Interviewing Ollie
Spent yesterday with Ollie North, and as with every other time I spent time with him, I’m always struck by how much wisdom he spews just in casual conversation. But, as I spend today going through the audio file from the interview (and there will be video later on) I wanted to share two quotes that really hit me hard in the solar plexus.
“When they [his grandkids] turn 12, I give them three things and a note. The three things are: a compass, a bible, and a shotgun. And I tell them in the note, if you learn to use all three, and it has to be all three, you’ll never be lost, you’ll never be hungry, and you need fear nothing.”
“If you can’t enjoy what you’re doing; if you’re not taking pleasure in what you’re doing; if you’re not in some way enthusing someone else about what they could do; you’re kind of wasting God’s good air I think. Hopefully I’ve been able to do that over the years.”
Anyway, I owed you guys a post since I have been out. But I loved those quotes and wanted to share them.
Category: Politics
I know that this is a serious thread, but I can’t resist.
TSO’s beard is Don Shipley’s hair apprentice.
[Ducks under desk to avoid sharp rebuke.]
Dude, come July this thing will be downright Longstreetian.
Two very choice quotes….love ’em….
Seriously, TSO, the beard approaches the proportions of Charles Dickens’ personal facial hair compilation. It’s cool. Dickens could easily be jealous.
In fact, I can see the beard in full regimentals at a post-Wellingtonian victory ball. How the ladies would swoon!
I’m assuming you left the bear tied up outside.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmdqFe2URnU
On a serious note, I really do like those quotes.
I’m just sorry that he never went into politics. Think of the messes he could have cleaned up.
I’m also glad that he never went into politics. Think of the corruption. . .. .
Not too shabby….
Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
Unit
1st Battalion 3rd Marines (Vietnam)
3rd Battalion 8th Marines
2nd Marine Division
Commands held
Marine Corps Northern Training Area, Okinawa
Battles/wars: Vietnam War
Awards
Silver Star Medal
Bronze Star Medal, “V”
Purple Heart Medal (2)
Combat Action Ribbon
Presidential Service Badge
Relations: Betsy, married in 1967, and four children
I’m a wimp. My bride won’t let me grow one of those. TSO must rule the roost. II know Mrs TSO checks in here so let’s see.
@9, surprisingly, the few times I have considered shaving it she put her foot down and said no, she really likes it!
Colonel North was always one of the tough guys in my head…these quotes also indicate a sharp focus on the realities of our world.
I’ve always respected his toughness and focus on mission, even while he admitted he had been lying to Congress.
When the government later convicted him after promising limited immunity for his Congressional testimony it p1ssed me off to no end.
I will not forget that the ACLU was one of the organizations that came to his defense by filing an amicus brief on his behalf.
When I am bashing the ACLU for protecting a nazi or a pedophile’s right to free speech, I try to remember they helped vacate Col. North’s conviction. It doesn’t always bring it back into balance for me, but at least it makes me stop and consider their position….and stopping for some consideration is always a worthwhile venture for me.
Nicely done, TSO. You lucky b4stard….I would love to spend an hour talking to the Colonel.
@11, you and I are on teh same sheet of music. I specifically talked to Ollie about the ACLU and how they helped him. We got a bit sidetracked in the answer, but I always found that facet interesting as well.
I think the beard in a full evening suit, no cummerbund, but a waistcoat instead, and proper shirt with studs and for pete’s sake, real cufflinks. And don’t forget the large brandy and incredibly smelly cigar.
To the 9s, Old Boy! To the 9s!
Interestingly, several years ago I read that the ACLU had been on the same side as the NRA on more lawsuits than they were opposed. Even more so, I believe it was mentioned in the Rifleman.
I am jealous. I’ve met some “interesting” people in my life, but NOT Ollie.
OTOH… TSO needs to get Caro to weigh in here directly. I sense wishful thinking in play.
Really, earnestly, looking forward to the video of the interview.
“And I tell them in the note, if you learn to use all three, and it has to be all three, you’ll never be lost, you’ll never be hungry, and you need fear nothing.”
Great quote!
On the Beard: Did they frisk your beard before the interview … you know for security purposes?
