Why didn't Tip O'Neill start impeachment hearings for Iran-Contra?

[Grover Cleveland]

Was it because it was basically, "screw it, he's getting out of office anyway"?

[Dookus]

1. it would've been pointless

Reagan was pretty popular, and the Republicans held the Senate.

[tritsofme]

2. They lost the Senate in 1986 didn't they?

Or maybe that was 1982, I don't remember.

Either way, like you said, he was a popular President and it could have turned on us.

I was convinced we would win the WH in 1988, especially after the whole Iran-Contra stuff came out, so maybe in heindsight we should have been more aggressive.

[Dookus]

3. no

they won in '80 with Reagan, I believe. Howard Baker was majority leader from 81 to 84. Then the Dems won it back in 88.

[tritsofme]

4. I could have sworn Reagan lost the Senate sometime in his term

but maybe I'm just getting old.

[Dookus]

6. you're right...

I just double checked. The Dems took it back in '86

[tritsofme]

7. Thanks for looking it up

But what I'm sure we kept in mind, that was the fatal flaw of the GOP in 1994, is that a good turnout for a midterm election is not a mandate.

[Spinzonner]

5. The criteria for Impeachment and removal from office

are High Crimes and Misdemeanors,

not being addle-brained

[DemPopulist]

8. O'Neill was retiring

O'Neill retired at the end of the '85-'86 Congress and Iran-Contra didn't break until November of '86 (just after the elections).

Reagan did lose a lot of support over the scandal but the House Democrats would've needed a lot more public outcry to justify impeachment hearings, since we're not insane the way Republicans are.}(

[T Town Jake]

9. Just MHO, but I think it was..

...basically because O'Neill was from the time in America when Democrats & Republicans fought tooth and nail during "business hours," but put the rancor aside, for the most part, at the end of the day. I think he might've genuinely liked Reagan as a person, just couldn't stand his policies, and vice versa.
BTW, off-topic, but I think Grover Cleveland was a great Democratic President, especially given the social limitations of the 19th Century.

[blm]

11. You're right about that. Tip O'Neill was the exact opposite of Gingrich

and the DeLay Republicans. They only do what's best for THEM and not what's best for their country and its citizens.

[blm]

10. Actually, I heard Sally Quinn tell the story about this time.

She said that the reason most of the journalists and politicians went easy on Reagan is because they knew he had already been showing signs of Alzheimer and senility. She said there was no appetite to take down a sick man.

But, I don't think Reagan was the perpetrator of IranContra. I am certain the entire region was Poppy Bush's responsibility while Reagan managed USSR issues.

Bush should have been the one held responsible by the press and the lawmakers. Reagan was used as a distraction because he was really the one out of the loop.

John Kerry's investigation turned up plenty of crimes and that is why Bush pardoned so many before he left office. Any trial would have exposed his much greater role in IranContra and BCCI.

[Wapsie B]

12. Just like the chimp

the Gipper was just a front man, a puppet reading speeches off the teleprompter. The dirty work was done by the henchmen behind the scenes.

[KharmaTrain]

15. I've Always Wondered Why BCCI Got Stonewalled

To me that was the real treason as even then we knew the Bush family was involved in this mess as was several organizations linked to Iran/Contra. We got a couple of minor indictments and convictions and the investigation died in the wake of the wrap up of Iran/Contra and Poppy Bush losing in '92.

Raygun got a pass on Iran/Contra for a couple reasons. I think the biggest was there was no appetite in 1987 to repeat the memories of 1974 (which were still fresh) and the partisan fighting that happened at the time (which is nothing compared to now)...and that this happened in the tail end of Rayguns second term, thus the Constitution would do the job and the hopes were to pin some of the slime on Poppy...and his selective memory.

Also even I didn't think Raygun was a Nixon...he didn't deliberately call North & Poindexter into his office and dictate what to do and whom to do it to, like Nixon did. Like the current brainstem in the White House, Raygun was the CEO of a criminal enterprise, but a kindly one. Everyone knew he was disconnected from most issues of the time and had to be programmed as to what to pay attention to. History has shown, however, the man actually did do some of his own thinking...just had handlers all around him.

[JHB]

13. It's not Tip's feet you should hold to the fire...

...If you want to point to "Dems who capitulated to the Republicans and let them off light", then position #1 goes to Lee Hamilton.

And, sorry to pint this out, but Clinton would be on that list too, since getting to the bottom of the Reagan/Bush scandals wasn't on his peoples' "radar screen", and he (or his justice department) actually was going to allow Bush to delete all the WH e-mail records from those days. Fortunately, outside parties sued and won, requiring the e-mails be treated like any other documents from an administration.

[JHB]

14. nada

Wacky board activity causing unepected re-posts

[BillZBubb]

16. It didn't happen because the Democrats agreed with the

Repugs that the investigation wouldn't go after Reagan. For some reason the Democratic leadership, in there typical chickenshit way, agreed to this.