Isn't "Felt" the perfect surname for the man who is the epitome of me-generation ethics and politics?
Why is his name suddenly revealed? For public acclaim. (To be fair, it's not clear he wants this --he's 91 and recently had a stroke, but his kids are naked about it). Of course the W. Post this morning is in an ecstasy of self-congratulation. (Here's a link to their lead story, but go to their home page for about a dozen different takes!)
Instead of either working channels to address wrong-doing w/n the government, or resigning and going public with his story, he opted to protect his job by going to the Post in secret. That strikes RC2 as less than honorable, with all due respect.
RC2 confesses she has always been a little soft on Nixon. What she can't understand is why the Nixon campaign didn't just cop to the dirty tricks played against the Dems in the first place. Nixon had nothing to do with the Watergate Break-in, and such tricks were and remain commonplace in presidential politics (during the hearings, for example, Pat Buchanan's testimony regarding dirty tricks played on the Nixon campaign got everyone laughing --because he, Pat, so obviously relished their inventiveness --even if his guy was the victim). The Administration would have looked bad for a time and then everyone would have gotten over it. The cover-up is what drew Nixon into the matter; how utterly unnecessary.
Let's review:
* Nixon's downfall allowed Congress to withdraw support from resistance efforts in Asia. Even though they held out for two more years w/o us, this led to the fall of Laos & Cambodia --and Pol Pot, the Vietnamese Gulag and millions killed.
* The "Watergate" mentality --where reporters are always working from the "take down the President" paradigm.
*"Punishing the Republicans" led directly to the election of the Henry Waxman generation to the U.S. Congress. The most pernicious group of politicians in US history.
*The Carter Presidency & American Malaise
Was it worth it? The cover-up was wrong. But was it worth it --in time of war-- to bring down a presidency over covering up a political dirty trick? Just asking.
