John Bolton claims we came "perilously close to negotiating with terrorists" when Bill Clinton traveled to North Korea to secure the release of journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee.  That charge made me think of something.  Wasn’t John Bolton in the Reagan administration during the Iran-Contra days, when we actually did negotiate with terrorists: as part of that mess, we sold missiles to Iran in exchange for the release of hostages.   Turns out that Bolton didn’t indignantly resign his post over this–instead, as David Corn wrote in 1989, Bolton worked to stall inquiries into Contra drugrunning (which involved proceeds from the arms sales), including by refusing to give the chair of the House Judiciary Committee access to documents concerning the Iran-Contra scandal.

So, if you’re John Bolton, it’s ok to  accuse the Obama administration of coming "perilously close to negotiating with terrorists", even though you stalled inquiry into, you know, actual negotiations with terrorists.

Bolton’s not the only amnesiac out there.  Pat Buchanan was on Hardball tonight complaining that the Obama administration caved in to North Korea.  Buchanan had no problem with the U.S. kowtowing to Iran in the 1980s though — he even criticized Reagan for not pardoning Oliver North for his role in Iran-Contra.