Watergate 30 years later.

[PHJIndy]

I just finished watching the PBS program "Watergate 30 years later" and I'm still amazed by that attempted abuse of power.
I remember when it was unfolding and no matter where you went it was on tv and radio.

[comfortably numb]

When my precocious little brother was in high school way back then, he made a couple of Impeach Nixon bumper stickers in print shop.

I put one in the back window of my Bug.

One day this old dude came up to me and said, "I think only 10% of the poulation agrees with you."

I replied, "That's because only 10% of the population has figured out what's going on."

Ah, the good ole days...
...when we were young and never wrong.

[PHJIndy]

Originally posted by comfortably numb
When my precocious little brother was in high school way back then, he made a couple of Impeach Nixon bumper stickers in print shop.

I put one in the back window of my Bug.

One day this old dude came up to me and said, "I think only 10% of the poulation agrees with you."

I replied, "That's because only 10% of the population has figured out what's going on."

Ah, the good ole days...
...when we were young and never wrong.

Yeah, I almost remember!

[Hardscrabble]

Yeah, it was all pretty crazy.

Now just wait until the Kennedy assasination files are finally opened in whatever silly year it is. That's when the you-know-what will really hit the fans. There was just as much abuse of power with the brothers Kennedy as there was with Tricky Dick.

[PHJIndy]

Originally posted by Hardscrabble
Yeah, it was all pretty crazy.

Now just wait until the Kennedy assasination files are finally opened in whatever silly year it is. That's when the you-know-what will really hit the fans. There was just as much abuse of power with the brothers Kennedy as there was with Tricky Dick.

[sf-indy-fan]

Did you catch the bit where Jeb Magruder admitted that Nixon was not only aware of it from the get-go, but that he actually gave it the go-ahead? My better half said, "Are you surprised?", but, frankly, I was. I didn't think Nixon was that stupid (or arrogant, take your pick) that he didn't think this would come back to haunt him, and I thought that The Plumbers would have kept it among themselves to give Nixon "plausible deniability" (to use the phrase popularized during Iran-Contra).

PHJ, I think you & I are among the very few IRL fans who also watch PBS. Keep the faith, brother.

[PHJIndy]

Originally posted by sf-indy-fan
Did you catch the bit where Jeb Magruder admitted that Nixon was not only aware of it from the get-go, but that he actually gave it the go-ahead? My better half said, "Are you surprised?", but, frankly, I was. I didn't think Nixon was that stupid (or arrogant, take your pick) that he didn't think this would come back to haunt him, and I thought that The Plumbers would have kept it among themselves to give Nixon "plausible deniability" (to use the phrase popularized during Iran-Contra).

PHJ, I think you & I are among the very few IRL fans who also watch PBS. Keep the faith, brother.

I saw Magruder on some other programs this week so I knew what he was to say and I wasn't at all surprised that Nixon knew from the beginning. Of course if he knew he was a crook, and if he didn't he was out of touch, either way it didn't look too good. I still can't believe that Nixon taped such incriminating dialogue. That's real arrogance!

Yes I check in with PBS and C-Span quite often, and I WILL keep the faith!

BTW it'll be shown again tonight a midnight, Gomertime.

[sf-indy-fan]

This wasn't in the Watergate special, but people close to Nixon have said that, in the final days, Nixon inquired about military units around Washington that would be loyal to him, with the idea of turning the White House into a fortress in case he lost an impeachment vote.

Also, I don't know if it's true or not, but I read somewhere that there was talk amongst the more out-there members of the Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP; has there ever been a more appropriate acronym?) of planting bombs in the Republican National Convention in LA in '72, exploding them, and then having Nixon declare martial law.

[DedFlrs]

Originally posted by sf-indy-fan
This wasn't in the Watergate special, but people close to Nixon have said that, in the final days, Nixon inquired about military units around Washington that would be loyal to him, with the idea of turning the White House into a fortress in case he lost an impeachment vote.

Also, I don't know if it's true or not, but I read somewhere that there was talk amongst the more out-there members of the Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP; has there ever been a more appropriate acronym?) of planting bombs in the Republican National Convention in LA in '72, exploding them, and then having Nixon declare martial law.

The truely sad thing about the whole affair was the fact Nixon would only have had to keep breathing to have defeated McGovern for President. Well, better to have ripped the mask from such a nasty little man. I took a Hunter S. Thompson view of the whole affair, (read Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, for a somewhat different view of American politics at the time. And probably still today). Oh and by the by I watch PBS now and again, of course unless pro wrasslin or nascar is on!

[oldtimer]

pffffffft

[mds24]

Of course Nixon knew about Watergate in advance

"Watergate" wasn't just about Watergate, it started much before then and there is no way Nixon did not know what was going on much before that two-bit break-in occurred.

"Watergate" is just the catch-all phrase for the entire illegal operation and then cover-up.

[3-wide]

I remember vividly listening on radio to Alexander Butterworth take the stand and reveal the presence of tape recorders in the Oval office. Man, talk about a blockbuster piece of information.

That was the beginning of the end for Tricky Dick.

[sf-indy-fan]

Actually, Butterfield hadn't been following the testimony, and he just assumed that the presence of the taping system had already been revealed to the committee. Oops!