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Now that the briefing book imbroglio has been thrust into national consciousness, the Reagan Administration can regain its full credibility only by ensuring that investigations go forward. If there is housecleaning to be done, the President has already demonstrated—most recently in the EPA scandal—that he can do it, however reluctantly and unapologetically. He stands by his characterization of the ruckus as "much ado about nothing. " But Reagan has already said what Richard Nixon could never quite bring himself to say about Watergate. Promised Reagan: "If, when the investigation is over and the truth is known, it is necessary to correct that statement, I'll correct it." Even if Reagan is vindicated, however, he and the nation could well pay a high price for the cleansing process. Any scandal diverts the Government from its essential business of sustaining the economy, the national defense and the pursuit of peace. It also sidetracks the press from its role as watchdog on the great issues. The distraction can, in turn, disillusion allies and invite aggressive moves by unfriendly nations. When a scandal is legitimately grave, all that is worth enduring. If a scandal is overblown, however, the nation is subjected to a deplorable, unnecessary burden. Politics and government are arts of compromise, of weighing one concern against another. Those who place ethical absolutism above all other interests should bear that in mind.
—By William A. Henry III