The bells of freedom are ringing loud and long in our nation's capital as the last of the proud patriots accused of aiding the contras have had their good names cleared by the courts.
Free, now, to return to their comfortable suburban homes are Col. Oliver North, the man's man with a boyish smile; Adm. John Poindexter, the calm and bookish father figure with his ever-present pipe; and our personal favorite, Elliott Abrams, the hard-working State Department bureaucrat who cleverly disguised his compassionate heart by only pretending to be a ranting anti-communist with a taste for state-sponsored murder and torture.
And the courts' rulings are final. Col. North: charges dismissed. Adm. Poindexter: charges dismissed. Elliott Abrams: $50 fine (an outrage!).
These good Christian men--these fine Americans--had suffered through countless false accusations that they had engineered a secret war against the Nicaraguan people (well, actually, the accusations weren't false, since they did engineer a secret war against the Nicaraguan people). They were falsely accused of lying to Congress about their activities (well, actually, they did lie to Congress). They were falsely accused of violating judicial process by selectively altering their testimonies and by coaching each other outside the courtroom (well, actually, they did do that, too). And they were falsely accused of destroying evidence (well, OK, they did that as well).
But now, because of congressional mistakes and a judicial technicality, they are, in the words of Col. North, "completely exonerated." President George Bush hailed the recent events by saying, "The system works."
And it's a good system, too. It's a system that permits selling arms to terrorists and kidnappers. It's a system that permits slush funds for supporting illegal wars. It's a system that results in lots of people getting killed or maimed. And, most important, it's a system in which a technicality can cover up abuses that were, frankly, a little embarrassing to the government.
What a system! What a country!
Now, Col. North--who has been punished enough--no longer must comply with his court-ordered community service, wherein he was forced to go to schools and talk to children about national defense. And maybe he'll write another book.
Now, Adm. Poindexter can return to his well-earned retirement and perhaps reminisce about the good old days in the White House smoking his pipe, dreaming his dreams, and tearing up memos from Ollie North to the president. Maybe he'll write a book.
And now, Elliott Abrams can return to his job of going on talk shows and denying human rights abuses in El Salvador, Guatemala, Peru, and other countries. After all, he is a Latin America expert, what with his articulate and impassioned attacks on those who in the 1980s preposterously claimed the United States was teaching torture techniques to Salvadoran troops (well, actually, it was). And maybe he'll write a book.
All in all, 1991 was a good year for democracy, and the American way of life.
Well, at least the way of life for some Americans.
Ed Spivey Jr. is art director of Sojourners.
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