From: harbison@dbsun.uucp (harbison)
Subject: Re: **** ANOTHER COVER-UP - Please read this... ****
Organization: BioMerieux-Vitek, St. Louis Mo.
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 04:48:13 GMT

In article <1992Oct6.032348.8456@msuinfo.cl.msu.edu>
cassidy@cps.msu.edu (John J Cassidy) writes:
> In article <14084.2acc9fe4@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu>
> vancleef@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu writes:
>> The problem with these Republiclones is that they are only concerned
>> with immediate consequences, they never look farther than their nose
>> to see what it is that they are really doing. Fools.
>
> Like dropping the atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

After Pearl Harbor, the American public demanded nothing less than
complete, unconditional surrender of the empire.  Truman had essentially
two choices: an invasion of Japan, which his military advisors estimated
would result in over 1 million allied casualties; or to drop the bomb,
resulting in about a fourth that many Japanese casualties.  He chose
the lesser of two evils.

> Like entering into every single war in this century before the
> Gulf War?

Some issues are worth fighting about, and a wise leader knows when that
is the case.  I think American involvement was justfied in WW1, WW2, and
Korea.  Democrats happened to be in office when these trials took place.

South Vietnam appears to have been a creation of the CIA, so I don't
think our involvement was justified.  The CIA has sown the seeds of
many other conflicts: Iran, Cuba, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador,
to name a few.  There are probably others that the public has yet to
discover.  However, this began in the Eisenhower administration.  Our
involvement in Vietnam was in full swing before JFK took office.

> Like creating the mean and evil C.I.A ?

Truman did sign the bill creating the NSC and converting the MIA into
the CIA.  However, the Red Panic during the Eisenhower administration
(complements of McCarthy and Nixon) resulted in the current character
of the agency.

> Like installing Fidel Castro into power?

It was our coddling of Batista that created the opportunity for a
revolution.  However, this pro-Batista policy was put in place by
Eisenhower.  It seems the Republicans preferred a right-wing dictator
to the rebels who had popular support.  This seems to be a recurring
theme in our foreign policy (Iran, Chile, etc.).  I guess the profits
of United Fruit are more important than land reform in Latin America.

> Like coming to head with the CCCP over the missles subsequently
> placed in Cuba?

It seemed like the right thing to do at the time.  Americans were not
ready to accept Soviet missiles only 90 miles from FL.  After ten years
of McCarthy and Nixon screaming about the Red Menace, who could blame
us for assuming the worst intentions.

> Like inventing the policy of "Mutually Assured Destruction"?

The Nixon administration negotiated the treaty banning anti-ballistic
missiles.  Nixon signed it, thereby committing the US to a policy of
MAD and throwing away years of research and development by the
Safeguard project (remember the Sprint missile?).

> Like bringing the murderous Shah of Iran to this country,
> forcing the Iranians to take hostages in reaction?

The CIA, under Eisenhower, hatched the plan to bring the Shah to power.
After WW2, Iran had a parliamentary form of government with an elected
prime minister.  He decided that Iran was getting the short end of the
deal on the oil fields, which were mostly owned by British Petroleum.
He became a target of the CIA when he decided to nationalize the oil
wells.  Imagine the nerve of a PM wanting his country to be compensated
for the removal of her natural resources!  The CIA recruited and armed
Savak, a terrorist organization which would later become the Shah's
secret police force.  Savak distributed posters of the Shah, and anyone
not displaying said poster was the victim of terrorist attacks.  Savak
and the CIA, brought down a democracy and replaced it with a dictator.
And who took over the oil field?  Good ol' American oil companies, of
course!  I believe Gulf was the prime benefactor.

> Yeah, I know there's Watergate and McCarthy on the other side.

You've only scratched the surface.  Here are a few more Republicans to
remember with pride.  :-)  (pardon the spelling on some of these)

Spiro Agnew: I'm not a crook either.  :-)

Gordon Liddy: Watergate breakin.  Likes to play with piano wire.

H. R. Haldeman: Nixon aide, Watergate coverup

John Erlichman: Nixon aide, Watergate coverup

John Dean: Nixon aide, Watergate coverup (although he did later turn
  state's evidence).

John Mitchell: Attorney General, Watergate coverup.

