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TruthIsAll Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:02 PM
Original message
Take it from one who lived and breathed Watergate...
The Bush scandals are in a class by themselves.

Nixon had intelligence and experience. He also had human qualities, believe it or not. He actually did some good things (i.e. openings to China, Russia, etc.). It was basically the break-in at Democratic headquarters and its coverup which brought him down. Yes, he did have an enemies list and fired Cox, the Watergate Special Prosecutor. Nixon was not the ignorant, brain-dead sociopath, sock-puppet Bush is. It took two years to bring Nixon down.

Bush is much more vulnerable with the perfect storm of scandals brewing around him. And with the facts of his venality all over the Internet starting to show up in the mainstream media, his days are numbered. When he falls it will be quick.

John McCain and others must be wondering what they must do to get him out, before he takes them, and all of us, down with him.





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historian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:04 PM
Response to Original message
1. i lived through that time as well
even though i wasnt living in the states but im under the impression the population was far m ore concerned and alert than it is today. Correct me pls if im wrong
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DoYouEverWonder Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:12 PM
Response to Reply #1
6. Actually Watergate took about 2 years
to unfold and the country was very divided. In spite of the trials, Nixon probably wouldn't have been impeached just for the break in, which he continued to deny knowing about. All that changed with the discovery of the Oval Office tapes. Then John Dean was proven to be the one that was telling the truth after all and that was the end of Nixon.

Funny thing, during George Tenet's testimony to the 911 Commission, he admitted that there are tapes of some meetings that he attended. I hope the commission picked up on that little tidbit and does something about it.



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drthais Donating Member (771 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:39 PM
Response to Reply #6
17. I'm going to ask this AGAIN
I asked on a thread a couple of days ago.....

are ALL conversations in the Oval Office automatically 'taped'?

does anyone out there know?
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Hamlette Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 08:00 PM
Response to Reply #17
24. they took the tape machines out of the white house after Nixon n/t
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enough Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:54 PM
Response to Reply #6
22. Nixon was actually RE-ELECTED after Watergate started to break.
You're right DYEW, it took a very long time to build up.

And yes, TruthIsAll, this is much worse than that.

If Bushco manages to steal this one, I'm sure his second term will be devoted to impeachment and conviction (or early retirement).

I just remembered traveling from Philly to New York on the train the morning after Nixon was elected for the second term. There was an atmosphere of gray stone silent desperation and (I felt) shame all over everything. Nobody said a word. Not a single person celebrating or commiserating. Nobody looked anybody in the eye.
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TankLV Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 03:22 PM
Response to Reply #22
70. Unless there's a house cleaning of both houses of congress, won't happen.
The repukes first loyalty is to the repuke party, country be damned.

No impeachment proceedings will even begin with this bunch currently in power.

You can take that to the bank.

BUSH CAUGHT KILLING INTERN - move along, nothing to see here - but Clinton...
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TruthIsAll Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:23 PM
Response to Reply #1
12. Our biggest problem now is the dumbing-down of America that
has taken place over the last 20 years. But a lot of that is due to a complicit propaganda mill that is our media today. They have no sense of purpose, no sense of history, no sense of democracy.

The whoremedia, and the Democratic wimps who sided with Bush, and are just now coming awake now that Bush is under 50%, are the primary reasons we are in the shape we are in.
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Hamlette Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 08:05 PM
Response to Reply #12
26. dumbing down?
that's exactly how I felt about Watergate FOR TWO FULL YEARS!

We couldn't believe that it was being swept under the table, that people were so dumb, that the press would not pick up on it.

Nixon did some bad stuff, but he would have survived everything except using the CIA to call off the FBI's intigation. It was the abuse of power thing that finally woke up the Congress.

Keep your eye on the "they told me not to give Congress the real numbers on the prescription drug bill" ball. That one is easier to prove and in some ways more damaging.
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Andromeda Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 05:20 AM
Response to Reply #12
48. The media was actually "nicer" back then.
I don't think the media was as much of a tool for the Republicans as it is now. Not that they wouldn't chase a story---it was just done differently then. Reporters weren't afraid to vigorously go after a factual story even if it meant bringing down a powerful Republican president.

The Republicans never forgot and bided their time for the opportunity to get back at the Democrats for bringing Nixon down.

