General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhoa !!! Was Nixon's shit this riveting ?!?! This is out of movies
They're getting testy
CincyDem
(6,385 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,829 posts)John Dean and Alexander Butterfield definitely threw grenades into the room. But I dont remember as much yelling.
liberaltrucker
(9,130 posts)When Butterfield revealed the existence of the WH recording
system, you could hear a pin drop in the committee room.
PatSeg
(47,567 posts)Televised hearings didn't used to be so theatrical. Over time, senators and congressional representatives started playing to the camera, hoping to be the clip that gets replayed for days. I recall people behaving more like Adam Schiff, measured and understated.
redstatebluegirl
(12,265 posts)Hermit-The-Prog
(33,400 posts)PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,881 posts)Her speech could not have occurred before the Watergate Hearings began in 1973.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,400 posts)PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,881 posts)NewJeffCT
(56,828 posts)but, were the witnesses as compelling?
redstatebluegirl
(12,265 posts)wryter2000
(46,077 posts)I wish she were with us today
nocoincidences
(2,228 posts)She was one of the greatest America has produced.
If we could hear the voice of God, it would sound like Barbara Jordan.
I forget who said that, but I immediately understood it.
marlakay
(11,484 posts)In high school and I was just a normal teen not into school. Something must have caught my attention. Maybe it was my dad screaming at tv!
uponit7771
(90,359 posts).... remembered Nixon and I didn't want to miss this history.
PatSeg
(47,567 posts)I had a three year old, so couldn't stay riveted to the TV. I saw it in bits and pieces. I'm determined to witness history this time, rather than read about it later on.
TruckFump
(5,812 posts)I watched every minute and this was at a time TV live could not be taped or DVRed.
This is also before the age of headphones. When I had to leave my TV, I took with me a then-tiny, now-huge, pink plastic transistor radio and held it to my ear. I developed great arms from the weight of doing this.
dweller
(23,651 posts)but remember, it was in black and white
in both the picture, and the facts
✌🏼
crickets
(25,982 posts)beachbumbob
(9,263 posts)wryter2000
(46,077 posts)That was jaw dropping.
Norbert
(6,040 posts)Almost all of us had 5 channels or less. The big three networks all had the Watergate hearings. If you had the TV on most likely it was on the hearings and many of us were riveted to the TV.
wryter2000
(46,077 posts)It was never this clear what crimes Nixon had committed. This is over the top, esp. because the Republicans are such assholes.
sprinkleeninow
(20,254 posts)LakeArenal
(28,837 posts)DFW
(54,436 posts)Yes, Nixon's shit WAS this riveting
Nixon just looked in the camera and said, "I'm not a crook," while no one believed it, including him, and it showed. Everyone knew he was going down because even staunch Republicans like Barry Goldwater publicly declared that enough is enough, and I've heard enough. There are no such Republicans in the US Congress any more, which is why Trump thinks he can hang on, and who knows? He might even be right.
Trump says, "I am not a crook," and believes it because he has gotten away with EVERYTHING he ever did that was wrong, and thinks that he will somehow wriggle out of this as well. He has always done it because he has always bought his way out. But this time, his rich friends are less impressed by more money than by the prospect of going to prison for a few years. THAT can put an end to presidential loyalty or a run for Congress in a big hurry.
The irony that it is NOT Hillary that will be locked up will probably not be lost on many people, even Republicans.
brooklynite
(94,703 posts)The Watergate tapes were revealed by Alexander Butterworth, a low-level functionary that nobody had heard of before.
wryter2000
(46,077 posts)Butterworth is pancake syrup.
sprinkleeninow
(20,254 posts)🥞
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,829 posts)His title was Deputy Assistant to the President - he was Chief of Staff Haldeman's chief assistant.
Because of his position he was one of a very small number of people who knew about the taping system - the others were only Nixon, Haldeman, another Haldeman assistant and the three or four Secret Service technicians who installed it. John Dean had testified that he suspected that White House conversations were being taped, so after that, other witnesses were asked if they knew about it. Butterfield finally spilled the beans.
C_U_L8R
(45,018 posts)with fuzzy reception through the rabbit ears