What I’m Reading
April 18, 2023
Today’s What I’m Reading brings two articles about political leaders, now and then. One of the stories tells of an alleged intrigue to sabotage an opponent’s election campaign in the United States some 40 years ago. The other one is an interview with a prominent Chinese pro-democracy activist, who shares poignant observations on the idea of ultimate power and what China needs from the world to embrace democracy.
A 40-Year-Old Election Intrigue?
I found Peter Baker’s A Four-Decade Secret: One Man’s Story of Sabotaging Carter’s Re-election a thought-provoking read that sparks mystery, outrage, and revelations about how far some political players are apparently willing to go in their pursuit of power.
The Iran Hostage Crisis influenced America’s 1980 Presidential Election. Freeing the hostages before Election Day would have boosted incumbent President Jimmy Carter’s chances of remaining in the White House.
He didn’t end the crisis in time and he lost the election.
The news that Mr. Carter, aged 98, has entered hospice care, animated another former politician to volunteer information about what he believes to have been an attempt to sabotage Mr. Carter’s election campaign.
The person coming forward now is Mr. Ben Barnes, who eventually became “a prominent Texas politician,” as The New York Times described him.
Back in 1980, he was associated with a man who had ambitions of his own to become president but lost the Republican primaries for the 1980 election. That man was John B. Connally.
Barnes described Connally as his “mentor,” a mentor who invited him on a trip across the Middle East.
At every stop, they sat down with political leaders and Connally allegedly had a message that he hoped would be passed on to the Iranians: don’t release the hostages before the election in America. When Reagan is in place, he will have a better offer than Carter.
A shocking tale of intrigue that could have cost Carter his second term and that played with the lives of those hostages, if true.
Baker does a good job of showing the difficulties in verifying Barnes’s story. He gives context on who Barnes and Connally are/were, their characters, ambitions, and possible motivations.
Baker included reactions from other people who knew them or were involved in investigations about earlier allegations that something wasn’t right. He contrasts Barnes with other people who alleged wrongdoing in the past. And he looks at how far up the pay grade this could have gone.
He works through all of the important questions: Why would Connally have done this? Did someone else know? Why didn’t Barnes come forward sooner? Why would Barnes lie about it now? If it really happened, did it even have an impact?
I highly recommend you read this article to find out all the details and decide for yourself how to judge Barnes’s account.
A Conversation about China, Absolute Power, and Democracy
As part of POLITICO’S 15th anniversary, the publication published interviews about humanity’s future. The installment I’d like to recommend is titled ‘When You Have No Credibility … You Are in Big Trouble’: A Chinese Dissident on Xi Jinping and the Future of Protest in China.
The interviewee is Matt Pottinger, described as “chairman of The Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ China Program and a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.”
His conversation partner is Wei Jingsheng, a prominent Chinese pro-democracy activist, who shares poignant observations on the idea of ultimate power and what China needs from the world to embrace democracy.
The link offers a brief introduction, which includes some of the most memorable points Wei Jingsheng offers, the full translated interview as text, and a 33-minute video of the conversation with English subtitles.
I’m happy I invested the time to follow their conversation, for it offers insights into China, its political leader, people, society, and culture.
There are also lessons to be learned for how international audiences interact with China, be it political elites or ordinary people.
I hope you give this interview some of your time and discover how Wei Jingsheng believes the world needs to behave to increase the chances for a flourishing democracy in China.
That’s all for today’s reading updates. I’m working on another writing-related post from my A Journalist’s Diary series as well as a new episode of Fun With Cameras. Until then, enjoy your readings.