Now, CNN, MSNBC and especially Fox News go after anybody who threatens their beloved Bush. They're trying to bring Richard Clarke down because he dared speak out about Bush & Co.'s handling of the war on terrorism. Truth be damned. It's ratings that rule.

The media never went after JFK about all his affairs because they didn't think it would be proper to print stories about personal behavior.

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pacifictiger Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 01:11 PM
Response to Reply #12
66. I think it is not only the dumbing down of regular people
but that there are so many people making a full career out of politics, either in a legislative or advisory capacity. Too many become invested in making sure that their team wins at all costs, treating it like a sports game with a short term scoring focus instead of truly planning long term for wise governance.
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Snow Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:39 PM
Response to Reply #1
16. We find out things much quicker
communications are much better, much less controlled. Maybe the press hadn't sold out to the degree they have now, but we have so much more access to alternatives, and it's so much faster, and we all talk with each other at places like this. It's made a world of difference.
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Piperay Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 08:09 PM
Response to Reply #1
28. No, at the begining no one
Edited on Sun Mar-28-04 08:12 PM by Piperay
much was upset or concerned. it was referred to as "the Watergate CAPER" and made light of, people actually laughed about it. It didn't really take off till after Nixon was re-elected. I hope that this one is taken much more seriously and doesn't take a reSelection to bring it to ahead.
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TruthIsAll Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 08:45 PM
Response to Reply #1
33. The tapes brought Nixon down; the Net will strangle Bush...
That's the big difference. We can learn more about the Plame outing in one minute with Google than the six months it would otherwise take to research.
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RobinA Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 11:54 AM
Response to Reply #1
53. You Are Not Wrong n/t
*
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CheshireCat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 01:05 PM
Response to Reply #1
62. The difference is the media
During Watergate, the newspapers were still independently owed (for the most part). TV News was non-profit and was not part of the "entertainment division" as it is today.

People were not more aware, they were just better informed. The news they got was "real" news.

Also, the Watergate hearings were on TV during the day and replayed at night - preempting the soaps.
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teach1st Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:05 PM
Response to Original message
2. I thought Nixon was a better stonewaller, too
At least early on during the Watergate revalations. His desparation finally rose to the surface. But Bush seems to me to be quite desparate from the start.

I wonder what kind of backroom talk is going down right now among Republican leaders.....
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NEOBuckeye Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:11 PM
Response to Reply #2
5. The closer and closer we get to this September...
...The more and more the GOP's decision to hold the RNC for Bush's nomination in New York City is going to look like a very bad idea.
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Poiuyt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:09 PM
Response to Original message
3. John Dean
Watergate and Nixon insider John Dean has a book coming out next month called "Worse than Watergate." That should catch a few eyes.
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xray s Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:11 PM
Response to Reply #3
4. the book is out now
saw it at Barnes and Noble yesterday, Amazon has it
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Slit Skirt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 09:01 PM
Response to Reply #4
34. Bod Woodward has a book coming out
just heard that the administration is really worried about this one
and it will allow Colin Powell to begin to seperate himself from the neo-conservs
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revcarol Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 09:34 PM
Response to Reply #34
38. If it's like his last one,
fergit it.
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Slit Skirt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 11:59 AM
Response to Reply #38
55. I don' think it is
supposedly a tell-all
or Whitehouse wouldn't be so worried
....I am keeping my fingers crossed
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nwstrn Donating Member (126 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:13 PM
Response to Original message
7. The only thing I remember about Watergate
is that it preempted Sesame Street. But seriously, I'm afraid that the media won't vigorously pursue the * scandals this time.
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Lalena Donating Member (45 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:15 PM
Response to Original message
8. Nixon was a crook and liar too.
He "had a secret plan" to get us out of Vietnam, or so he told us in 1968. I knew people who actually voted for him, thinking he was the better choice for peace. Still, I don't feel the country was as vulnerable then as it is now. Bush is stupid and controlled by people whose values scare me. I hope the voting populace wakes up and recognizes the path this country is on under this administration.
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pacifictiger Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 01:17 PM
Response to Reply #8
67. eisenhower probably had his number
in that he did not actively support nixon's election for president in 1960. He was also concerned that the military/corporate relationship would become too powerful. Cheney and the rest of these boys now in charge got their start with the Nixon way of doing things.
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Oddman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:15 PM
Response to Original message
9. I always thought Nixon,
Edited on Sun Mar-28-04 07:16 PM by Oddman
Harding and Buchanan were the worst Presidents of all time but this guy is so atrocious that he has created a whole new level of low, below low, lowdown, bottommost, wretched and pathetic. And that is still not as low as he really is.