Kissinger: Sec. State.  MIAs?  POWs?  Don't recall any.  What secret
  bombing?  I guess it wasn't very secret if you were on the ground
  in Laos. :-)

Earl Butz: Sec. of Agriculture.  Enjoyed "black" humor. :-)

David Stockman: OMB.  Tried to count catsup as a vegetable in school
  lunch programs.  Nobody gets Jello 'til they eat all their catsup! :-)

James Watt: Sec. of Interior, as a member of Rocky Mountain States
  Development, bought land from a religious community (Mennonites?)
  under false pretenses.  Those (Mennonites?), who consider alcohol
  to be the devils drink, were not very pleased to find out their
  new neighbor was a brewery.  The real buyer?  None other than the
  Adolf Coors, beer company and big time Republican contributor.
  
James Lefever: appointed but not confirmed as Sec. of H&HS after it
  was revealed that he lobbied WHO on behalf of Nestle Corp. to buy
  baby formula for third world relief efforts.  At the time, Nestle
  was sitting on a study that showed the formula would most likely be
  mixed with contaminated water, and therefore constituted a health
  risk.  Mother's milk was in fact much safer (and it comes in those
  cute containers :-).  Oh well, we can't let the safety of a few
  million third world infants stand in the way of profit.

Anne Gorsuch: head of EPA, mishandled the superfund cleanup effort.
  Cited for contempt of congress.

Rita Leberte: Gorsuch's assistant, same problems.

Edwin Meese: Iraqscam, Contragate.  Can you say Inslaw? 

Samuel Pierce: Sec. of HUD, major fraud and corruption.  Millions went
  to fund projects submitted by major Republican contributors.  Some
  projects were even funded without the support of local governments.

Rehnquest: Chief Justice, Supreme Court, one of the Republican "roving
  rangers" during the 60's who went to Arizona polling places to harass
  minorities and discourage them from voting.  One poll worker cited an
  incident where Rehnquest held a card in the face of a black man and
  said "You can't read this can you!  You should home!".

John Sununu: The perk-meister!  DoD's favorite frequent flier. :-)

James Secord: Iran Contra

Oliver North: Iran Contra

Adm. Poindexter: Iran Contra

Claire George: Iran Contra

Newt Gingrich: Those Democrats can't balance their own checkbooks, much
  less the budget!  What?  You say I bounced 20 checks myself?  Well,
  anybody can make an honest mistake.  :-)

Neil Bush: riding high on $2,500,000 of our money.  Now working for the
  Cable TV industry.  Gee, do you suppose that had anything to do with
  his dad's veto of recent cable regulation?

The list goes on, but only for a few more months.  Compared to such
monumental sleaze and corruption, any alleged sins of the Democrats
seem rather insignificant.

>	Any good liberal should know that the atomic bomb is the most
> horrid thing on this earth.  Courtesy the Democrats.  They researched
> it, they developed it and they used it.

... after it became obvious that the Nazis were doing the same.  Would
you rather we let them develop it first?

> and when [reagan] proposed sdi as an alternative, was told that he was
> messing up the balance of a mutually assured destruction.

Nixon commited us to MAD.  After years of persuing that policy, it is
difficult to change.  We had the upper hand in 1980 thanks to our big
lead in sub-launched ICBMs.  Many people felt that if the us began a
project to make itself (partially) invulnerable to Soviet ICBMs, the
Soviets might decide to use their weapons while they still could.

>	oh and i forgot, that in the middle of the 20th, the south was
> almost entirely democrat.  thank the democrats for jim crow laws too.

Yes, the civil rights issue split the Democratic party in the South.
Not all (or even most) Southern Democrats were racist.  Some of the
racists were reformed.  The rest left the party and joined the GOP,
where they are much more at home.  A prime example is Strom Thurmond,
R-SC.  He quit the Democratic Party and joined the GOP.  He holds the
Senate record for longest filibuster.  In 1957, he held the floor for
24 hours trying to kill civil rights legislation.

Other Republicans deserving (dis)honorable mention in this category:
  Jesse Helms, senator, R-NC
  Orin Hatch, senator, R-UT
  Newt Gingrich
  Pat Buchanan
  Quayle's parents (or is it the inlaws), members of John Birch Society
  John(?) Stoner, set off a bomb in a Birmingham church killing four
    black children.  More recently, ran for Lt. Governor. in Georgia.
    Fortunately, the good people of GA rejected him.  (Don't take this
    wrong.  I <heart> GA. :-)
  and who could forget ... (drum roll) ...
  David Duke, ex-KKK leader, Republican candidate for president.

If you are still unsure about which party appeals to racists, here is
one free clue:  We don't get many KKK members at meetings of the Young
Democrats.  They've all found a happy home in the GOP!

-- 
*realName: Phil Harbison
*mailName: harbison%dbsun.uucp@wupost.wustl.edu
*phoneList: 314-731-7475 (w) 314-272-9318 (h)