Word: congressmen
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Instead we have Ollie. Having created him, how to account for him? Pick your theory: depressed country looking for hero, underdog hounded by gray- flanneled Congressmen, commando abandoned by his White House superiors, all- American boy put upon by hippie (Nields), then big-shot N.Y. lawyer (Liman), etc. But before the great American celebrity machine, which marries Tiny Tim on the Carson show and deploys Itzhak Perlman on The Hollywood Squares, a little humility is in order. Bands of sociologists are already in deep retreat trying to explain the ineffable Vanna White. Pity them and the mavens at work...
Perhaps the silence stemmed from the belief that some percentage of all those mass telegrams could be dismissed as from the people on the fringes of American society. Probably not. Instead the muted criticism of the racist messages reflected the desire of many congressmen to believe in the "Ollie" myth. Those who continue to refer to the telegrams want to go on worshipping the populist myth without facing up to the myth's darker, racist side...
...decisions to abandon U.S. observance of the unratified SALT II treaty and to retaliate against terrorism by launching the 1986 air strike against Libya. But he showed no interest in explaining policy. The press lambasted him for writing a memo last August urging a campaign of "disinformation" against Libya. Congressmen complained he was excessively secretive in dealing with them too. Said Poindexter: "It's true we need to get out our story better. But considering the things I do best, it doesn't make sense for me to change...
...Jacksonville, N.C., home of Marine Camp Lejeune, where North once trained, retired Army Colonel E.M. Edens, 72, called the local paper with an offer of $100 to start a fund to pay for North's security system. In Washington, the epicenter of the Ollie phenomenon, the offices of Congressmen on the committee were besieged with letters and telegrams running 20 to 1 in favor of North. "Keep your chin up," said one; "Good luck against those ill-bred hyenas," said another. North has personally received some 15,000 telegrams of encouragement. All the while, Ollie-entrepreneurs were trying to capitalize...
...drew a flood of flowers and yellow telegrams that swept to Capitol Hill in support of the man who starred at his own show trial. The "Olliegrams" were stacked on the witness table, as though shielding the colonel from any hostile questions. Jumping on the Ollie bandwagon, two Republican Congressmen interrupted the proceedings to criticize Counsel Liman for being too "prosecutorial." In fact, Liman approached North with unusual restraint, probing more for revelations about his superiors than to slash at his story. Explained Liman later: "This is not a trial. We're not handing down verdicts. These hearings are about...