Hey, Democrats, the Truth Matters!

[Fridays Child]

Hey, Democrats, the Truth Matters!

My book, Secrecy & Privilege, opens with a scene in spring 1994 when a guest at a White House social event asks Bill Clinton why his administration didn’t pursue unresolved scandals from the Reagan-Bush era, such as the Iraqgate secret support for Saddam Hussein’s government and clandestine arms shipments to Iran.

Clinton responds to the questions from the guest, documentary filmmaker Stuart Sender, by saying, in effect, that those historical questions had to take a back seat to Clinton’s domestic agenda and his desire for greater bipartisanship with the Republicans.

Clinton “didn’t feel that it was a good idea to pursue these investigations because he was going to have to work with these people,” Sender told me in an interview. “He was going to try to work with these guys, compromise, build working relationships.”

Clinton’s relatively low regard for the value of truth and accountability is relevant again today because other centrist Democrats are urging their party to give George W. Bush’s administration a similar pass if the Democrats win one or both houses of Congress.

Consortium News

[Fridays Child]

1. Hoping for some responses here. Parry tells the truth and I respect him...

...although I'm not sure I agree with his assessment that Clinton chose not to pursue investigations out of a low regard for the value of truth. I think the decision not to act had more to do with his "third way" approach, which was pragmatic if also naive, to an extent. But hindsight is always 20/20.

[OneBlueSky]

2. the Truth DOES matter . . . I've been saying for months that . . .

"Telling the Truth" to the American people should be THE paramount value of all Democratic campaigns . . .

unfortunately, most people seem to be too tied up with "issues" to recognize that telling the truth encompasses ALL of them -- and is essential to resolving any and all conflict . . .

so I'll say it again . . .

"Telling the Truth" should be THE paramount value of all Democratic campaigns . . .

[Fridays Child]

3. Harry Truman understood that.

Does Harry Reid deserve the "Give 'em hell, Harry" mantle? I don't know.

[OneBlueSky]

4. well . . . given that professing The Truth includes acknowledging . . .

corporate influence/control of Congress and of both major parties, I doubt it . . .

[Fridays Child]

5. I know. So how do we hold Dems accountable...

...if they regain control of Congress? We need a "separation of corporation and state" amendment.