Posted on 06/01/2005 5:55:15 AM PDT by veronica
Re: The "news" that former FBI agent Mark Felt broke the law, broke his code of ethics, broke his oath and was the main source for Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward's articles that helped depose Richard Nixon, a few thoughts.
Can anyone even remember now what Nixon did that was so terrible? He ended the war in Vietnam, brought home the POW's, ended the war in the Mideast, opened relations with China, started the first nuclear weapons reduction treaty, saved Eretz Israel's life, started the Environmental Protection Administration. Does anyone remember what he did that was bad?
Oh, now I remember. He lied. He was a politician who lied. How remarkable. He lied to protect his subordinates who were covering up a ridiculous burglary that no one to this date has any clue about its purpose. He lied so he could stay in office and keep his agenda of peace going. That was his crime. He was a peacemaker and he wanted to make a world where there was a generation of peace. And he succeeded.
That is his legacy. He was a peacemaker. He was a lying, conniving, covering up peacemaker. He was not a lying, conniving drug addict like JFK, a lying, conniving war starter like LBJ, a lying conniving seducer like Clinton -- a lying conniving peacemaker. That is Nixon's kharma.
When his enemies brought him down, and they had been laying for him since he proved that Alger Hiss was a traitor, since Alger Hiss was their fair-haired boy, this is what they bought for themselves in the Kharma Supermarket that is life:
1.) The defeat of the South Vietnamese government with decades of death and hardship for the people of Vietnam.
2.) The assumption of power in Cambodia by the bloodiest government of all time, the Khmer Rouge, who killed a third of their own people, often by making children beat their own parents to death. No one doubts RN would never have let this happen.
So, this is the great boast of the enemies of Richard Nixon, including Mark Felt: they made the conditions necessary for the Cambodian genocide. If there is such a thing as kharma, if there is such a thing as justice in this life of the next, Mark Felt has bought himself the worst future of any man on this earth. And Bob Woodward is right behind him, with Ben Bradlee bringing up the rear. Out of their smug arrogance and contempt, they hatched the worst nightmare imaginable: genocide. I hope they are happy now -- because their future looks pretty bleak to me.
Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer in Beverly Hills and Malibu, and author of "Ben Stein's Diary" each month in The American Spectator.
Your Right...It (that name) really does suck, Loudy. :D
Stein cuts through the BS.
Here's Nixon's bio (http://www.presidentialpetmuseum.com/presidents/37RN.htm):
Richard Milhous Nixon
Served 1969-1973, 1973-1974 (resigned)
Richard Milhous Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California, January 9, 1913.
Nixon had a brilliant record at Whittier College and Duke University Law School before beginning the practice of law. In 1940, he married Patricia Ryan; they had two daughters, Patricia (Tricia) and Julie. During World War II, Nixon served as a Navy lieutenant commander in the Pacific.
On leaving the service, he was elected to Congress from his California district. In 1950, he won a Senate seat. Two years later, in 1952, General Eisenhower selected Nixon, age 39, to be his running mate. Nixon's career nearly took a setback when he was accused of accepting improper gifts. In a nationally-televised speech, Vice Presidential candidate Nixon told the nation he had given back all gifts but one -- a cocker spaniel puppy named Checkers -- whom his daughter loved. Watching the "Checkers Speech," General Eisenhower decided to keep Nixon on the ticket, saying "That's my man."
As Vice President, Nixon took on major duties in the Eisenhower Administration. Nominated for President by acclamation in 1960, he lost by a narrow margin to John F. Kennedy. In 1968, he again won his party's nomination, and went on to defeat Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and third-party candidate George C. Wallace.
His election in 1968 had climaxed a career unusual on two counts: his early success and his comeback after being defeated for President in 1960 and for Governor of California in 1962.
Once in the White House, the Nixons shared their private lives with three dogs, an Irish setter named King Timahoe, a poodle named Vicky, and a silky terrier named Pasha.
Reconciliation was the first goal set by Nixon. The nation was painfully divided, with turbulence in the cities and war overseas. During his Presidency, Nixon succeeded in ending American fighting in Viet Nam and improving relations with the U.S.S.R. and China. But the Watergate scandal brought fresh divisions to the country and ultimately led to his resignation.
