Tag Archives: Watergate

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Coverup looms as worst part of bridge battle

If Richard Nixon taught politicians of the future anything, it should have been that the cover-up usually is worse than the crime itself.

The president got caught in covering up the Watergate burglary by using federal authorities to quash an investigation. It cost him his job in August 1974.

Is there another cover-up under way in New Jersey?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/new-nj-documents-show-extensive-coverup-in-fort-lee-traffic-shutdown/2014/01/10/09af4efc-7a1f-11e3-af7f-13bf0e9965f6_story.html

The Washington Post suggests there might be some serious trouble brewing for Gov. Chris Christie, who’s been investigated for the closure of lanes on the George Washington Bridge, allegedly as payback for a Democratic mayor’s refusal to endorse Christie’s re-election bid.

Did the governor order the lane closures on the world’s busiest bridge? I doubt it. But did he know about it when it occurred? Was his staff acting on orders given by those quite close to the governor?

Does all of this testify to Christie’s reputation as a vengeful bully?

What did the governor know and when did he know it? That question — a form of which was posed by Republican U.S. Sen. Howard Baker during the Senate Watergate Committee hearings — went to the president of the United States. It seems valid today to ask it of Gov. Christie.

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Another ‘Gate’ scandal joins the ranks

Now it’s become “Bridgegate.”

Please.

Now many “gate” scandals — or controversies, if you will — must we endure?

I refer, of course, to the boiling mess involving the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge this past year. Did the Republican governor of New Jersey order the lanes closed to get back at the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, N.J. because the mayor didn’t endorse the governor for re-election? If so, what will be the consequences? If not, will the media let the story die?

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/chris-christies-bridgegate-guide-102033.html?hp=l6

It’s become yet another in an interminable line of “gate” stories.

I feel compelled to remind everyone there is only one “gate” scandal that matters. The Watergate scandal of 1972-74 brought down the 37th president of the United States, Richard Nixon.

On June 17, 1972, a team of bungling burglars broke into the Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate Hotel and office complex in Washington. They got caught. Then over the course of the next few days — we would learn later — the president of the United States ordered federal authorities to quash the investigation into whether the president’s re-election campaign or the White House were complicit in any way.

Therein launched a constitutional crisis of enormous proportions. The debate has swirled ever since ass to whether it merited the attention it got. I believe it did. President Nixon used the power of his office to stymie a federal criminal probe. That’s a very big deal indeed.

He quit the presidency on Aug. 9. 1974, thus ending the Watergate scandal for keeps … or so we all thought and hoped.

The “gate” part of that terrible time lives on as goofballs attach the suffix to every political controversy large and/or small that comes along.

I’m weary of it. There can be only one “gate” scandal. It was enough of a doozy to stand alone forever.

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GOP fights with itself

I remember a time when Democrats were the fractious bunch and Republicans all held hands and sang off the same page.

That was, oh, about 40 years ago. The times they are a-changin’.

Now it’s the Republicans’ turn to fight among themselves. Democrats have locked arms and aren’t exactly crying crocodile tears over their “friends” troubles on the other side of the aisle.

Boehner-right fight moves to Senate

GOP House Speaker John Boehner stuck it in the tea party wing’s eye the other day after the House passed the bipartisan budget bill worked out under the leadership of Republican House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and Democratic Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray.

Now it’s the Senate’s turn to approve the deal and, one can hope, start the nation toward a long-term repair of its budget problems. I’m not holding my breath for that to occur.

Republican senators are taking heat from their so-called “base,” aka the tea party, over their willingness to compromise with those dreaded Democrats. Many key Republicans aren’t being intimidated. “I’ve said for a long time that there are some outside groups who do what they do solely to raise money,” said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. “I’m glad that people are wising up.”

One GOP senator, Texan John Cornyn, is going to get a primary challenge from U.S. Steve Stockman, who might be among the looniest of the tea party types to serve in Congress. I’ll predict right now that by the time the March primary rolls around, Cornyn will be seen by many Americans — perhaps even me — as a true statesman when compared to the kookiness of Stockman’s pronouncements.

The Cornyn-Stockman fight symbolizes what’s happening to a once-great political party. It might be helpful for Republicans to have this fight, just as it cleansed Democrats of bitterness back in the 1970s. Of course, Democrats had some help from a Republican president, Richard Nixon, who got entangled in the cover-up that occurred after that “third-rate burglary” at the Watergate office complex.

For now, I’m going to watch Republicans gnaw on each others’ legs.

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How ’bout them ’72 Dolphins?

It’s a little late, but it ought to be welcome nevertheless.

President Obama is bringing one of the NFL’s most storied teams to the White House for a decidedly belated congratulatory visit. The 1972 Miami Dolphins are coming to town to be honored in a ceremony that should have occurred oh, about four decades ago.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/08/20/obama_to_give_72_dolphins_a_belated_salute_119645.html

The president at the time of the Dolphins’ historic season — in which they went 17-0, capping it off with a 14-7 win in the Super Bowl over the Washington Redskins — was Richard Nixon. He was vacationing in Florida and professed to be a Dolphins fan. He also had told Redskins coach George Allen that he was rooting for them to win the big game.

One other thing might have kept the president from inviting the Dolphins to the White House. Nixon was fresh off his smashing 1972 re-election victory, but was facing increasing scrutiny over the “third-rate burglary” that occurred the previous June at the Watergate Hotel.

President Nixon had other things on his mind, I reckon, and couldn’t be bothered with saluting the Miami Dolphins’ history-making season.

Barack Obama also is a big sports fan and isn’t bashful about bringing in sports teams or individual athletes to be honored.

I’m quite happy to see him honor the Dolphins. Forty years is a little late, but I’m sure this band of aging former athletes and coaches will enjoy the spotlight once again.