For Those of You Who Missed Watergate, You Get Another Chance!
by Rev. Peter E. Bauer
Next month is the forty-fifth anniversary of the last major political scandal that occurred here in the United States.
“Early in the morning of June 17, 1972, several burglars were arrested inside the office of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), located in the Watergate building in Washington, D.C. This was no ordinary robbery: The prowlers were connected to President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign, and they had been caught while attempting to wiretap phones and steal secret documents. While historians are not sure whether Nixon knew about the Watergate espionage operation before it happened, he took steps to cover it up afterwards, raising “hush money” for the burglars, trying to stop the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from investigating the crime, destroying evidence and firing uncooperative staff members. In August 1974, after his role in the Watergate conspiracy had finally come to light, the president resigned. His successor, Gerald Ford, immediately pardoned Nixon for all the crimes he “committed or may have committed” while in office. Although Nixon was never prosecuted, the Watergate scandal changed American politics forever, leading many Americans to question their leadership and think more critically about the presidency.” Source: http://www.history.com/topics/watergate
This was quite an affair, to say the least. You had quite a cast of characters. The dramatis personae included then-President Richard Milhous Nixon, Presidential advisors John Ehrlichman and H.R. Haldeman, John Dean, Press Secretary Ron Ziegler and Attorney General John Mitchell and spouse Martha Mitchell. Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox. Of course, there was G. Gordon Liddy and famous “plumbers” who were the burglars. The supporting cast featured Senators Sam Ervin and Howard Baker who chaired the Watergate Investigative Hearings which were commissioned to determine if the President has been culpable regarding obstruction of justice and if the charges met the criteria for “high crimes and misdemeanors” for impeachment.
Now, it’s 45 years later and it’s eerie how the whole investigative process appears to be repeating itself again. This time №45 is in the spotlight regarding possible collusion and connections between current administrative officials and the Russian government of President Vladimir Putin. Again, we have quite a cast of characters including 45, Presidential Counselor Kelly Anne Conway, Press Secretary Sean Spicer, Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Now, that the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) James Comey has been fired and that subpoenas have been issued by the Senate Investigative committee for documents that reference former Director of National Security Michael Flynn, the fun will really begin!
For those of you who remember, Watergate was not a quick process. It went from June 1972 through August 1974. Also, it has an afterlife with the yearly installment of new excerpts from the infamous “Nixon” tapes.
We have gone from Rose Mary Woods, Nixon’s personal secretary and the missing 18-minute gap on one of the Nixon tapes to the now 18-day stay of Michael Flynn in the White House after 45 was warned not to retain him as National Security Director.
As Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young observed in their song “Déjà vu”
“We have all been here before.”
Only this time it’s not a pleasant reincarnation, but a rather perverse one. Instead of a presidential figure, we have someone who resembles a frustrated carny at the circus who can’t seem to get gullible people to accept his games of chance nor his sleight of hand. The recent dismissive wave of the hand by 45 to CBS journalist John Dickerson as he was banished from the Oval Office would have made Louis XVI proud!
It’s time to take your seats, get our opera glasses. There will be plenty of theatre on the political stage; enough I would wager to last the next two years. As Senator John McCain noted “there will be more shoes that will drop.”
What all of this will mean for our country is unknown. I know that we deserve much better than this as citizens of the United States. We really need to stop this hijacking of our democracy now.
“We have all been here before.”
May we become better now?
May it be so.