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chaska Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:17 PM
Response to Original message
10. Stranger, I like the way you talk. nm
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eleny Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:19 PM
Response to Original message
11. Me too
And just this morning I saw some Repub on CNN say that the "stupidest" thing this administration has done is not allowing Rice to testify under oath. These guys aren't talking privately like Nixon's people were doing. The current crop of Repubs are sending their messaages to Bush* on television. Gone are the days when members of Congress are afraid of talking against the president's policies. That's huge.
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acmavm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:32 PM
Response to Original message
13. It's just not bush* that they'd have to get rid of, they'd have to run the
entire bunch of thugs out of Washington, and these guys have no intention of leaving, come hell or high water.

There were lies, deceptions, an immoral war, and a very crooked administration at the time of the Watergate hearings. But none of them, not one, we ever as arrogant about their crimes as this bunch of assholes. These clowns think they are invincible. That's what worries me about the election. Things are already going poorly for little shrubby's re-election campaign. Everywhere he turns he gets hit. That's why I worry about more each day about another 'terraist' attack and suspension of civil liberties, especially the election.

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MetaTrope Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:35 PM
Response to Original message
14. When I was a young and clueless lad attending catechism
Edited on Sun Mar-28-04 07:35 PM by MetaTrope
We kids were commissioned to come up with people or projects to offer up a prayer for at our confirmation mass.

Being young and clueless and not really registering what was happening in the news, only that it was something bad and difficult, the prayer I selected to offer was one for President Richard M. Nixon, who was having some sort of trouble at the time.

Amazingly, every adult who read that aloud, from our teacher to the lector, had the words stick in their craw when they said them. But I still don't feel bad about that prayer at all.

I just wonder if the adults saying Mass these days would have such a difficult time forgiving Bush for what he's done...
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wryter2000 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:38 PM
Response to Original message
15. I lived and breathed Watergate, too
And while you're right about Bush, back then Congressional Repugs had some integrity. I don't think this bunch will ever do anything to hurt their guy.

Seriously, can you think of a Bill Frist of Nixon's time?
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Snow Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:41 PM
Response to Reply #15
18. It was in fact the congressional repugs that walked into Tricky's
office & told him it was over. But Strom was alive, healthy, & feisty at that time.
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Oddman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 12:06 PM
Response to Reply #15
57. You mean Senator Bill Frist - The Dr. Mengele Of The Cat World.
The Republican senator who went to animal shelters and "adopted" cats so he could experiment on them? Frist told shelter staff members he wanted the animals for pets . . that Bill Frist? The Republican Dr. Mengele? The man who wants to be king??

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ramapo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:48 PM
Response to Original message
19. Your forget Nixon's was crimes
Nixon was a veritable social liberal compared to Bush but...

Nixon campaigned in '68 with the implied message that he'd end the war, he had a secret plan. Well the plan was to prolong the war forever, at least long enough to get reelected. Tens of thousands died so Nixon could run on "Peace with Honor". I doubt he ever would've given in on Vietnam had he remained in office.

Bush's lies about Iraq come right out of the Nixon playbook.

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ramapo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:52 PM
Response to Reply #19
20. And the media wasn't much better
The myth of the "liberal" media during the Vietnam era is just that, a myth. The media was largely behind Nixon until things started to unravel from Watergate.

The antiwar critics were generally lambasted and Nixon was in general provided favorable treatment.
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enough Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 08:06 PM
Response to Reply #19
27. Nixon's war crimes -- absolutely. The lowest circle of hell
for him, Kissenger, and all.

The so-called Watergate business was small potatoes compared to that and to Bushco's crimes.
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EdGy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:52 PM
Response to Original message
21. But Dems controlled congress at that time
and so could initiate investigations, issue subpoenas, etc.

