If you are over 60, or studied Watergate at length...Does this feel like Watergate ?

[TygrBright]

140. Can't tell yet.

One thing feels DEFINITELY different:

Nixon and co. knew what they were doing was skeevy. They knew it was against the law, they knew they had to do it on the downlow. They had plans and contingencies and a playbook of countermoves to manage the cover-up, and they ran it. Until the cover-up itself became the issue.

The crimes- the various ratfucking ops, and finally the Watergate break-in, were pure criminal sleaze, lies and cheating.

But the crimes themselves did not threaten the Constitution or the ability of America to govern itself peacefully as a democracy. It was the COVERUP that did that, and it was the COVERUP that they got nailed on. It was the Saturday Night Massacre, the suborning of Mitchell to run interference for them, and all the other misuses of Executive power to cover up the crimes that finally convinced the GOP leadership to tell Nixon "You are done. Not even we can make this go away, and in fact, we don't want to."

Although we don't yet know what-all will emerge on [Redacted] and co., I think it's highly likely that a good many of them, including [Redacted] himself, have no real idea of just how criminal what they were doing is. In fact, I very much doubt that there was one, coherent plan, the way there was with CREEP in '72. I think the reporter who likened this krewe to "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight" was spot-on.

That doesn't mean they're somehow 'nicer' than Tricky Dick & Co, just stupider, less knowledgeable about government and how it operates, and more willing to take big risks, throw each other under the bus, try anything and everything to get what they want. No restraints at all. And I think initially, no idea or contingency plan about covering things up because once they "won" many of these idiots thought that all the opposition would melt away before the Imperial Power of His Orangitude.

When they realized that wouldn't happen, it was way too late to run a conventional cover-up, hell, they couldn't. So their strategy is based on deny, delay, distract, deflect.

The other big difference is that in 1972 there were some Republicans who understood governing, valued things like ethics and principles, law and Constitution over pure partisan victory. There weren't many, but there were some. And there were some didn't care so much about that stuff but who had a good sense of practical politics and how quickly and nastily things could change. And when they read the tea leaves they were on board the Cleanup Train fairly quickly.

We have no such GOPers with the possible exception of McCain, who's largely a spent force, and maybe one or two old bulls lurking on the back benches and keeping their yaps shut for the moment.

Things that DO feel the same include the flop sweat that's showing up on every Admin spox in front of any camera, the speed and energy of the fan-dancing, the sheer malice and heedlessness of the damage they're doing the Republic, and the looming sense of "more will be revealed, more will be required."

analytically,
Bright