Did anyone catch the Watergate retrospective on PBS last night?

[playahata1]

I wish that today's Congress had as much balls and integrity as Sam Ervin and Co. did 30 years ago.

[molly]

1. No, I didn't

can we have a recap?

[never cry wolf]

2. the good guys won

in the end. actually, it was very insightful and creepily resonant with what the hell is happening today. can't really recap, the story is known but many, many interviews with the principals involved. it may be archeived at www.pbs.org on streaming video.

[molly]

10. LOL - yea rent "All the President's Men" and "Nixon"

and watch the TV special about Daniel Ellsberg and you will be amazed.

[dolo amber]

3. I watched it

I was a very small child at the time of Watergate but I remember it permeating everything. After growing up with that as the be-all-end-all of political scandals, I was amazed at how small and petty it seemed in comparison to what's happening today.

[playahata1]

8. I hate to say it,

but with each passing day, * makes Tricky Dick look more and more like a man of honor and integrity. <<GAG!>>

[NashVegas]

15. Same Here

The hearings pushed Sesame Street off the scheduled time, IIRC, and were everywhere. I understood what they were all talking about, but it took years for real comprehension to sink in.

I caught parts of the special, it was good tv.

[realFedUp]

4. Loved the Gore Vidal piece on American Masters though...

Can I live with you Gore? I'm a good cook.

[edward]

22. Yes. A great night with Nixon and Vidal.

Really complemented each other. By the way, Nixon hated Big Business.
Makes you repect the guy. (or something)

[alpizzy]

5. Loved It!!!

I wish I had taped it. Much of it was a real eye-opener for me as I was only 8 years old at the time it all went down. What struck me the most was the similarities to the present misadministration...arrogance, thinking they are above the law, etc. Plus I found it interesting that the burglars were referred to as Cubans (communist demons of the time).....so I was thinking if an administration was going to do a dirty deed now who would they choose as perpetrators??? Catch my drift.

[playahata1]

9. At least two of the Watergate burglars

were involved in the Bay of Pigs and other attempts to get rid of Castro.

[alpizzy]

17. Okay,

so maybe the 9-11 hijackers are really working to overthrow
the Saudi government. :7 :tinfoilhat:

[SharonAnn]

18. They actually were Cubans, right-wing Cubans, who wanted to

get rid of Castro and restore Batista's Cuba, where the few owned everything, corruption was the law of the land, the Mafia was entrenched, and the military enforced things.

The dominant political Cuban group in Florida is still the right-wing Cubans who want to restore Batista's Cuba and if they can't do it in Cuba, they'll do it in Miami. That's why Miami has had such problems with corruption, corrupt elections, bribery, graft, etc. It's become the normal way of business among certain (large) groups. It's why Jeb fits in so well and most of his business cronies in Florida have been from this group. They're the ones who steered him to the crooked dealings before he was Governor.

[Sophree]

11. The Cubans were anti-Castro

dissidents and fervently so.

G. Gordon Liddy and Henry Kissinger are/were madmen. :crazy:

[wontmoveon]

23. this ought to tell us a lot about FL voting issues. A lot of well-funded

thugs there to do the Republican bidding...all because they hate Castro.
What will happen to the republican stronghold in FL after Castro dies? What will they
have to hold the anti-Castro thugs in line?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

6. I'll say it again- THOSE WERE DIFFERENT TIMES!!!

Those of us old enough to remember know that MOST politicians at that time were more honorable and decent than today. Also, the media is completely fucked up- those were the days of the Pentagon Papers and Woodward and Bernstein. Every reporter (most anyway) was as critical as Paul Krugman is today.
Back then there was a Barry Goldwater to convince Nixon that his time was up and that for the good of the country he should leave. All we have today is fuckheads like Orrin Hatch and Tom DeLay and Trent Lott.
Back then Nixon was the only real asshole. Today it is AssholesRus!

[Sophree]

14. But the level of "loyalty"

is still the same.

