When I try to explain how the Democrats became conflict-averse during the 1980s and into the 1990s--badgered by tough-minded Republicans and denounced as unpatriotic by a potent right-wing news media--I'm often met with quizzical looks, like I'm saying something that doesn't compute.
Americans have heard so often (mostly from right-wing media spokesmen) about the "liberal media"- and (from those same voices) about how Republicans are victimized by some vaguely defined Democratic "elite"- that the reality has trouble penetrating the public preconceptions.
Big lies repeated endlessly do have a way of becoming an ersatz truth. [For details on the Reagan-era crimes, see Robert Parry's Secrecy & Privilege.]
Though the Republican Party may be a pale shadow of its former self, a few growls from former Vice President Dick Cheney and a steady drumbeat of anger from Rush Limbaugh and Fox News personalities still go a long way.
Since the early days of his presidency, Obama has been in steady retreat from his pleasing words about the rule of law and government transparency, capped off this past week with reversals on releasing photographic evidence of detainee abuse and on retaining Bush's military commissions system, albeit with some additional rights granted to defendants.
This dynamic of Democratic timidity also explains how Republicans, such as Graham and Cheney, can get away with justifying practices that associate the United States with Torquemada, while the question of "what did Nancy Pelosi know and when did she know it?"- becomes a Washington obsession.
Today's irony, however, may be that the broad-based attacks on Pelosi could be the one thing that forces creation of a "truth commission" on Bush's abuses of power, even though Obama--like Clinton before him--wants to let bygones be bygones.
Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the Associated Press and Newsweek. His latest book, Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush, was written with two of his sons, Sam and Nat, and can be ordered at neckdeepbook.com. His two previous books, Secrecy & Privilege: The Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq and Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth' are also available there. Or go to Amazon.com.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