TSO: Was his TV program mentioned? Haven’t seen it on the guide for a long time
Sorry, I don’t care what a great Marine he was before Iran-Contra and what he’s done to rehabilitate his image since, Ollie was a mere Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps when he devised the scheme to fund the Contras through arms sales to Iran and almost single-handedly brought down the Reagan Presidency.
People who only know him from Fox News should read “The Nightingale’s Song,” “Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent,” and a whole slew of other books that cover what he did.
This guy was a loose cannon.
“On the day of McFarlane’s resignation, Oliver North, a military aide to the United States National Security Council (NSC), proposed a new plan for selling arms to Iran, which included two major adjustments: instead of selling arms through Israel, the sale was to be direct, and a portion of the proceeds would go to Contras, or Nicaraguan paramilitary fighters waging guerrilla warfare against the democratically-elected Sandinista government, at a markup. North proposed a $15 million markup, while contracted arms broker Ghorbanifar added a 41% markup of his own.[39] Other members of the NSC were in favor of North’s plan; with large support, Poindexter authorized it without notifying President Reagan, and it went into effect.[40] At first, the Iranians refused to buy the arms at the inflated price because of the excessive markup imposed by North and Ghorbanifar. They eventually relented, and in February 1986, 1,000 TOW missiles were shipped to the country.[40] From May to November 1986, there were additional shipments of miscellaneous weapons and parts.”
@ Vance … thanks for the cut and paste history lesson. Although, I appreciate your opinion. It should be noted that, he never made any of the decisions, he was doing his job, and the results were positive for the US (discounting the scandal), and the beat down between Iran and Iraq continued.
I’m clearly wasting God’s air.
@19 I also do not believe a “mere Colonel” was responsible for everything.
That’s another reason I like him, he was involved in a plan that went south and he took the hit…and because everybody knew he was taking the hit they offered him immunity to try and get him to be a rat.
When he didn’t rat up, they prosecuted him even though he had been offered immunity (limited) from prosecution.
It’s why I have a grudging respect for the ACLU, although some days it’s far more grudging than others… (smile)
He came out and did a story about my battalion when we were in Ramadi in 2005-2006. Just talking to him was enlightening. Very smart individual and very supportive of the troops..> THough we are Marines so perhaps he was a bit jaded lol
First off, he didn’t “take the hit” he got convicted of felonies and then got off on a technicality delivered courtesy of the ACLU. However the fact remains that he did sell arms to one of the “Axis of evil” members, Iran, and then used the funds to arm the Contra rebels against the EXPRESS direction of Congress. Plus there’s pretty good evidence that he was up to his eyeballs in the drug trade.
What a “hero”.
His advice to his grandkids are as stupid as he is:
1. We have GPS now. I know you all don’t accept much of science, but GPS came courtesy of the military, you think he’d accept that. So the compass is as archaic as Ollie.
2. The bible is a means of stopping hunger? Since when? Most of the bible speaks AGAINST ammassing material wealth. The bible is there for spiritual strength, not physical sustenance.
3. All the evidence points to guns making you decidedly LESS safe. If you have a shotgun you should, at the very least, fear the shotgun. But in any case that last is reason #2,385 why gun nuts are the biggest pussies on the planet. First you get all butt hurt cause a comedian made fun of a lousy actor with warped priorities, now you’re saying that the only way not to live in fear is to have a gun.
I don’t fear anything, and i don’t have a gun. In the three instances in my life where i’ve felt danger, i got out of it by using my wits. NO one died, in two cases people went to jail, and I wound up without a scab to show for it.
GPS – new technology, requires batteries, etc., easily lost and/or broken, not completely reliable. Maps and compasses – old technology, but generally very reliable. Still in use. Just because it’s old technology, there is no reason to discard it. Neither a map nor a compass will have you end up on a goat track in the Swiss alps waiting for a helicopter to come and airlift your car out to a road.
The Bible as a means of staving off hunger — No. The Bible is a means of learning to fear nothing and have some faith in something besides technology.
