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Whimsical ( and all your commentors )
The left-liberal knives had been out for Nixon for his relentless pursuit of their darling, Alger Hiss, and his subsequent sentence for treason. ( Despite their sense of denial over Hiss's guilt, KGB papers have subsequently proved this beyond doubt. )
It was Nixon, almost single-handed, who brought about the lasting thaw in relations with China, and for this he deserves full credit ( Denied him of course by his long standing detractors in the liberal camp)
Of course Nixon broke the law, and, rightly, he was condemned for it ; such a pity that there was no such merciless spotlight turned on the utterly horrendous Kennedy mafia! This time it was a whole nation in denial. Hell, no! It was a whole world!
And then, one of your most revered presidents : Roosevelt. He must have known beyond a shadow of doubt what the Japanese reaction to his embargo on scrap metals and oil would be.
With his acute grasp of history and realpolitik, he must also have known what the precise nature of that reaction would be. It must have been clear to him and his advisors that the Japanese would mount a pre-emptive strike on the American fleet at Pearl Harbour, just as they did against the Russian Northern Fleet in 1905.
I am far from being a conspiracy nut, but given all this, one can only conclude that he was determined to join in WWII by whatever means it took.
Our views of great statesmen ( which Roosevelt undoubtedly was ) are often extremely wide of the mark.
A good post. Thank you.
el Tel
posted by
ariel70
on December 28, 2006 at 11:40 AM
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Correction for you guys...
Someone said Nixon was impeached but actually he resigned before he could be impeached. He made the decision to walk out on his own than to be thrown out of office. I just checked the records on Yahoo to find out. I thought I remembered that he left before they could impeach him. If he hadn't resigned, I'm sure he would have been impeached.
And, I agree that Clinton should have been impeached for his behavior. It was only because of the Democratic buddies he had in the Senate that kept that from happening. Of course, since Senators like Ted Kennedy were involved and he has no morals where women are concerned either, why would he condemn a fellow letch?
posted by
whimsystoryteller
on December 28, 2006 at 11:10 AM
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Solowriter...
I am in agreement with you about Nixon being a better man. Clinton's behavior turns my stomach. I was just explaining was I was talking about. I wasn't taking Clinton's part, believe me.
posted by
whimsystoryteller
on December 28, 2006 at 10:54 AM
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But an eavesdropper is certainly not worse than a married President who has sex with his young interns.
Are you thinking about what you are saying, or are you only regurgitating years of mass media brainwashing?
Nixon was a far better man than Clinton. By light years.
posted by
Jenasis
on December 28, 2006 at 8:42 AM
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Wrong, SoloWriter...
There were tapes proving that Nixon knew all about the break in and actually authorized what happened. That was the biggest part of the scandal because he denied knowledge of it until the tapes were discovered that proved he knew about it all along.
You guys need to look all of this up. It's a very important part of our nation's history. Nixon is the only President to ever resign his office and Ford was the only President who was never elected to the office that ultimately made him President. It's a very historical time that has had an enormous affect on our country.
If you haven't listened to the news reports of the last 24 hours, you need to do so.
I'm going to write another blog with some of this information since some of the people on here may just be too young to know all of this.
I can't do so right now because I have to run a couple of errands so I'll write in a little while and give you guys a brief run down of the events that transpired.
posted by
whimsystoryteller
on December 27, 2006 at 4:45 PM
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Wait just one insane moment here ...
Nixon was impeached for allegedly eavesdropping ... and Clinton was not impeached for the Monica behavior?
You see, we see in the face of Nixon a man of integrity. But Clinton! HA.
posted by
Jenasis
on December 27, 2006 at 4:02 PM
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From what I heard of the situation,
Nixon was unaware that his people were doing that.
posted by
Jenasis
on December 27, 2006 at 3:53 PM
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Well, Nixon did break the law...
He was part of a conspiracy to illegally tap the phones of the Democratic National Convention. I suggest you rent the movie, "All The President's Men" to get an idea of what happened. Or you can probably find out more on the internet.
