If you can read this, either the style sheet didn't load or you have an older browser that doesn't support style sheets. Try clearing your browser cache and refreshing the page.

(Spokesman.com) Followup Twenty years later, lawyer determines Ronald Reagan was not criminally liable in the Iran-Contra affair   (spokesman.com) divider line 105
More: Followup, George Bush, Ronald Reagan, Iran, Reagan White House, iran-contra scandal, National Security Archive, Legal liability, Leavenworth  
•       •       •

1069 clicks; posted to Politics » on 26 Nov 2011 at 10:30 AM   |  Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook   more»   |    Get this fabulous T-Shirt and impress the methane out of your friends! shirt it!



105 Comments   (+0 »)
   

First | « | 1 | 2 | 3 | » | Last | Show all
 
2011-11-26 03:58:55 AM
I give this about ten seconds until Fox and GOP talking heads pick this up as a complete argument that Reagan was the best president ever.
 
2011-11-26 06:37:18 AM
I'll be the judge of that.
 
2011-11-26 07:53:23 AM
Well good then. Saves the taxpayers the money it would cost to posthumously prosecute him.
 
2011-11-26 08:04:39 AM
spidermann: I give this about ten seconds until Fox and GOP talking heads pick this up as a complete argument that Reagan was the best president ever.

He was better than Carter (who is about the same as Obama). For this reason, the right needs to nominate a real conservative. When Obama loses the democrat majority in the Senate next year (if he is reelected), he will be able to do nothing to kill the economy.
 
2011-11-26 08:12:23 AM
I'm sure he'll be very relieved.
 
2011-11-26 08:16:48 AM
I love how Reagan played ignorant about all of it. Then it turned out he was briefed daily on all the aspects of it.
and now this guy says it was okay because the National Security Act trumps the Arms Export Control Act. Basically saying as long as we're fighting socialists we can illegaly arm terrorists.
Isn't Fascism great?
 
2011-11-26 08:25:49 AM
Hobodeluxe: I love how Reagan played ignorant about all of it. Then it turned out he was briefed daily on all the aspects of it.
and now this guy says it was okay because the National Security Act trumps the Arms Export Control Act. Basically saying as long as we're fighting socialists we can illegaly arm terrorists.
Isn't Fascism great?


That's not even what he said. He said Reagan is exculpated because Meese told him it was perfectly legit under the National Security Act, even though it was not. It's kind of like John Yoo telling Dubya that water boarding is not torture. I am a lawyer, but I'm going to hire one today to tell me that sneaking into the movies for free is okay under the Get Into Movies Free Act of 1907. I figure I'm all good if I do that.
 
2011-11-26 08:49:54 AM
"We negotiate with terrorists" - R. Reagan

Nice to see his legacy survives. Even as this prosecutor excuses Reagan for arming the Contras he admits that Reagan was in charge of arms deals with Iran.
 
2011-11-26 09:00:13 AM
"a lawyer determines?"

so that's all it takes to determine guilt or innocence? once person? well, great - that'll take a load off our courts.
 
2011-11-26 09:25:24 AM
...President Reagan was briefed in advance about every weapons shipment sold to Iran in the arms-for-hostages deals in 1985-86. In a separate report on Bush, Mixter wrote that the then-vice president was chairman of a committee that recommended mining the harbors of Nicaragua in 1983.

The important thing is that no blow jobs were involved.
 
2011-11-26 09:45:35 AM
fark him and fark that.
 
2011-11-26 09:55:30 AM
MorrisBird: He said Reagan is exculpated because Meese told him it was perfectly legit under the National Security Act, even though it was not. It's kind of like John Yoo telling Dubya that water boarding is not torture

Came here to say this. Carry on.
 
2011-11-26 10:03:01 AM
MorrisBird: That's not even what he said. He said Reagan is exculpated because Meese told him it was perfectly legit under the National Security Act, even though it was not. It's kind of like John Yoo telling Dubya that water boarding is not torture. I am a lawyer, but I'm going to hire one today to tell me that sneaking into the movies for free is okay under the Get Into Movies Free Act of 1907. I figure I'm all good if I do that.

This. If your lawyer gives you bad advice and you act on it, you are responsible for the results. It is for this reason that you should be careful about the lawyer you choose.
 
2011-11-26 10:32:10 AM
spidermann: Reagan was the best president ever.

He was indeed.

/ selective quoting, FTW!
 
2011-11-26 10:32:50 AM
Let me guess:

Due to diminished capacity?
 
2011-11-26 10:35:53 AM
How many members of Reagan's administration weren't criminals? Also, like hell he wasn't criminally liable.
 
2011-11-26 10:36:30 AM
Sid_6.7: Let me guess:

Due to diminished capacity?


LOL
 
2011-11-26 10:38:22 AM
Sid_6.7: Due to diminished capacity?

Har har har!
 
2011-11-26 10:39:26 AM
Sid_6.7: Let me guess:

Due to diminished capacity?
 
2011-11-26 10:42:57 AM
EnviroDude: spidermann: I give this about ten seconds until Fox and GOP talking heads pick this up as a complete argument that Reagan was the best president ever.

