As Rethuglicans go into partisan outrage mode over the Obama Administration's prisoner swap to free Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, many are reminding us that their secular god, St. Ronnie of Hollywood, went far beyond merely "negotiating with terrorists," as Paul Rosenberg at Salon writes:
"Not only did Reagan deal with terrorists as president, as revealed in the Iran-Contra scandal, the preponderance of evidence now supports the charge that his campaign negotiated with Iranian hostage-takers while he was running for president in 1980, to delay the release of hostages before the election, which could have helped Carter win reelection — what was known as 'The October Surprise.' Given that Reagan wasn’t president then, but was negotiating to thwart a president’s attempt to get hostages released, this is not simply questionable behavior, it is arguably an act of treason." (our emphasis)As Rosenberg also notes, after 241 Marines and sailors died in a bombing attack on their barracks in Beirut in October, 1983, St. Ronnie decided to pull back, lob some shells into Lebanon, and call it a day. Imagine the hellish outcry, the screams for impeachment, from the Rethugs if that had happened on Obama's watch: 241 dead and a tepid response. Wingnuttery is selective indeed.
(photo: St. Ronnie, veteran of the 1st Motion Picture Brigade)
