When Republicans Loved a Filibuster

[dubyaD40web]

When Republicans Loved a Filibuster

Supporters of George W. Bush are lambasting Sen. John Kerry for a threatened filibuster against U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. But 15 years ago, their attitude was different as backers of George H.W. Bush wielded the filibuster to block a probe into Republican secret dealings with Iran that could have doomed the Bush Dynasty.

In 1991, the Democratic-controlled Senate was planning an investigation into whether Republicans had conducted secret negotiations with Iran’s Islamic fundamentalist regime during the 1980 campaign, when Jimmy Carter was still President and Iran was holding 52 Americans hostage.

The unresolved hostage crisis destroyed Carter’s reelection hopes and gave an important boost to Ronald Reagan when the hostages were released on Jan. 20, 1981, immediately after he was sworn in as President and George H.W. Bush became Vice President.

A decade after those events, some Democrats wanted to get to the bottom of recurring allegations that George Bush Sr., a former CIA director, had joined clandestine negotiations with Iran in fall 1980 that may have delayed release of the hostages for political gain, what was called the “October Surprise” mystery.

http://consortiumnews.com/2006/012706.html

[Demeter]

1. So Many Scandals, So Little Time

To do a definitive history of the GOP since Eisenhower would take hip boots, a strong stomach, a 10 foot pole, a Cray supercomputer and an international army. And about 50 years.

[rodeodance]

2. History can be our friend.-thanks

[ixion]

3. this is what the 'news' media should have been saying from day one

when republicans started whining about dems filibustering.

Those slimy critters filibustered for years, and now all of a sudden it's a threat to democracy, and that concept is allowed to stand as valid. If it had never been allowed to stand in the first place, it would never have come to this.