Nixon's accomplishments while in office included revenue sharing, ending the draft, new anticrime laws, and a broad environmental program. As he had promised, he appointed conservative Supreme Court justices William Rehnquist and Harry Blackmun. One of the most dramatic events of his first term occurred in 1969, when American astronauts made the first moon landing.
Some of his most acclaimed achievements came in his quest for world stability. During visits in 1972 to Beijing and Moscow, he reduced tensions with China and the U.S.S.R. His summit meetings with Russian leader Leonid I. Brezhnev produced a treaty to limit strategic nuclear weapons. In January 1973, he announced an accord with North Viet Nam to end American involvement in Indochina. In 1974, his Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, negotiated disengagement agreements between Israel and its opponents, Egypt and Syria.
In his 1972 bid for office, Nixon defeated Democratic candidate George McGovern by one of the widest margins on record.
Within a few months, his administration was embattled over the so-called "Watergate" scandal, stemming from a break-in at the offices of the Democratic National Committee during the 1972 campaign. The break-in was traced to officials of the Committee to Re-elect the President. A number of administration officials resigned; some were later convicted of offenses connected with efforts to cover up the affair. Nixon denied any personal involvement, but the courts forced him to yield tape recordings which indicated that he had, in fact, tried to divert the investigation.
As a result of unrelated scandals in Maryland, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigned in 1973. Nixon nominated, and Congress approved, House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford as Vice President.
Faced with what seemed almost certain impeachment, Nixon announced on August 8, 1974, that he would resign the next day to begin "that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America."
In his last years, Nixon gained praise as an elder statesman. By the time of his death on April 22, 1994, he had written numerous books on his experiences in public life and on foreign policy.
Felt is a FINK!
Maybe Nixon's paranoia centered around a possible run by Teddy Kennedy. But it seems to me that Teddy, at the time, was simply the idiot brother of JFK & RFK. A political lightweight (kinda like his nephew, Patrick, is right now). He was certainly not the "Lion of the Senate" as the Left currently portrays him. OTOH, Nixon did have a fear of the Kennedy political machine, so I guess it's plausible.
Only in the drug-induced dreams of Oliver Stone. Ha ha!
There you have it in a nutshell. Exempting foreign-policy, where Nixon was indeed the master-strategist, your statement is absolutely correct.
OK, I give up. How was Ben stretching it? His article seemed restrained to me and I was not a Nixon cheer leader. As for wanting power, Nixon had the power of the presidency. What more could he possibly want? By the way, were you around during the Nixon era?
Uh, the author of the piece is aware of that late-breaking info and even references it - reading is a skill....
Does anyone remember a certain someone whose entire life was ruined because SHE DID THE RIGHT THING and spilled the beans when proded by a friend to commit a felony to protect criminal PRESIDENT?
bump
Oh, I don't know, perhaps Nixon wanted the FBI to actually follow orders?
J. Edgar had his own little fiefdom over there, blackmailing Presidents to keep his position. It strikes me that W. Mark Felt, aka "Deep Throat", would have kept the status-quo over at FBI. Meaning he would have maintained J.Edgars 'secret files' on senior government officials. The FBI would have remained a rogue agency of the federal government under his leadership. Dishing the dirt on Nixon while obstructing his boss, L. Patrick Grey, was Felt's way of 'giving the finger' to the new state of affairs at the Bureau. It strikes me that he was a small man.
Bill Clinton actually accomplished far more in the way he politicized the FBI, but we won't be hearing about that in the MSM. Nope, not a peep.
They broke into watergate on a tip that the DNC was bought out by Moscow.
I wasn't a teenager at the time. I was an adult who had served in Vietnam and had just joined the Foreign Service and was in Washington at the time of the Watergate hearings. What was happening had some immediate relevancy to me. Thus, it remains fairly clear in my memory.
>But I remember a few salient details. I remember that the plumbers started out after Mr. Nixon felt that the ordinary channels for finding leakers had failed. I remember that Mr. Nixon's folks ran a poll prior to the opening of the 1972 presidential election season which showed rather competitive races against most of the possible Democrat nominees.
