We have a model. We know what to do when there has been an assault on our democracy and a cascading Constitutional crisis because we’ve done it before with Watergate.
“…back when telling lies was something you didn’t want to get caught doing…”. Well, sadly we have come a long way since Watergate. The current crop of corrupt players are shameless and anathema to the truth. If and when high drama comes to public testimony before the committee, look for the witness to take cues from the god of reality tv.
The current crop of legislators don't have the courage to move expeditiously. Like most democrats, they have buried their balls in a jar and can't remember where they left them.
I so remember Watergate because my then boyfriend ( husband) lived in Silver Spring, MD. just over the line. I was livid when Nixon has been reelected but the leak offered by the Post made me so very very happy.
Yes, things are going a little slow, for my liking re: the Select Committee. Holding Meadows and Bannon in contempt should come with the caveat that they be imprisoned until they come clean. As I understand it, the committee is going to make these hearings public after the New Year. Absolutely, these must show that these jerks as the obstructionists and insurrectionists that they are.
I was 13 when Watergate broke, and my dad (a suburban peace activist who loathed Nixon) got me and my slightly older brother into following it. We got the "Watergate Weeklies" - the New York Times and Newsweek, and were glued to the TV during the hearings (after school special for me!), and reviewed the days and the week's developments over dinner. Things like Sam Ervin's eyebrows when Butterfield revealed the tapes, and when the 18 1/2 minute gap came out. My fervent wish is that in early January the public hearings ramp up and cannot be ignored. And that the Justice Department reels in ever bigger fish. Go for the jugular in a relentless process, the law and the politics are on our side and we need to confidently act like we know it.
Yes! Yes! Yes! I was riveted to those hearings, taking my little portable radio out on to the lawn where I sat in the backyard watching my two young children swinging on the clothesline swing. I remember the shock of Butterfield's testimony saying there were tapes. Such a revelation! And we all got to hear it in real time!
Really admire your work, but, as a crusty city editor said to me many, many years ago: “The past tense of bleed is bled; the past tense of plead is pleaded, godammit!”
I'm getting a little tired of the euphemisms I'm seeing in the comments for killing people. I don't like it. Come up with some other way of expressing your extreme opposition and displeasure.
I'm also very sensitive to when people use the word "hate" when they mean "dislike." (even intensely). And when they say I'm "starving" when they mean "hungry." Not just matter of degree but qualitatively different.
I've been feeling a lot like that myself. I could do my social worker thing and call it "identification with the oppressor" or whatever, but that's obviously not good enough. I talk about killing people on Facebook, where anyone who sees it knows me pretty well, but it's really NOT acceptable. it's basically giving up on the whole idea of discourse and/or intellectual argument, aside from being a deeply ugly sentiment. my solution is to avoid direct encounters, but that's a luxury I can indulge, being retired and semi-reclusive. if I were still working, this would definitely be an issue. but there's a pretty obvious difference between fantasizing about murdering a moronic colleague and talking about it in a quasi-public forum. we can all just agree to adopt a mantra like "we're better than this" or "that's what THEY do." these "mantras" also have the excellent quality of being accurate reflections of reality.
The greatest asset of professionals like you and Heather Cox Richardson is your well educated and well studied perspective.
Fools can rely on Fox for the pablum they need to justify their carelessness,
but we're not all fools, although if those who hear your call do nothing, then what we have is a country full of fools that deserve every bit of what it gets.
As Heather reminds us of the events of our history from back to the founders that reflect so directly on what we are witnessing today and you remind us and re-educate us, or at least me, about the events in the lifetime we have lived, both of you are vital to me, to us and to this country if this country any chance at all, slim as it seems at the moment.
I thank you daily for the life you have chosen to live that now provides us with the perspectives we all need to find our way through what is probably the most dangerous moment this country has ever faced because it is NOW and we are living it and the country will obvious not survive as a country worth being a part of if we don't hear you calls.
We won't pull this off without what you personally are doing for us right now.
Well done and stay at it because some of us are most certainly listening, learning and taking heed.
You're time is here and now as you remind us all of what it is to care about this country we all hold so dearly. Without you and Heather sounding the bell, we would be at dire risk of being lost in the treacherous fog that engulf us.
So again, thank you dear sir. It's my loss that I didn't run into you and your like in the village back in the day, but I'm glad to know you now.
The Committee's failure to communicate makes it look like they are slow walking the whole thing, playing footsie for months with Trump acolytes who scoff at subpoenas . But we already saw a lot of what happened on TV in realtime. Will we forget what we saw before the next election?
I watched the entirety of the Watergate hearings on TV with a good friend, a pile of superior weed, junk snacks, as we gleefully yelled and angrily screamed at the proceedings. And justice was served. I am sick and tired of sitting at my computer reading about investigations, subpoenas, investigations, and more investigations. When do the serious indictments begin? The Watergate break-in happened behind closed doors; Jan 6 was live and in color for all to see, and the tsunami of evidence is really telling us what we already know and can surmise. While the fat orange pus sac smirks and continues to breathe free. I am disgusted, with the Dems, with this country, with Amy Comey Barrett's absurd notion that we don't need abortions because we have adoption. All of it stinks. Nothing to smoke weed to. I don't know how you can bear to report on this day after day.
The Democrats are afraid of tRump’s followers. Any way it’s presented, they will deny reality and grab their guns. I don’t know why they think putting off the inevitable will help matters. Even the FBI is scared.
“…back when telling lies was something you didn’t want to get caught doing…”. Well, sadly we have come a long way since Watergate. The current crop of corrupt players are shameless and anathema to the truth. If and when high drama comes to public testimony before the committee, look for the witness to take cues from the god of reality tv.