And secrecy.

But you're right, I'm still waiting for a sane person inside the * Admin to "come out" and break ranks.

[SharonAnn]

20. And today Woodward is a * sycophant. not likely to expose

his misdeeds.

And the Washington Post is a shadow of the paper it once was.

Can you imagine them running an investigative story like Watergate today?

[Butterflies]

7. I saw it

and since I was young at the time that it happened I didn't know about a lot of it. There were so many comments from the people being interviewed that applied to what is going on now with the Bush Administration - especially the secretiveness. I read DU almost everyday, so that could be the reason why those things jumped out at me. Hopefully it got other (not so politically aware) people thinking and making the same connection that I did.

[dweller]

12. UNC pbs to replay

here at 1am tonite (est)

guess i'll set up the vcr to tape it.

dp

[John_H]

13. I was watched it but...

found it oddly depressing as I thought about the possibilities of duplicating it w/ chimpy, especially since there are undoubtedly "horrors", probably more serious than Watergate, going on as i write this:

1)Watergate got big because of a chain of flukes: The security guard being in the right place at the right time, Liddy bringing along McCord at the lat minute (otherwise no direct link to whitehouse), Stans and Dean deciding to tell the truth, the June 21 tape, etc...

2)the current media are lazy, careerist, ass-kissers. Hell, even Woodward is a ;azy careerist ass kisser. They'd assist in the cover-up before they'd dig for the truth.

3)because of Watergate, everybody is probably extra careful to completely cover their tracks.

I think we're going to have to beat Chimpy the old fashioned way. Stick together, work our asses off, get our message out, hit him hard on his boneheaded initiatives, and get our voters to the polls.

We can't count on another "gate" to do our work for us.

[maine_raptor]

19. I don't know about the "flukes"

McCord's job at the Agency, prior to his involvement with the Plumbers, was to teach Covert Entry. He taught his students to tape open a lock with the tape vertically so it would not show. Yet when it comes to the Watergate break-in, he tapes the door horizontaily, not once but TWICE!!!!!!


HMMMMMMMMMMMMM.....I really don't think you need a tin hat on that one folks.

[John_H]

24. Apparently Magruder told Liddy

not to bring McCord along on the Watergate job because he didn't want a direct link w/ CREEP if they got caught. If McCord wasn't there, and Liddy, Hunt, and the Cubans kept their mouths shut the coverup may never have been cracked.

[gWbush is Mabus]

16. I saw it...

it was great!!!

history is bound to repeat itself if we do not learn from the past.


My key takeaway...

The gov't _works_ when:

1. Judges are honest (right now they are right-wing biased)
2. Congresspeople show leadership (right now Repugs are Bush talking-point-people and Dems don't stand up for themselves)
3. the people are INFORMED (right now, mass media is consolidated into 3-4 major players which act as a soapbox for Bushco.)

[Lisa]

21. that was a good evening of TV!

Watergate, Gore Vidal, and then I switched the channel over to CBC's Rolling Stones concert coverage ...

After reading Novak's article stating how arrogant this White House is, I found some eerie echoes in the Watergate piece ... especially when they talked about Tricky Dick's paranoia.

Wouldn't he and the Shrub have made a pretty pair!

I keep imagining a scenario where Bush prepares to board the helicopter, yells "I am not a cook!", and knocks himself unconscious on the doorframe.

[Dover]

25. Be sure to drop PBS an email letting them know you liked it!......n/t

.

[dweller]

26. Replay tonite at 1:30 AM pbs (est)

or at least on our local pbs.
set your vcr/tivo

dp

[hedda_foil]

27. And does anyone know who the RNC Chairman (bagman) was during Watergate?

The only guy Nixon thought was as loyal as Haledman and Ehrlichman?

The guy about whom Nixon said "he'll do anything for us"?

[Kanola]

28. Is this same retrospective on Watergate made in 1994?

That Watergate special was about six hours long, very detailed and I have it taped.