The death of a hero
I remember as a child, watching the liftoff of Mercury Friendship 7 on our little b&w television. This year, 2016, marks the passing of an American hero, John Glenn, but for me, John Glenn died in 1997, or at least his soul did.
In 1996, the FBI looked into allegations that the Clinton presidential reelection campaign may have taken money from the Chinese government and the Chinese military. Then Attorney General Janet Reno refused to appoint a special prosecutor to look into these, potential violations of campaign finance laws. Sound familiar? The Senate Government Affairs Committee on campaign finance activities in the 1996 elections, was led by Senator Fred Thompson and John Glenn. Because of the huge expense of other hearings of these types, like Watergate, the hearings had an expiration date built-in. Senator Glenn did all he could do to interrupt the hearings, at times acting as if he was bored and making childish, rude noises with his mouth, in an apparent attempt to run the clock out. The hearings ended with no damage to the Clintons. Some of the players in the scandal, like Johnny Chung, received probation. My childhood hero was forever damaged. I’m sure that it was coincidence that he got a ride on the space shuttle in 1998.
I remember as a child, watching the liftoff of Mercury Friendship 7 on our little b&w television. This year, 2016, marks the passing of an American hero, John Glenn, but for me, John Glenn died in 1997, or at least his soul did.
In 1996, the FBI looked into allegations that the Clinton presidential reelection campaign may have taken money from the Chinese government and the Chinese military. Then Attorney General Janet Reno refused to appoint a special prosecutor to look into these, potential violations of campaign finance laws. Sound familiar? The Senate Government Affairs Committee on campaign finance activities in the 1996 elections, was led by Senator Fred Thompson and John Glenn. Because of the huge expense of other hearings of these types, like Watergate, the hearings had an expiration date built-in. Senator Glenn did all he could do to interrupt the hearings, at times acting as if he was bored and making childish, rude noises with his mouth, in an apparent attempt to run the clock out. The hearings ended with no damage to the Clintons. Some of the players in the scandal, like Johnny Chung, received probation. My childhood hero was forever damaged. I’m sure that it was coincidence that he got a ride on the space shuttle in 1998.
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