President Ronald Reagan wasn't the only Republican politician with acting ability. Anyone who has watched the recent congressional hearings knows that the GOP congressmen can turn on being outraged, exasperated and infuriated on cue, as long as the target is the Obama administration. 

But they obviously forgot how Reagan could make his points in an aw- shucks, polite manner, unlike the blustering, indignant, incensed and rude questioning of Attorney General Eric Holder and others.

The GOP inquisitors evidently also forgot some of their past history that is relevant to today's theatrics. So here are some questions to remind them:

  • Where was the GOP outrage during the blacklisting era when radio, screen and stage actors had their first amendment rights violated by right wing groups because of their political beliefs?
  • Where was the outrage when Sen. Joe McCarthy held up pieces of papers that he said had names of communists on it but would not show the papers to anyone?
  • Where was the outrage during the Cold War when liberal Democrats were labeled "soft on communism" by many in the Republican establishment. 
  • Where was the outrage when President Eisenhower used the IRS to target members of the then legal Communist Party?
  • Where was the outrage when President Nixon had an enemy's list? 
  • Where was the outrage when Nixon used the IRS to target his enemies?
  • Where was the outrage when President Ford pardoned Nixon to protect him from any criminal charges?
  • Where was the outrage when Reagan administration officials supported the contra rebels in Nicaragua and sold arms to a hostile Iranian government, despite denying to Congress that it had done so?
  • Where was the outrage when you learned that the talking points leading up to the invasion of Iraq were fabricated by President Bush's administration?
  • Where was the outrage when no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq?
  • Where was the outrage when the Central Intelligence Agency's Valerie Plame was ousted as a covert agent (because her husband disagreed with the Bush administration on Iraq) by conservative columnist Robert D. Novak on information that led directly to the office of Vice President Cheney?
  • Where was the outrage when Cheney's chief of staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby was found guilty for lying to investigators about his knowledge of the Plame affair?
  • Where was the outrage when Bush disregarded a warning from the CIA that an Al Qaeda attack from operatives in the United States could be "imminent?"
  • Where was the outrage, in 2004, when the Bush administration had the NAACP audited because it didn't support the president?

Question: Is it only a matter of time before the GOP expresses outrage at the Wall Street Journal for running a story on May 23 that said, "Documents Suggest Lower-Level Workers Were Behind Scrutiny of Conservative Groups…"?

And a question for both the liberal and conservative media: Where was your outrage when Senate Majority Leader McConnell said, "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president"" 

With all the problems facing the country because of the policies of the Bush-Cheney axis, where was your editorial outrage? 

Much of the congressional hearings also could be used as PR tutorials.

Speaking in a calm manner, like Presidents Reagan, Clinton Bush and Obama is much more effective than the bellowing
showmanship rhetoric of the great majority of the GOP haranguers.

The dignified responses to the Republican's accusations by Obama and Holder, during his appearances before congressional committees, should be used as a primer when preparing clients for media appearances.

It's true that acting like an inquisitor when questioning witnesses at supposedly "fact finding" hearings can invigorate the GOP base; it's also true that it can also rally the Democratic base.

Republicans are so bitter over Clinton and Obama elections, that the word polite has been excised from their vocabulary.

Also, Obama and his fellow Democrats are too frightened to say what everyone knows -- that the Tea Party (ies) are political entities and should not receive tax exception status.

solomon* * *

Arthur Solomon was a senior VP/senior counselor at Burson-Marsteller. He contribute to PR and sports business publications, consults on PR projects and is on the Seoul Peace Prize nominating committee. He can be reached at [email protected].