The rifle as a means of losing fear — No. The rifle will put food on the table when you go pheasant, deer, elk, boar, or turkey hunting. The Bible will give you references that you can use to express thanks for having the means to put food on your table.
As usual, Splinky the dipstick got it wrong again — ALL of it, this time.
Keep your mind on Jesus at all times.
Oh Sippy ….
First off, i’m a Jewish agnostic, so sell your crazy to someone else. Secondly, people got lost with maps and compasses all the time.
It’s Ollie that is claiming that the bible will keep you from going hungry and that a shotgun will prevent you from fear. So if anyone got it wrong, it’s Ollie, not me.
Glad you agree.
Gee, splinky, I knew you were as thick as overcooked grits, but you really outdid yourself this time, bozo.
Sippy,
DAMN, boy! Once again, the fumes from your head up your fourth point of contact has affected your one lone brain cell. Talk about confusion and conflation! As well as being an ignorant idiot twat!
For the same reason the Col North like map-and-compass (as do I), I also like dead tree books vs e-readers and computers. Nothing wrong with the latter, just have to realize their limitations. When TSHTF, I’ll still be able to read a book, even if it’s by sunlight or candlelight. Can you say the same for GPS, e-readers and computers?
I’m a quasi-nhilist but even I can see your acting like an asshole. He never said the bible would keep you from going hungry, he just said three things and if you would quit being obtuse you would see that.
A Jewish agnostic, huh? Well, there’s an answer even for that, and here it is.
You have to find out of God exists. Because if He does, then He exists for the agnostic, too.
With blessings from Jerusalem,
Rabbi Shraga Simmons
Have a nice day, splinky!
Sippy … so you are not a Jew?
I live in NYC … don’t bullshit me and us with Jewish agnostic bullshit!
On the form … it is either YES or NO!
How is it going otherwise?
BTW … you got it ass backwards in # 27. But if needs to be explained to you … you certainly would not understand.
The only a Bible can keep you from going hungry is if it’s leather-bound, and you can pull a Charlie Chaplin with it.
And you’ll have to figure that out for yourself.
@ Sippy –> BULLSHIT RED FLAG:
Sippy you say, “In the three instances in my life where i’ve felt danger, i got out of it by using my wits. NO one died, in two cases people went to jail, and I wound up without a scab to show for it.”
I ask, what were the circumstances in general?
Oops. That should be ‘the only way’. Typo.
Once again a liberal isn’t quite clear on the protections afforded US citizens, when you are offered immunity from prosecution in exchange for testimony and that testimony is publicized across the nation it’s difficult for the government to claim later they didn’t comprehend that using your own testimony against you after giving you immunity is a problem. No one can be compelled to self incriminate, which is what was being asked of him. That’s why immunity was offered, and that’s why the convictions were vacated because they violated constitutional protections afforded all of us. Even the folks we despise.
Based on your lack of concern for the protections under the bill of rights and the constitution it’s clear you’ve been lucky most of your life and have not had to take advantage of any of those rights. If you your first amendment rights curtailed or threatened perhaps you might understand the importance of those rights and the ones that follow. Perhaps you might also respect the process of repealing those amendments and initiate a proper program of repealing the ones you no longer deem necessary instead of trying to legislate and executive order your way past them.
As a footnote I didn’t call him a hero, I said I like him because he had some intestinal fortitude under adversity. I know how to use GPS and a compass, I have 4 dozen internet enabled devices sharing wide band service as a hobby in my home. I get technology, my job involves technology. I understand that technology makes life easier and I take advantage of that. Because I also understand technology I don’t depend solely on a single method of computing my position or maintaining my financial records.
“…If you have a shotgun you should, at the very least, fear the shotgun…”
Why in hell would you fear the shotgun? When’s the last time you were afraid of your toaster? Or your microwave? Or your car? Any one of those can make you just as dead, just as fast, as the shotgun could.
@30- I’m sorry, but you’re the one being obtuse. He picked the order of items for a reason. The compass is to keep you from getting lost, the bible is to prevent hunger and the shotgun is so you’ll be without fear. So yes, he absolutely did say the bible will keep you from going hungry.