Every politician and his followers worry about reelection and develop an election strategy to win. I am sure the Dem candidates did the same thing. What potential Democrat candidates, other than McGovern are you talking about? At the Dem 1972 convention, McGovern received 1,865 votes, compared to his nearest rivals Henry Jackson (525), George Wallace (382), and Shirly Chisholm (152). I don't buy the premise that Nixon's reelection committee helped handpick the Dem nominee or had any influence in doing so. The Dems had lost touch with the American people through their excessive liberalism.
Nixon won in 1968 because of George Wallace's formation of a third party, which split the Sourthern Dems. Wallace won 46 electoral votes in 1968.
But some of the stuff that occurred under his auspices, including third-rate burglaries, and some of the stuff that he countenanced, including the cover-up of third-rate burglaries, were felonies. And Republicans don't think that presidents should be felons.
Nixon's crime was the cover-up. At the suggestion of LBJ, Nixon set up a taping system similar to LBJ. That was his downfall, e.g, releasing the tapes. If you think that Nixon and his reelection committee originated political dirty tricks, you are sadly mistaken. Even Kerry's brother was guilty of breaking into an opponent's political headquarters. Kennedy and Richard Daley helped steal the 1960 election, which Nixon did not challenge out of respect for the Presidency. What other stuff are you talking about?
Felt was also a felon. He condoned the secret break-in of private homes of the Weatherman Underground by government agents without a search warrant. Reagan pardoned him.
And Republicans don't think that presidents should be felons.
Richard Nixon was not a convicted felon.
Dear kabar,
Sen. McGovern was not the odds-on favorite at the beginning of the 1972 election season to win the Democrat presidential nomination. I believe that Sen. Muskie was a favorite, if not the favorite. Tears (or snowflakes) in response to forged letters seemed to have had an effect on Mr. Muskie's candidacy.
"I don't buy the premise that Nixon's reelection committee helped handpick the Dem nominee or had any influence in doing so."
I didn't say they did. I DID say they tried to have influence in that process. I'm skeptical whether they succeeded.
"Nixon won in 1968 because of George Wallace's formation of a third party, which split the Sourthern Dems. Wallace won 46 electoral votes in 1968."
Some at FR have argued that Mr. Wallace nearly cost Mr. Nixon the election, that Mr. Wallace hurt Mr. Nixon more than Mr. Humphrey.
"If you think that Nixon and his reelection committee originated political dirty tricks, you are sadly mistaken."
Did you take the time to read my posts? Let me quote myself from my last post:
"I also don't think that Mr. Nixon's minions did anything different than previous presidents."
* * *
"Felt was also a felon."
True, but irrelevant. Mr. Felt was a scumbag. That doesn't precisely exonerate Mr. Nixon.
"Richard Nixon was not a convicted felon."
True, but neither is Mr. Clinton. Yet, it doesn't prevent us from recognizing the truth that he (and Mr. Nixon) committed felonies. In the case of Mr. Nixon, the Republican leadership told him he'd have to go. In the case of Mr. Clinton, the Dammocrap leadership defended him till their dying breath.
sitetest
Nixon was extricating us from Vietnam. By the end of March 1972, we had 95,500 troops in Vietnam, and by August 1972 about 27,000, which declined to about 16,000 by the end of November. Nixon had effectively defused the Dems' main issue.
Maybe Nixon's paranoia centered around a possible run by Teddy Kennedy. But it seems to me that Teddy, at the time, was simply the idiot brother of JFK & RFK. A political lightweight (kinda like his nephew, Patrick, is right now). He was certainly not the "Lion of the Senate" as the Left currently portrays him. OTOH, Nixon did have a fear of the Kennedy political machine, so I guess it's plausible.
In 1972 Ted Kennedy was not even in the running for the Presidency. He had been in the Senate for 10 years and had no interest in running for President after having his two brothers assassinated. He was just 40 years old.
After his experience in 1960 and the grief he took from the Left about Hiss, Nixon had good reason to be paranoid. Even paranoids have enemies.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.