He was better than Carter (who is about the same as Obama). For this reason, the right needs to nominate a real conservative. When Obama loses the democrat majority in the Senate next year (if he is reelected), he will be able to do nothing to kill the economy.


So you agree that taxes need to be increased, and you're pro-amnesty for illegal aliens, then?
 
2011-11-26 10:50:16 AM
A lawyer said that? Why, that's one step away from a judge! I'm convinced.
 
2011-11-26 10:59:02 AM
Let's spend the time, money and effort to prosecute a dead guy. That makes sense
 
2011-11-26 11:00:19 AM
"Briefed" by not responsible. The fark.
 
2011-11-26 11:01:41 AM
Sorry, we figured that one out decades ago after Democrats spent untold amounts of money in a desperate bid to destroy Reagan for the crime of proving liberals wrong about just about everything.
 
2011-11-26 11:02:45 AM
Are we going to have to suffer through 30 years of people retconning Dubya's legacy too?
 
2011-11-26 11:03:24 AM
EnviroDude: spidermann: I give this about ten seconds until Fox and GOP talking heads pick this up as a complete argument that Reagan was the best president ever.

He was better than Carter (who is about the same as Obama). For this reason, the right needs to nominate a real conservative. When Obama loses the democrat majority in the Senate next year (if he is reelected), he will be able to do nothing to kill the economy.


Can always count on you to be an idiot.
 
2011-11-26 11:06:16 AM
LordJiro: EnviroDude: spidermann: I give this about ten seconds until Fox and GOP talking heads pick this up as a complete argument that Reagan was the best president ever.

He was better than Carter (who is about the same as Obama). For this reason, the right needs to nominate a real conservative. When Obama loses the democrat majority in the Senate next year (if he is reelected), he will be able to do nothing to kill the economy.

So you agree that taxes need to be increased, and you're pro-amnesty for illegal aliens, then?


And tripling the national debt - because he proved deficits don't matter. And expanding the federal government by a quarter of a million employees.

And funding terrorists. And letting summit meetings be scheduled by his wife's astrologer.

/the 80s: the real version, not the fantasy version Republicans believe in
 
2011-11-26 11:06:59 AM
I, like Reagan, don't recall what Iran-Contra was about.
 
2011-11-26 11:07:22 AM
Three Crooked Squirrels: MorrisBird: That's not even what he said. He said Reagan is exculpated because Meese told him it was perfectly legit under the National Security Act, even though it was not. It's kind of like John Yoo telling Dubya that water boarding is not torture. I am a lawyer, but I'm going to hire one today to tell me that sneaking into the movies for free is okay under the Get Into Movies Free Act of 1907. I figure I'm all good if I do that.

This. If your lawyer gives you bad advice and you act on it, you are responsible for the results. It is for this reason that you should be careful about the lawyer you choose.


What this tells me is to carefully choose a lawyer that will agree with anything I say.
 
2011-11-26 11:14:28 AM
bulldg4life: Are we going to have to suffer through 30 years of people retconning Dubya's legacy too?

Who?

They're going to give Bush the Nixon treatment:

Republican: Nixon was great because he opened trade with China.
History: He also started the EPA.
Republican: Who?
History: Nixon.
Republican: Nixon was great because he opened trade with China.
 
2011-11-26 11:16:02 AM
www.bartcop.com
 
2011-11-26 11:16:50 AM
spidermann: Reagan was the best president ever.

I expect he's already been fitted for a pineapple, just like Adolph.
/remembers when Sandler was funny
 
2011-11-26 11:22:47 AM
MisterRonbo: And tripling the national debt - because he proved deficits don't matter. And expanding the federal government by a quarter of a million employees.

And funding terrorists. And letting summit meetings be scheduled by his wife's astrologer.

/the 80s: the real version, not the fantasy version Republicans believe in


He also raised taxes after he cut them (new window), because he realized that the deficit was getting out of control. Perhaps Republicans should take that into account:

Over the remainder of his presidency, Reagan would go on to sign a series of such increases, ultimately taking back about half of his 1981 tax cut, according to economist and historian Bruce Bartlett. The 1981 legislation marked a watershed in federal taxation, capping an era of tax cuts and starting a new one of increases. As economist Jerry Tempalski has noted, of the nine major tax laws enacted from 1968 to 1981, six reduced federal revenue. By contrast, nine of the 11 major tax laws introduced from 1982 to 1993 increased revenue.

One of the huge problems is that current far-right Republicans treat economic policy like it's religious doctrine. Comprise is some sort of moral failing to them because they act based on unquestioned dogma that other people told them, not the realistic and rational examination of the prevailing state of the real world.

It's impossible for them to understand why a policy might be modified, because they don't know or comprehend the reasoning underlying the policy. The instant you question the doctrine, then *boom*, you're a heretic RINO.
 
2011-11-26 11:24:14 AM
so as long as you can hire a hack who will give you the okay to break the law and then pardon him for his criminal activity then you're okay?
good to know.
 
