Thirty-five years ago this week, a U.S. Marine Corps colonel sat before a joint congressional committee attempting to explain his part in secretly diverting money from arms sales to Iran, in hopes of freeing American hostages, to a Nicaraguan rebel group known as the Contras.
The trouble was Congress had prohibited funding of the Contras by the U.S. government, and selling arms to Iran, a supporter of international terrorism, violated U.S. policy. Negotiating with hostage-takers also flouted U.S. policy.
It was 1987. Ronald Reagan was in his second term. The Cold War loomed large. I had just finished my junior year at Arkansas State University. Summer allowed me time to sometimes watch the congressional committee hearings.
Col. Oliver North attempted to justify everything he'd done in Reagan's National Security Council to facilitate the secret deals, excoriating Congress for what he considered failed foreign policy decisions. He viewed himself as a patriot for advancing policies he and his superiors preferred over Congress' decisions.
To this day I remember being awed by Rep. Lee H. Hamilton of Indiana, who looked the ramrod straight North in the eye as North's testimony came to an end.
"A democratic government, as I understand it, is not a solution, but it's a way of seeking solutions," Hamilton said. "It's not a government devoted to a particular objective, but a form of government which specifies means and methods of achieving objectives. Methods and means are what this country are all about. We subvert our democratic process to bring about a desired end, no matter how strongly we may believe in that end. We've weakened our country and we have not strengthened it.
"A few do not know what is better for Americans than Americans know themselves. If I understand our government correctly, no small group of people, no matter how important, no matter how well-intentioned they may be, should be trusted to determine policy. As President [James] Madison said, 'Trust should be placed not in a few, but in a number of hands.' ...
"Your opening statement made the analogy to a baseball game. You said the playing field here was uneven and the Congress would declare itself the winner. I understand your sentiments, but may I suggest that we are not engaged in a game with winners and losers. That approach, if I may say so, is self-serving and ultimately self-defeating. We all lost. The interests of the United States have been damaged by what happened. This country cannot be run effectively [when] ... major foreign policies are formulated by only a few and are made and carried out in secret, and when public officials lie to other nations and to each other. One purpose of these hearings is to change that.
"... I don't have any doubt at all, Col. North, that you are a patriot. There are many patriots, fortunately, and many forms of patriotism. For you, perhaps, patriotism rested in the conduct of deeds, some requiring great personal courage, to free hostages and fight communism. And those of us who pursue public service with less risk to our physical well-being admire such courage. But there's another form of patriotism, which is unique to democracy. It resides in those who have a deep respect for the rule of law and faith in America's democratic traditions. To uphold our Constitution requires not the exceptional efforts of the few, but the confidence and the trust and the work of the many. Democracy has its frustrations. You've experienced some of them, but we, you and I, know of no better system of government. And when that democratic process is subverted, we risk all that we cherish."