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Stuart G

(38,414 posts)
Wed Dec 13, 2017, 11:38 PM Dec 2017

It looks and smells like Watergate.

Why? There is always something new coming out. Some of it directly affects or is connected to the President, while some of it isn't. Many people talked to the President about this and that. Nixon had a history of lying, and so does Trump. I recall so clearly Nixon saying something to the effect that he was quitting politics, something like, "your not going to kick me around anymore. ...and a few years later he was elected President.

Nixon had a long history of lying and attacking enemies in ruthless ways. Helen Douglas ran against Nixon and Nixon demonized her. So Trump does the same thing. Makes up lies about people, and is vicious in his language. The more he is attacked, the worse he gets.

Both Nixon and Trump are especially arrogant, thinking they can get away with "anything.' Nixon's lies and actions before the 68 election are close to treason. Trump also seams or appears to have actions which, if we look at objectively, could be treason: working with outside countries to prevent an opponent's election.

And like Nixon, there is a special prosecutor who will probably (we do not know yet) uncover all the dirt. (sooner or later) Also, there is a sideshow of who talked to who, how, why, and when . But in the end, it was Nixon's actions which did him in. Something about hidden tape recordings and who said what and when. Nixon claims he never said certain things, which it came out later, he most likely did say.

Did Trump have dealings with a foreign country to help win an election? Oh, Trump says no. But there is so much circumstantial evidence that his closest relatives (his sons) did indeed have conversations with members of foreign countries. about what?..no one knows. (adoptions?..not likely from my viewpoint)

And the media is involved too, as it was for Nixon. Many similarities. And many differences. But there is one very similar point. Time will eventually tell the truth. It does look like it will all come out, at some point. Why? because people are talking behind the scenes, and some already have been indicted, and like Nixon those indictments can as they say.."go up the ladder to the top"

I don't know what is going to happen. Yet the similarities are striking. I didn't want to believe Nixon was behind the whole thing. But he was. (I always thought he was crooked, but all of that?..yes all of that.) It seems very similar. We will see. Sooner or later, we will know the truth . But, I hope it is sooner rather than later.

11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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It looks and smells like Watergate. (Original Post) Stuart G Dec 2017 OP
I see a duck. MFM008 Dec 2017 #1
"Im Not a Crook" The Public Face and Private Political Reality of Richard M. Nixon L. Coyote Dec 2017 #2
I remember that press conference Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Dec 2017 #4
Stuart G, I'm 63 years old and I remember it all. pdxflyboy Dec 2017 #3
One major difference, though: Pope George Ringo II Dec 2017 #5
Re: I didn't want to believe Nixon was behind the whole thing. But he was. SFnomad Dec 2017 #6
It will be worse. roamer65 Dec 2017 #7
Yep, no comparison. This will easily eclipse Watergate. BigmanPigman Dec 2017 #8
One way this could be better than Nixon../ Watergate. Stuart G Dec 2017 #11
There's no comparison. Nixon was human. Mister Ed Dec 2017 #9
The crime was small. murielm99 Dec 2017 #10

L. Coyote

(51,129 posts)
2. "Im Not a Crook" The Public Face and Private Political Reality of Richard M. Nixon
Thu Dec 14, 2017, 12:03 AM
Dec 2017
"I’m Not a Crook"

The Public Face
and Private Political Reality
of Richard M. Nixon

..... The Nixon tapes show us that it is certainly possible to control what others, even an entire nation, thinks about you. The control of discourse can serve as a deception of the electorate. The private and public personas of political figures can be immensely disparate. The electorate should always assume that the private persona of a political figure, especially the President, is not the same as the public image. .................


.........Nixon ordering investigation of Jews.

N: Please get the names of the Jews. You know, the big Jewish contributors to the Democrats. Could you please investigate some of the -------. (expletive deleted)

Next day:
N: What about the rich Jews? The IRS is full of Jews, Bob.
H: What we ought to do is get a zealot who dislikes those people.
N: Go after them like a son of a bitch.


Nixon ordering Haldeman to break into the Brookings Institution.

N: They have a lot of material. I want--the way I want that handled Bob is get it over. I want Brooking. Just break in. Break in and take it out. You understand.
H: Yeah. But you have to get somebody to do it.
N: Well, you--that’s what I’m just telling you. Now don’t discuss it here. You’re to break into the place, rifle the files, and bring them out.
H: I don’t have any problem with breaking in.
N: Just go in and take them. Go in around 8 or 9 o’clock. That’s right. You go in and inspect and clean it out.


Nixon Ordering Tapes Destroyed.

.................................

Pope George Ringo II

(1,896 posts)
5. One major difference, though:
Thu Dec 14, 2017, 12:11 AM
Dec 2017

Nixon really was nearly as smart as he thought he was. We can't say that about Trump. That does not bode well for him in the comparison.

 

SFnomad

(3,473 posts)
6. Re: I didn't want to believe Nixon was behind the whole thing. But he was.
Thu Dec 14, 2017, 12:12 AM
Dec 2017

And the difference here is that I wholeheartedly believe that tRump is behind everything, every last stinking thing. And for the sake of the United States, I hope his day of reckoning comes sooner, rather than later.

BigmanPigman

(51,567 posts)
8. Yep, no comparison. This will easily eclipse Watergate.
Thu Dec 14, 2017, 12:47 AM
Dec 2017

It will be interesting to see what the history books will report about this time period (that is IF there is a future).

Stuart G

(38,414 posts)
11. One way this could be better than Nixon../ Watergate.
Fri Dec 15, 2017, 12:41 AM
Dec 2017

Watergate break in June 17, 1972
Nixon Resignation.. August 9, l974

total time in months..25 months plus about 20 days.

Nixon in office more than 5 and one half years...(became President on Jan 20, 1969)

If...Trump leaves in 6 months..(say, Trump leaves in June 2018,.. who knows?) ...from start to finish of the whole deal would be about 17 months...

Now no one knows when or if Trump will leave. He may not resign ever. But if it does happen soon, then it might, be....might be a shorter time than Watergate. That may be one way it could be better

Mister Ed

(5,923 posts)
9. There's no comparison. Nixon was human.
Thu Dec 14, 2017, 01:29 AM
Dec 2017

His faults and his wrongs were human faults and wrongs. I cannot detect the humanity in this thing that occupies the White House now.

And Nixon's crime really was a "second-rate burglary" compared to what I think will be uncovered about the present administration.

murielm99

(30,717 posts)
10. The crime was small.
Thu Dec 14, 2017, 01:51 AM
Dec 2017

The coverup is what cost Nixon the Presidency.

Yes, he was human and deeply flawed. As smart as he was, he never thought he was good enough. He was jealous and felt deeply inferior to people like JFK.

Nixon could have been a great President. But he did sneaky things and held deep grudges. I wish he could have kept his flaws in check. It would have been so much better for our country.

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