Now, on the other hand, not only do the Repubs dominate Congress, but the most extremist, blindly pro-Bush elements of that party are in charge...
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dogman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 08:25 PM
Response to Reply #21
32. There also were more honest GOPers and the media
was more independent. Now the media is a wholly owned subsidiary of the RNC and the GOP has learned to circle the wagons.
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Gman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 07:55 PM
Response to Original message
23. From another Watergate junkie
Edited on Sun Mar-28-04 08:03 PM by Gman
and, I've said this before, I never in my wildest drug induced dreams ever thought I would ever think there was another president worse than Nixon. I never thought I would think that I would rather have Nixon than any sitting president. As it turns out I would greatly prefer Nixon right now to what we have with Bush.

To point out just how unthinkable it is to prefer Nixon to any president, Hunter Thompson summed up his own feelings about Nixon as well as millions of other Americans in the essay He Was a Crook that he wrote upon Nixon's death in 1994. Thompson wrote of Nixon:

"It was Richard Nixon who got me into politics, and now that he's gone, I feel lonely. He was a giant in his way. As long as Nixon was politically alive -- and he was, all the way to the end -- we could always be sure of finding the enemy on the Low Road. There was no need to look anywhere else for the evil bastard. He had the fighting instincts of a badger trapped by hounds. The badger will roll over on its back and emit a smell of death, which confuses the dogs and lures them in for the traditional ripping and tearing action. But it is usually the badger who does the ripping and tearing. It is a beast that fights best on its back: rolling under the throat of the enemy and seizing it by the head with all four claws.

That was Nixon's style -- and if you forgot, he would kill you as a lesson to the others. Badgers don't fight fair, bubba. That's why God made dachshunds."

Regarding talk about a Navy funeral for Nixon:

"In the traditionalist style, the dead president's body would be wrapped and sewn loosely in canvas sailcloth and dumped off the stern of a frigate at least 100 miles off the coast and at least 1,000 miles south of San Diego, so the corpse could never wash up on American soil in any recognizable form."

and

"If the right people had been in charge of Nixon's funeral, his casket would have been launched into one of those open-sewage canals that empty into the ocean just south of Los Angeles. He was a swine of a man and a jabbering dupe of a president. Nixon was so crooked that he needed servants to help him screw his pants on every morning. Even his funeral was illegal. He was queer in the deepest way. His body should have been burned in a trash bin."

These feelings capture the essence of my feelings toward Nixon, yet at this point in time, I immensely prefer Nixon to Bush.

The world would be a much better place right now if Nixon were president right now.
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CheshireCat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 03:17 PM
Response to Reply #23
69. Kindred Spirit
Gman, you are a kindred spirit.

I lived and breathed Watergate. Seeing Nixon fall was orgasmic!

Never - never would anyone have convinced me that the US would see a more undeserving President. Hunter Thompson's prose says it all.

Today, we have a president that makes Nixon look like a saint. Watching Bush fall will bring relief - not joy.

Did you worry about Nixon declaring martial law to avoid impeachment?
I know I was concerned.

I think Bush would declare martial law or worse just to stay in power.




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havocmom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 08:02 PM
Response to Original message
25. Recalling radio news the morning after the break in. I was so happy cuz
I knew Nixon was gonna be toast. Sadly, it took a long time for the press/public to wake up and grumble. Back then, the media was not so reined in by its corporate owners and there was a feeding frenzie going on once Woodward and Bernstein opened the gates.

Nixon had some pretty smart people working for him and he was no idiot.

bushistas are more interested in appearances than anything so they are more vulnerable. The only thing that has saved their crooked a$$es up to now is the narrow, corporate interests which now control the media in America. With a more aggressive and independent press, these liars and crooks would never had made it to DC.

Damage wise, Nixon was much less trouble. His removal proved the system worked. The bushistas have learned from that and are more in control of the information which makes it harder to protect the nation.

bush has done more damage than anyone I can remember, and I am old.
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MetaTrope Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 08:12 PM
Response to Reply #25
29. Control of information
Just think where we'd be now if it weren't for the Internet. Thank you, Al Gore!
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skeptic9 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 09:40 PM
Response to Reply #29
40. Maybe it's the demise of broadcast TV over just 3 networks that explains ...
... how Dubya's big lies have managed to stick. With hundreds of cable stations, dozens of radio talk networks, and thousands of websites, people no longer have to listen to opinions they don't agree with or even news that would cause them to reconsider their own views. We have "narrowcasting" now, instead of the broadcasting we had in the 70s. Nixon's "Kool-Aid" hardcore had to endure months and years of news and opinions that ultimately raised doubts in their minds and forced them to abandon their hero. But with new technology, Dubya can keep HIS "Kool-Aid" vote.
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havocmom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 11:24 AM
Response to Reply #40
52. Prior to Clinton, broadcast news took major hits
New owners of networks gutted the budgets of the news departments. Once thought of as a noble enterprise, and allowed to be generally a cash-losing segment of any network, news units were now expected to make profits. Corporate-win-at any-cost mentality destroyed TV news. 'News' is now just another arm of selling the products.

