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hifiguy

(33,688 posts)

23. Nixon was an anomaly, and strange even for that.

Tue Oct 7, 2014, 01:27 PM

Oct 2014

Nixon didn't really have a huge agenda other than "not losing" in Vietnam and doing everything possible to advance the interests of one Richard M. Nixon, the law and the costs be damned. If this required he be seen as a "statesman", fine. If it required stealing an election he would have won anyway, fine. Whatever he was, and that question could be debated for years, Nixon was not an ideologue. He was a congenitally cheap, crooked ward-heeling pig raised to a high exponential power by way of the presidential office.

He did invent the modern slash-and-burn, scorched earth Repuke political campaign style, however, and they have been in use, refined to an even higher degree by Rove and company, ever since.

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Highlight:

The Forty-Year Hissy Fit (Why “Republicanism” is doomed) [View all] riqster Oct 2014 OP

Right wingers have always followed the Buckley maxim: hifiguy Oct 2014 #1

A great response BrotherIvan Oct 2014 #3

I am old enough to tell you that it was once true. hifiguy Oct 2014 #7

Thanks for the link BrotherIvan Oct 2014 #8

+1 daleanime Oct 2014 #9

There were Republicans that were actually fairly liberal NewJeffCT Oct 2014 #12

You nailed it. Thirties Child Oct 2014 #13

I was BORN in '56. hifiguy Oct 2014 #15

Exactly. Of course, there were yesterday's Southern Democrats, most of today's "tea partiers"... Hortensis Oct 2014 #44

May want to revise your progressivist optmism there BlindTiresias Oct 2014 #28

i am not terribly optimistic in the short run, hifiguy Oct 2014 #30

+1 SomethingFishy Oct 2014 #43

K & R. n/t FSogol Oct 2014 #2

Disagree with one central point IDemo Oct 2014 #4

yesssss: it's *unmoored* anger that they've been cultivating for so long (that also helps explain MisterP Oct 2014 #11

Hold on. Frozen is gay propaganda?? LondonReign2 Oct 2014 #22

Hell, if a Teletubbie was gay.... riqster Oct 2014 #26

the queen sings "let it go": literally that's it MisterP Oct 2014 #27

I just learned something there. Thanks. byronius Oct 2014 #40

Republicans should just let it go. Efilroft Sul Oct 2014 #35

Republican anger has been amped up by RW talkers and Fox News. Dustlawyer Oct 2014 #21

For sure! FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) tend to make us react more conservatively, protectively. Hortensis Oct 2014 #45

you have generalized too much strawberries Oct 2014 #5

It's a blog post, not a dissertation. riqster Oct 2014 #33

Things in the rear view mirror may look better than they are/were. merrily Oct 2014 #6

K&R freshwest Oct 2014 #10

But it wasn't a post-Watergate reaction starroute Oct 2014 #14

True. There are those who use emotion to manipulate. riqster Oct 2014 #17

You forgot fear, they are motivated by fear as well as anger. Rex Oct 2014 #16

Fear and anger are synergistic. Good point. riqster Oct 2014 #18

Not quite buying this. zentrum Oct 2014 #19

Nixon was an anomaly, and strange even for that. hifiguy Oct 2014 #23

Well Said!! n/t zentrum Oct 2014 #24

exactly right. n/t MBS Oct 2014 #41

Nixon's vendettas were personal, not systemic. hifiguy Oct 2014 #42

It's more the post-Nixon phenomenon I wrote about here, riqster Oct 2014 #46

Really agree with this. zentrum Oct 2014 #47

Thom Hartmann coincidentally just said..... zentrum Oct 2014 #48

Thom Hartmann has hifiguy Oct 2014 #50

Perhaps it is just more overt these past years. riqster Oct 2014 #32

This reminded me of what President Clinton said EileenFB Oct 2014 #20

He also said something that stayed with me. riqster Oct 2014 #25

I think this is because... zentrum Oct 2014 #49

But conservatism will never go away and will always be a political force. Kablooie Oct 2014 #29

Quibble: the use of "conservative" is inaccurate and plays into their hands. riqster Oct 2014 #31

yes, you're right MBS Oct 2014 #37

Ultra-reactionaries, actually. hifiguy Oct 2014 #39

excellent article vlyons Oct 2014 #34

Some things predate the recent period. riqster Oct 2014 #36

spot-on summary of a frustrating, hideous and shameful period in our history MBS Oct 2014 #38

My parents were yellow dog Democrats. Manifestor_of_Light Oct 2014 #51

Disagree with much of this Centrist1984 Oct 2014 #52

The same way lurkers seek to destroy ... littlemissmartypants Oct 2014 #53

You blew it in your first paragraph. riqster Oct 2014 #54