What he did was illegal but there have been so many other presidents who have done worse in my opinion. However, at the time this happened, most of our nation's citizens were very naive and very idealistic. Ideals are wonderful as long as you taper them with compassion and deal with reality in the process.
posted by
whimsystoryteller
on December 27, 2006 at 3:49 PM
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And what did Nixon ever do to deserve being impeached?
posted by
Jenasis
on December 27, 2006 at 2:47 PM
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Ford seemed a vague figure to me, but here's an interesting note:
"Who is the only President who was also a King?" (Ford was born Leslie King. He took later the name of his stepfather.)
posted by
Jenasis
on December 27, 2006 at 2:42 PM
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Whimsy....
Yes, I was referring to the attack on you....You were just telling a story....but some choose to keep things close and throw them at people when they least expect it......it seems to be a habit of those on the left.
I had the privledge of meeting Nixon 3 times, the first when I was 17. He was dedicating a monument to Lincoln's grandparents....there were only 5 other people there....I actually got the opportunity to talk to him, it was a few years after he made his "You won't have Dick Nixon to kick around" speech, and the last being at a dinner at the White House in 1972........but the past is past. Whimsy, there's nothing wrong with remembering things that you enjoyed......
It's just wrong when people have to jump on someone like that......
posted by
Corbin_Dallas
on December 27, 2006 at 2:41 PM
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Okay, Corbin, it took a minute...
To figure out you were talking to the other person who commented.
I think Nixon was no better and no worse than any other person who's gotten caught up in something he shouldn't have. Of course, he shouldn't have been involved in Watergate and, of course, he should have owned up to what he did and taken responsibility. However, I think all of us have gotten ourselves into messes at one time or the other and lied to try to talk our way out of them.
The man was human and he had the whole world watching when he blew it. That doesn't mean he didn't do some wonderful things for this country as well. As the man I love has pointed out, he was instrumental in ending the Vietnam War and that meant a great deal to the people who fought in that war. I know because the man I just mentioned fought in hand to hand combat in Vietnam and it made a devastating impact on his life. Fortunately, he has been able to overcome what he went through unlike many other vets. One couldn't witness all that they did and not come back changed.
So, when President Nixon did his part toward ending that war, he did a great thing. And, he had an incredible impact on foreign relations during his time in office and afterwards.
As far as my parents are concerned, what happened to them with the IRS was a definite evil done by the IRS. I've told the story of what happened to my parents in another post but basically the IRS decided to make an example of my father simply because he had made it big. Unfortunately, there are a lot of petty, jealous people out there who wait for an opportunity to tear someone down when they are successful.
I think that the IRS should be stripped of their power and that a more fair taxing system be put in place and some checks and balances be put on whatever group of people are handling the taxes. Unfortunately, the IRS has way too much power. And, what they did to my parents was wasteful as well as evil.
Taking away a $3 million home and all its contents and auctioning it for pennies on the dollar to pay $150,000 of payroll taxes was stupid! They would have been much better off had they worked with my father so that he could have paid them back over time and enabled his business to continue, which had well over 200 employees who all lost their jobs because of the vindictiveness of those agents and the few employees who betrayed my father.
The IRS would have made much more money over time had they worked with my father and he wouldn't be spending the latter part of his life struggling to take care of he and my mother.
As far as I'm concerned, those agents should have been tar and feathered for what they did. At the very least, they should have been fired! What they did was completely outrageous and over the top. Unfortunately, it continues to happen to others because too many citizens won't stand up and say "no" and change the current system. Either they are too afraid of the IRS or they are simply lazy. I bet they'll think differently if the IRS comes after them.
posted by
whimsystoryteller
on December 27, 2006 at 1:39 PM
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Now there's a nice.........
classy comment......care to expound on the intent?
posted by
Corbin_Dallas
on December 27, 2006 at 5:19 AM
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Sounds Like...
...your folks were real upstanding pillars of the community (unlike yer man Nixon!)
So it's surprising to see that, later on, all their possessions were auctioned off by the IRS. Is this how the US normally treats her bteer citizens?
D
posted by
DamonLeigh
on December 27, 2006 at 3:06 AM
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