2011-11-26 11:32:04 AM
I, for one, have never doubted the great Saint Reagan. And for all you progressives and communists who had doubts requiring this absolution - as Paul said to the Romans, in Chapter 1, Verse Seventeen - the righteous man shall live by faith.
 
2011-11-26 11:33:07 AM
well good.
Still won't get him a get out of hell for free card!
 
2011-11-26 11:34:26 AM
The lawyer is wrong.
 
2011-11-26 11:38:49 AM
2.bp.blogspot.com
 
2011-11-26 11:40:53 AM
Somebody thinks that this article or any other mountain of evidence one way or the other is going to change anyone who adored Reagan's opinion of him?

It just don't work that way.
 
2011-11-26 11:41:11 AM
I think Iran-Contra was the turning point. The "government" we have today was born in the realization that you could do something like iran-Contra, get caught red-handed, and no Watergate ensued. Instead they built giant golden statues of you and sacrificed children at the foot of it to appease your wrathful spirit.

Now the executive branch operates on the principle of "fark all of you, because I farking said so," and Congress operates on the principle of, "If there's one thing we hate, it's a legislative body doing its job." Along with a Supreme Court that defines personhood as "gobs of money."
 
2011-11-26 11:44:33 AM
I see. Reagan helped arm Iran with missiles capable of downing airliners, but that was legal because his lawyer said it was, even though the lawyer was wrong. And he lied about it repeatedly to the American people, saying we don't negotiate with terrorists, when we clearly did. And the profits of the sales were used to fund the contras, in contravention of U.S. laws, but that's not big deal because Reagan did not know about it. It happened without his knowledge.

Bottom-line, he's both a shiatheel for selling Iran arms, and an incompetent shiatheel for not knowing that money was illegally going to the Contra from the sales. Thus, he's a Republican god.
 
2011-11-26 11:50:03 AM
Gee. What a big surprise that was.
 
2011-11-26 11:51:35 AM
EnviroDude: spidermann: I give this about ten seconds until Fox and GOP talking heads pick this up as a complete argument that Reagan was the best president ever.

He was better than Carter (who is about the same as Obama). For this reason, the right needs to nominate a real conservative. When Obama loses the democrat majority in the Senate next year (if he is reelected), he will be able to do nothing to kill the economy.


Reagan may have been better than Carter, though it's debatable. Obama is better, and the economy would be a lot better right now if the GOP weren't actively working to tank it.
 
2011-11-26 11:51:44 AM
"My attorney advised me that the law against farking children was superseded by the imperative to win football games. Plus, right after I witnessed the farking, I mentioned it to my co-workers. So we're cool, right?"
 
2011-11-26 11:54:06 AM
EnviroDude: spidermann: I give this about ten seconds until Fox and GOP talking heads pick this up as a complete argument that Reagan was the best president ever.

He was better than Carter (who is about the same as Obama). For this reason, the right needs to nominate a real conservative. When Obama loses the democrat majority in the Senate next year (if he is reelected), he will be able to do nothing to kill the economy.


Yes, a "real conservative" that will raise taxes, increase the debt, give amnesty to illegal immigrants, and negotiate with terrorists.

Sorry, Phil, facts don't go away just because you have a crush.
 
2011-11-26 11:54:36 AM
Of course he wasn't liable. Reagan accidentally the whole thing.
 
2011-11-26 12:01:56 PM
One day, in the not too distant future, I'm going to dig up Reagan's corpse and steal his skull. And this I will poop in. Daily. For the rest of my life.

stoli n coke: EnviroDude: spidermann: I give this about ten seconds until Fox and GOP talking heads pick this up as a complete argument that Reagan was the best president ever.

He was better than Carter (who is about the same as Obama). For this reason, the right needs to nominate a real conservative. When Obama loses the democrat majority in the Senate next year (if he is reelected), he will be able to do nothing to kill the economy.

Yes, a "real conservative" that will raise taxes, increase the debt, give amnesty to illegal immigrants, and negotiate with terrorists.

Sorry, Phil, facts don't go away just because you have a crush.


You forgot cutting and running from Beruit after the guys he was selling advanced missle technology too blew up the marine barracks. Also Reagan negotiated with terrorists in pretty much the same way Obama spent his first couple years negotiating with republicans.
 
2011-11-26 12:02:17 PM
Marcus Aurelius: [2.bp.blogspot.com image 600x316]

You are a dumbass since the Taliban didn't form until the 90s, well after Reagan was not in office. And who is Roland Reagan?
 
2011-11-26 12:03:40 PM
Coco LaFemme: How many members of Reagan's administration weren't criminals? Also, like hell he wasn't criminally liable.

Just the janitor and the shoeshine boy
 
2011-11-26 12:05:12 PM
As Reagan was debilitated by alzheimers', the argument could be made that he was not sufficiently competent to be held culpable in the Iran-Contra affair. Former C.I.A. director and, most likely at the time, acting president Bush 1, however, is guilty as all get out.
 
Displayed 50 of 105 comments

First | « | 1 | 2 | 3 | » | Last | Show all


This thread is closed to new comments.

Continue Farking
Submit a Link »