How many lost jobs in the cuts? Don't know but recall there was much anguish about it. The ones that hung on had to pretty much sell out. New faces started appearing pretty often. Seems the fear they had about staying employed is now in all areas of American enterprise. Created job shortages render most workers so fearful they will do/accept anything. The eager ones motivated by greed will succeed until they piss off the powers that be. To succeed, one has to be pretty good at brown nosing and pretty comfortable with whoring.

The new ownership and focus of TV News made it easy to run a constant war against Clinton. Must've really pissed 'em off that the Big Dog did as well as he did. I ponder what he may have accomplished for America and the world without the need to constantly divert brainpower and energies of his staff to defending him from the attacks of the neocon driven media and I weep for what was lost.

That same ownership of the media outlets is what kept information of just how vile/corrupt/greedy/ the bush machine is out of the general discussion during the campaign of 2000. They did a swell job of selling their boy puppet as some sort of regular guy, straight talker, uniter not divider. They were superb at hiding the fact that the puppet is either a callous sociopath or total idiot.

TV news is pretty much info-mercials for the bs a few greedy bastards what to shove down our throats. It started in the days of Reagan and BushI. I do not think it is coincidence.

OK, end of rant. If you made it this far, my thanks.
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Minstrel Boy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 08:25 PM
Response to Original message
30. Though I abhor virtually everything he stood for, Nixon
was a man I could respect and even pity. And some of his initiatives were worthy.

Bush? There's no humanity in him. There's nothing of virtue in his actions.

There's a Watergate-level outrage a week with Bush. And his worst far exceeds the worst of all other US presidents added together.
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Slit Skirt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 08:25 PM
Response to Original message
31. Worse than Watergate
read the book...I have started it...it confirms our biggest fears about the Bush administration

haven't seen John Dean out there pushing his book..he needs to...
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dbt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 09:13 PM
Response to Original message
35. Best. Watergate. Quote. Ever.
Came from a colleague of mine at a Progressive Rock station when the news broke that Nixxon was going to resign. Your man walks into the control room and says,

"I'm NOT paranoid! It's ALL TRUE!"

I am waiting with growing impatience to be able to say that about bu$h.

:evilgrin:
dbt
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Jacobin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 09:29 PM
Response to Original message
36. Totally disagree, as one who also lived through Watergate
Vietnam brought him down. He ran on a "secret plan" to end the war.

Instead he escalated it and bombed Laos and Cambodia. The war in the streets of america blossomed and kids were getting killed on college campuses.

The Watergate breakin, his attempts to cover it up, his firings of special prosecutors were all the excuse to dump his ass for lying about Vietnam.

As bad as his conduct on Watergate was, it was a symptom of the horrific things he did in Vietnam and the lies to us about ending the war.

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TruthIsAll Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 09:56 PM
Response to Reply #36
44. No one hated Nixon's guts more than I did at the time. But...
Edited on Sun Mar-28-04 09:58 PM by TruthIsAll
with the passage of time along with the fact that he repented and wrote a number of interesting books on global political strategy with the goal of achieving peaceful coexistence, he redeemed himsef to a degree, as far as I am concerned.

Nixon's flaws were very human, unlike Bush, who seems to be the anti-Christ, has never READ a book and appears to have no redeeming qualities.
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Adelante Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 01:06 PM
Response to Reply #36
63. It was the war, I agree
Everything else, including the Watergate fiasco, stemmed from the war. By the time the Watergate Hearings came up, the country was primed to hear the lies.
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i_c_a_White_Ghost Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 09:29 PM
Response to Original message
37. Nixon was a good crook Lol
Not the right wing nut job we have in there now. Nixon never tried to change our society the way this A *ole is trying. Plus, i don't think he was as divisive as this wacko.

