for it. Dad also noted that North was allowed to hand carry his personnel records to the White House, a highly irregular event. Ordinary Marines were never left alone with their records, a second person always had to be present when the subject read his records. This very unusual privilege given North probably explains how all the records of his mental breakdown at Quantico (North was alleged to have run naked around the base, waving a gun and screaming) disappeared before he got to the WH. A suicidal lunatic never should have been working around the President.

More details on Ollie North's unsavory history here, in a fine piece from 1994 by David Hackworth:

http://www.airborne-ranger.com/ranger/wannabees/OllieNorth.html

[playahata1]

37. Excellent article.

I like Hack a lot. That man is a straight shooter. You don't bullshit him, and he will not bullshit you.

[tabasco]

44. Your dad was right on!

North is a disgrace to the Officer Corps and the entire military.

[SayitAintSo]

29. Think maybe the RNC told him to bag it .....

Don't need to dredge up any bad memories of Iran Contra now do we.... "Ollie... take one for the Gipper and just stay home and watch it on cable, and let's not taint the great wave of revisionist history that is rolling through the heartland..."

[AlCzervik]

30. Wow he really thinks he's important

"All the cameras would be on me". What a joke.

[Lucille]

31. Wouldn't a devoted Marine uphold the constitution?

I mean, devoted to what, exactly? Maybe his grandma? He certainly seems to have delusions of grandma. OOPs. Make that grandeur. Delusions of grandeur.

[yellowcanine]

39. A lot of marines are embarrassed by Ollie's Iran/Contra activities.

"Devoted marine." Yeah right.

[notadmblnd]

33. he thinks entirely too much of himself.

the nerve of that little demon, a legend in his own mind.

[Tight_rope]

35. Ollie is a real Son-of-a-Bitch!

He knows he was never invited, because if he was, he would have been there front and center. "JACKASS"!

[Best_man23]

36. Article from Keysnews.com - North was in Key West

<snip>

North, a controversial figure in Reagan's National Security Council, was in Key West to film a segment for his Fox TV series called "War Stories."

http://www.keysnews.com/336636599279277.bsp.htm

[peacetalksforall]

40. So which of the Iran-Contra operatives were at the funeral? C. Rice?

I think we got lucky with the funeral because a lot of people got a little educated about Iran-Contra or at least learned there is some black history in St. Ronald's life in the WH.

I think it is the irony of all time that Drug Czars got Nancy to run an anti-drug propaganda show with her famous words - Say no to drugs - while the staff and operatives of Ronald ran a drug operation that dumped drugs on the street.

I cannot believe that all St. Ronalds' admirers can overlook that he set-up and ran a secret United States Government. What kind of patriots are they anyway - to design and support a sub=government that Congress and the citizens didn't know about.

We should never let anyone forget in these awful weeks and months that are ahead of us in which Grover will and Rush and Sean will push to change the money and ruin Mt. Rushmore.

There is also irony in changing the name of the Pentagon to Reagan - the brass there were integral to the operation of the illegal sub-government.

[burythehatchet]

41. I am convinced that Nancy

kept ollie from coming

[Junkdrawer]

42. There's a line of thought that much of the Iran-Contra connection...

part of Iran-Contra was Ollie's invention to cover his own ass. The thinking goes that Ollie (and others) were gun running both to Iran and to the Contras. When the scheme was about to break, Ollie stuffs the files full of documents to show the profits from Iran went to fund the Contras. Then Ollie plays Super Patriot and "takes the bullet" when, in fact, it was his profiteering that drove most of the arms sales.

Interesting theory that seems to fit much of the facts, but I don't buy into it 100%.

[Piperay]

43. So why didn't Ollie line up

and pay his respects at the viewing the way Dole did??? The camera was on everyone, no one was singled out, the guy is just a lying piece of shit.

[DemBones DemBones]

46. You mean Dole actually stood in line with regular

FUs? For four hours in that DC heat?

Or do you mean Dole didn't get invited to the funeral but showed up in the Rotunda to "pay his respects"? I'd think he must be important enough that he'd get cuts in line.

I've avoided coverage of the whole PR extravaganza and exercise in revisionist history as much as possible.


(FUs = fodder units -- allegedly, Poppy's preferred term for the citizenry, the rabble, hoi polloi); Dubya allegedly uses the acronym, too. That's fodder as in "cannon fodder," of course. Breeding will out.)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

45. This is the kind of arrogance that's been the hallmark

of republican politics.

The real reason Ollie didn't attend was that he couldn't stand to be snickered at.

[gardenista]

47. Yeah, that's what I said when I didn't get invited to Brad & Jen's wedding

The asshole was probably not invited. I bet Nancy made sure of it.

[PurityOfEssence]

48. Why? Can't enter a house of the lord without bursting into flames?

Bummer.

[truthisfreedom]

49. ollie's easy to see through. what he's really saying is that he was scared

to death that nobody would notice him, and he couldn't bear the thought that he wouldn't be the center of attention. he would have had to face the fact that nobody gives a flying fork whether he exists or not.

[struggle4progress]

50. Why hasn't he moved to Iran?

[mountainvue]

51. I'm sure it was made clear

to him that he was not welcome.

[Gingersnapsback]

52. Same reason Bush didn't attend the twin's

Graduation. Funny that security wasn't a problem and he didn't distract from the other ceremonies he attended.