Ollie is such a troll magnet. Too bad we didn’t put the picture of TSO with Michelle Malkin alongside the one of Ollie. Bald, pony-tailed heads across America would be exploding.
I don’t claim to know the mans mind or why he put them in the order he did, but I have something called reading comprehension, which you lack or you’re being obtuse just to be difficult, and I got the point he was trying to make.
Bless your heart I know you’re trying, but maybe this just isn’t your strong point.
He’s baiting you. No one could possibly be this obtuse accidentally.
Pretty obviously he was speaking off the cuff, and got the shotgun and Bible backwards.
Yea TSO I’m not familiar with Insipid so I am guilty of taking the bait. Ehh fuck em and let him eat fish heads.
Your beard though, I do believe you would make Chuck Norris proud. Alas I am follically challenged and cannot grow such a magnificent chin curtain, Damn you genetics!
He’s looking at TSO in an odd way. Ollie has that WTF? look on his face.
“First off, i’m a Jewish agnostic…” Don’t sell yourself short, Sipster. You are also a pornographer–or so you previously wrote here.
@ 38 … you still have it wrong.
Do I need to explain it?
So when do we get to see TSO in a full evening suit, brandy and cigar, and Mrs. TSO in full court dress with a reticule?
I just got an email from Don Shipley’s hair:
Don Shipley’s hair challenges TSO’s beard to a PPV cage match!
@36- I’m not saying that i disagree with the outcome of the case. The State did, to me, overstep its authority. But he is STILL performed the illegal which he was accused of. Those are two different things. I still think OJ’s a murderer despite the not guilty verdict.
But Ollie’s guilt is more certain in that he actually admitted to it. So feeling someone is responsible for an act and feeling they should be judged legally guilty of something are two different things that you seem incapable of grasping.
Hondo has tried forever to make the case that the 2nd amendment is not tied to membership in a military organization and he’s failed miserably. He’s had to resort to cutting and pasting half a sentence of the constitution and one paragraph from the militia act while ignoriting hte vast body of both documents. There is no right to carry a gun if you’re not a member of a state-run militia.
Secondly, my free speech “rights” are under more “attack” then your gun “rights” are. No one can purchase a magazine or article depicting sexual acts with children. Hell, a man was convicted of buying a comic book depicting that. So no one can buy even fantasy depictions of such acts. I can’t speak as loudly or as crassly as i want in a library or movie theater. I can’t libel someone. So yes, there are a LOT of restrictions that we place on speech in a civilized society. This absolutism that any type of deadly weapon should be allowed anywhere at any time is a mental pathology.
Insipid, even I’m shaking my head at you this time – I’m fairly liberal and often agree with you on some things, but it seems like this time you’re just trying to pick a fight for no good reason. North is a complex guy with things to like and dislike about him, but his advice? Nothing too terrible in that.
Learning how to navigate with a compass -or the stars, or moss, or other indicators- is a really, really good thing. Not everyone has a GPS, or wants a GPS, or is in a situation where they can run one constantly.
And a gun to hunt so you don’t go hungry is pretty decent as far as advice goes, too – not everyone lives in cities with supermarkets or restaurants all around. Knowing how to hunt and acquire food -the sentiment, if not the exact words he used- is good advice.
And while I’m an atheist myself, if the Bible gives someone strength throughout their life, I won’t begrudge them that. If it turns them into a better person, hell, I’m all for it.
All bits of advice need to be considered for what they are, not what they aren’t. Try looking at this with a positive attitude and maybe you can see a half decent bit of advice. After all, if I summed it up differently as, “In life, know which way you’re heading, how to provide for yourself, and don’t live in fear”, that sounds pretty damn decent to me. He just said it slightly differently.
Thanks to splinky, I got a much-needed break from baby-sitting Norks in Norkland and minding my own business, which is proceeding in a painfully slow manner. And I needed a good laugh, too.
Somehow, I hear a swelling of music every time look at that picture. I don’t know why.
@39- It’s normal rules of language usage to put things in the same order in which you later refer to them. It’s like your purposely playing dumb to defend his idiocy.
@ 47 did you equate porn to a magazine?