Nixon was definitely a smart guy, though paranoid, hence, the break in and stuff. Also, Nixon had a sense of humor in a strange way.
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Zinfandel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 09:36 PM
Response to Original message
39. Let's hope it doesn't come down to electronic voting machines (BBV)
If it does, the republicans own the software (for the voting machines, millions more, each month who'll be voting with them) and with the republican owned corporate media...these fascist may put themselves in a position for another stolen election.
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napi21 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 09:45 PM
Response to Reply #39
41. I'd hate to see that! We are talking about some serious protests!
I don't know if they'd go that far! There's a lot of hatred out there right now and I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of violence if something like that happened.

I sure don't advocate it, but I must admit, it looked really strange that so many 'Pubs were elected in the last election in places they hadn't won in LOTS OF YEARS! Georgia is one of them. I'm still haaving a tough time believing that Max Cleland lost. Lots of people loved him in Ga. There's still a lot of talk about the new voting machines that were used then.

I'm trying to think what we can do to prevent tampering. I've thought about having apeople stationed at EVERY precinct just to watch, but I don't know if that would accomplish anything. I'd sure do it if it would assure a real election!
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judgegina Donating Member (175 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 09:48 PM
Response to Original message
42. Another Watergate junkie, here

Nixon was a very smart man. A crook, but very smart. I, too, never thought that I would see the day where I wished we could have Nixon for Pres. Bush is, by far, the worst president EVER.
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i_c_a_White_Ghost Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 09:51 PM
Response to Reply #42
43. Agree
Bush is the worst President imaginable, a nightmare of epic proportions.
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Jack from Charlotte Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 12:58 PM
Response to Reply #42
61. I was the ultimate Watergate junkie..... Can you name .............
the guy who dropped that bomb during that afternoon session that there was in fact, a tape system recording all the Oval Office conversations?

That one's easy but do you know the name of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist? The repugs broke into his office in order to try to get dirt on Ellsburg...... So what was his name?

How about..... where was John Wesley Dean III born?

If you don't know these Watergate facts, then don't call yourself a Watergate junkie.
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Jack from Charlotte Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 03:41 PM
Response to Reply #61
71. Here are the answers..................
1. Alexander Butterfield was the guy who disclosed the tape system in the White House. He was an audio-visual guy, I think, who worked on this system in the basement. Testified for about 20 minutes and from that moment on Nixon was essentially toast. Especially, since the tapes proved John Wesley Dean III, told the truth about everything he said under oath.

2. Daniel Ellsburg's psychiatrist was named.... Dr. Lewis Fielding. Was in Phoenix, as I recall.

3. Akron, Ohio
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Adelante Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 01:07 PM
Response to Reply #42
64. Oh, yes
Yes. Yes. Yes.
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Hippo_Tron Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 10:01 PM
Response to Original message
45. One big diffrence might be that the oppositon controlled congress?
Just a thought...
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Davis_X_Machina Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-28-04 10:15 PM
Response to Reply #45
46. There were enough Southern Democrats --
-- holdovers from the old, racist 'Solid South', that the Democratic control of Congress was far from a useful tool much of the time.

Half the guys at that time running around on TV, with bad combovers and flag pins in their lapels vaporing on about 'the Commander-in-Chief' and the 'sacred office of the President' were Democrats.

