More on Ollie

As anyone who follows our posts here knows, I really do try to give credit where credit is due. This is one of those times.

I'm in the habit of listening to my satellite radio exclusively to and from work. I listen to the political talk shows on the way in, and Catholic talk on the way home. Today, on the way in, Andrew Wilkow had Ollie North on as a live guest.

Convicted felon or not, the man has class. Nothing he said was partisan in any way, shape or form. He didn't favor one side of the aisle over another in his talk, and as much as Wilkow tried to get him to come down on the side of conservative GOP policy, North wouldn't bite. If he was critical of past Democrat administrations (and he was, especially Johnson's), he was just as critical of the GOP administrations... especially Bush's.

He was brutal on the policies and actions of L. Paul Bremer, the former head of the reconstruction effort in Iraq. He ripped de-Ba'athification and the dissolution of the Iraqi Army as the single greatest piece of failed policy since the end of the Reagan era (could he be referring to the Iran-Contra affair here?). He decried the Bush White House for not immediately recalling Bremer once the policies were announced, because they contradicted Rumsfeld's plans. He applauded Powell for standing tall and strong in the face of harsh criticism from the Vice President and the SecDef immediately after the invasion. In short, he made it abundantly clear that he seemed to agree that much of what we discussed about the facts behind the "Bush's War" program were true, even if they were presented in a biased manner.

Of course, the greater part of the show was about his new book, American Heroes. I am not the type of person that typically runs out and buys every conservative book to hit the shelves... especially those written by avowed pundits. However, tonight I ordered a copy of this book.

I do not agree with his defense of his actions while working for Reagan and Poindexter... but any wrongs he may have committed in the past are well on their way to being overshadowed by his actions since 9/11 and his role as a field correspondent for Fox News.

Just giving credit where credit is due...