The current crop of legislators don't have the courage to move expeditiously. Like most democrats, they have buried their balls in a jar and can't remember where they left them.
I so remember Watergate because my then boyfriend ( husband) lived in Silver Spring, MD. just over the line. I was livid when Nixon has been reelected but the leak offered by the Post made me so very very happy.
Yes, things are going a little slow, for my liking re: the Select Committee. Holding Meadows and Bannon in contempt should come with the caveat that they be imprisoned until they come clean. As I understand it, the committee is going to make these hearings public after the New Year. Absolutely, these must show that these jerks as the obstructionists and insurrectionists that they are.
I was 13 when Watergate broke, and my dad (a suburban peace activist who loathed Nixon) got me and my slightly older brother into following it. We got the "Watergate Weeklies" - the New York Times and Newsweek, and were glued to the TV during the hearings (after school special for me!), and reviewed the days and the week's developments over dinner. Things like Sam Ervin's eyebrows when Butterfield revealed the tapes, and when the 18 1/2 minute gap came out. My fervent wish is that in early January the public hearings ramp up and cannot be ignored. And that the Justice Department reels in ever bigger fish. Go for the jugular in a relentless process, the law and the politics are on our side and we need to confidently act like we know it.
Yes! Yes! Yes! I was riveted to those hearings, taking my little portable radio out on to the lawn where I sat in the backyard watching my two young children swinging on the clothesline swing. I remember the shock of Butterfield's testimony saying there were tapes. Such a revelation! And we all got to hear it in real time!
Really admire your work, but, as a crusty city editor said to me many, many years ago: “The past tense of bleed is bled; the past tense of plead is pleaded, godammit!”
Exactly! Thanks as always Lucian. Call these people out. Tell the truth!!
Just heard the Fox news personalities panic emails demanding Trump stop the violence...your legacy is at stake!!!
Too late, the coward's silence is his legacy.
BTW, fry Meadows...STAT!!!
I'm getting a little tired of the euphemisms I'm seeing in the comments for killing people. I don't like it. Come up with some other way of expressing your extreme opposition and displeasure.
I'm also very sensitive to when people use the word "hate" when they mean "dislike." (even intensely). And when they say I'm "starving" when they mean "hungry." Not just matter of degree but qualitatively different.
I've been feeling a lot like that myself. I could do my social worker thing and call it "identification with the oppressor" or whatever, but that's obviously not good enough. I talk about killing people on Facebook, where anyone who sees it knows me pretty well, but it's really NOT acceptable. it's basically giving up on the whole idea of discourse and/or intellectual argument, aside from being a deeply ugly sentiment. my solution is to avoid direct encounters, but that's a luxury I can indulge, being retired and semi-reclusive. if I were still working, this would definitely be an issue. but there's a pretty obvious difference between fantasizing about murdering a moronic colleague and talking about it in a quasi-public forum. we can all just agree to adopt a mantra like "we're better than this" or "that's what THEY do." these "mantras" also have the excellent quality of being accurate reflections of reality.
Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!
The greatest asset of professionals like you and Heather Cox Richardson is your well educated and well studied perspective.
Fools can rely on Fox for the pablum they need to justify their carelessness,
but we're not all fools, although if those who hear your call do nothing, then what we have is a country full of fools that deserve every bit of what it gets.
As Heather reminds us of the events of our history from back to the founders that reflect so directly on what we are witnessing today and you remind us and re-educate us, or at least me, about the events in the lifetime we have lived, both of you are vital to me, to us and to this country if this country any chance at all, slim as it seems at the moment.
I thank you daily for the life you have chosen to live that now provides us with the perspectives we all need to find our way through what is probably the most dangerous moment this country has ever faced because it is NOW and we are living it and the country will obvious not survive as a country worth being a part of if we don't hear you calls.
We won't pull this off without what you personally are doing for us right now.
Well done and stay at it because some of us are most certainly listening, learning and taking heed.
You're time is here and now as you remind us all of what it is to care about this country we all hold so dearly. Without you and Heather sounding the bell, we would be at dire risk of being lost in the treacherous fog that engulf us.
So again, thank you dear sir. It's my loss that I didn't run into you and your like in the village back in the day, but I'm glad to know you now.
That's for damn sure.
The Committee's failure to communicate makes it look like they are slow walking the whole thing, playing footsie for months with Trump acolytes who scoff at subpoenas . But we already saw a lot of what happened on TV in realtime. Will we forget what we saw before the next election?
well, I suspect that WE won't forget. it's everybody else (who have systematically had their memories destroyed) I'm worried about.
They will have public hearings. I suspect they want to know what everyone will say before having them say it.
You're probably thinking of the decades in which Democrats had spines. That's your problem, right there.
I watched the entirety of the Watergate hearings on TV with a good friend, a pile of superior weed, junk snacks, as we gleefully yelled and angrily screamed at the proceedings. And justice was served. I am sick and tired of sitting at my computer reading about investigations, subpoenas, investigations, and more investigations. When do the serious indictments begin? The Watergate break-in happened behind closed doors; Jan 6 was live and in color for all to see, and the tsunami of evidence is really telling us what we already know and can surmise. While the fat orange pus sac smirks and continues to breathe free. I am disgusted, with the Dems, with this country, with Amy Comey Barrett's absurd notion that we don't need abortions because we have adoption. All of it stinks. Nothing to smoke weed to. I don't know how you can bear to report on this day after day.
I well remember Watergate, but your recounting of it here is much appreciated. So well laid out. Thank you!
I so agree! This needs to be front and center so people so good at "reinterpreting" the event won't have free reign.
The Democrats are afraid of tRump’s followers. Any way it’s presented, they will deny reality and grab their guns. I don’t know why they think putting off the inevitable will help matters. Even the FBI is scared.