A lot of "Reagan Democrats" left the party over the impeachment of what they saw as the man -- Nixon -- keeping the gooks abroad and the niggers at home in line, like a proper President. Come 1980, they got a candidate they could really go for... Reagan.
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RobinA Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 12:18 PM
Response to Reply #45
59. Another Big Difference
Although this is far worse than Watergate technically, Watergate was an incident that happened and it was a crime. Facts Nixon couldn't get away from. The 9/11/Iraq situation is far more fuzzy and there aren't a lot of incontrovertible facts to be had. Too much or not enough emphasis on bin Laden, could 9/11 have been prevented, should Iraq have been invaded, how do you handle terrorists, lying, truth shading, semantics, coulda, woulda, shoulda.... It's all very non-concrete and spinable compared to Watergate. The Vietnam atrocity didn't bring Nixon down, a comparatively silly break-in did. I'm afraid that this will be similar to...Nixon withOUT Watergate.
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RobinA Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 12:22 PM
Response to Reply #45
60. Another Big Difference
Although this is far worse than Watergate technically, Watergate was an incident that happened and it was a crime. Facts Nixon couldn't get away from. The 9/11/Iraq situation is far more fuzzy and there aren't a lot of incontrovertible facts to be had. Too much or not enough emphasis on bin Laden, could 9/11 have been prevented, should Iraq have been invaded, how do you handle terrorists, lying, truth shading, semantics, coulda, woulda, shoulda.... It's all very non-concrete and spinable compared to Watergate. The Vietnam atrocity didn't bring Nixon down, a comparatively silly break-in did. I'm afraid that this will be similar to...Nixon withOUT Watergate.
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DeepModem Mom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 04:35 AM
Response to Original message
47. kick
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9215 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 09:34 AM
Response to Original message
49. There is something much sicker about today
IMO one big factor, besides a Repug Congress and a rabid Right that doesn't care how many lies Bush tells is a Press largely controlled by Bushista interests. The Public has a warped perspective on reality past and present and those who make claims against the Bush's are neutralized by a phalanx of pro-Bush types at every level.

The information available to anyone looking for it that shows what the BFEE is up to is voluminous and damning. Far more than what was had on Nixon and, as you say, far more serious, but for some reason it is not having the kind of effect needed to spur a public or official reaction.

IMO Bush has no intention of relinquishing power. If his adminstration comes apart and he is hauled before the Court then that is another thing, but he will not allow a peaceful transition of power to take place. The BFEE is out to rule the world by whatever means neccessary.
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spanone Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 09:52 AM
Response to Original message
50. The MEDIA is the big difference now. The media exposed watergate.
Now the media tries to serve up the shit that this administration is offering.
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ramapo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 10:58 AM
Response to Reply #50
51. The media wasn't "that" much better
We like to remember two important media events from that era, The Pentagon Papers and Watergate. The New York Times and Washington Post are responsible for breaking these stories. But this is not to say that the media was either anti-war or anti-Nixon

Despite the fact that Nixon liedduring the 1968 campaign 1968 about his intention to end the war, he was able to escalate the war and continued it with significant support from the mainstream media.

The Watergate story started to trickle out during the '72 campaign. The media continued its support of Nixon. It was not until the dam burst that the tide really turned against Nixon.

There were no vast media empires like today with control over many different outlets. There were more newspapers but no cable news. Had there been the cable outlets of today I am sure they would've been solidly pro-war.

The war was extremely devisive. The government, with the media's help, championed the war for a decade. Most in Congress either supported the war or did not take forceful action. As unpopular as the war became, it was never easy being anti-war.

Much of what we've seen from the Bush administration is an echo from the Johnson/Nixon era. That includes the function of the media.



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Adelante Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 01:10 PM
Response to Reply #50
65. It was vastly unusual at the time
that the press broke the Watergate story and unplugged all the rest of it. They had traditionally not reported much more than they ever reported. We're back to pre-Watergate conditions now, almost. If we don't badger them to death, they'd be just as happy not reporting at all, just repeating what Bushco says.
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ironflange Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 11:57 AM
Response to Original message
54. Nixon was an evil genius
Who had control of every little facet of the administration. Bush is merely a puppet to his supposed underlings.
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indie_voter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 12:02 PM
Response to Reply #54
56. Granted, I was 10 when Nixon resigned but...
I'll take an evil genius over the village idiot(controlled by hidden evil) any day.


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tom_paine Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 12:17 PM
Response to Original message
58. Not by themselves...in the same class as Ferd Marcos
Papa Doc, Idi Amin, and some might say Hitler and Stalin (the nonviolent parts).

You are saying, I think, what I have been saying for years, which is that the current Busheviks do everything the Nixonviks did during Watergate and MUCH MUCH MORE.

I agree.
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davsand Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-29-04 01:24 PM
Response to Original message
68. Nixon was much more crafty than the chimp.
No doubt, Nixon was paranoid and no doubt that Nixon had real issues--but he looks like a real pro next to the current atrocity in the White house.

Consider this, Nixon hadn't really pissed off the CIA at that point--and Dubya has. Nixon had Deep Throat working against him privately while Dubya has a huge number of pissed off former employees running around out there talking in public. Nixon's administration hadn't self contradicted half as much as Dubya's has. There are some huge differences here that will speed this along, IMO.


Laura
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