20 ms·
As far as I can tell, Nixon was a complete nutjob. Here he is on the possibility of nuking Vietnam (via Alex Wellerstein): > But my favorite quotes are from Ni
by moyix 10y ago
As far as I can tell, Nixon was a complete nutjob. Here he is on the possibility of nuking Vietnam (via Alex Wellerstein):
> But my favorite quotes are from Nixon about Vietnam. During a spring offensive by the North Vietnamese in 1972, Nixon told Kissinger:
>> We’re going to do it. I’m going to destroy the goddamn country, believe me, I mean destroy it if necessary. And let me say, even the nuclear weapons if necessary. It isn’t necessary. But, you know, what I mean is, what shows you the extent to which I’m willing to go. By a nuclear weapon, I mean that we will bomb the living bejeezus out of North Vietnam and then if anybody interferes we will threaten the nuclear weapons.
> A week later, he continued to a somewhat horrified Kissinger:
>> Nixon: I’d rather use the nuclear bomb. Have you got that ready?
>> Kissinger: That, I think, would just be too much.
>> Nixon: A nuclear bomb, does that bother you?… I just want you to think big, Henry, for Christ’s sake! The only place where you and I disagree is with regard to the bombing. You’re so goddamned concerned about civilians, and I don’t give a damn. I don’t care.
>> Kissinger: I’m concerned about the civilians because I don’t want the world to be mobilized against you as a butcher.
http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2013/10/25/nixon-and-the-bomb/ http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2013/10/25/nixon-and-the-bomb...
- TenOhms 10y agoFor some reason that reads like something only Futurama-Nixon would say.
- mynameishere 10y agoActually it sounds like something drunk-Nixon would say, and that guy definitely existed.
- ourmandave 10y agoIt's definitely something Watchmen movie Nixon would say.
- HugoDaniel 10y agoA year later kissinger got the nobel peace price.
- namlem 10y agoIf he stopped Nixon from nuking Vietnam, maybe he deserved it more than we thought.
- daveguy 10y agoDon't forget the whole "when the president does it that means that it is not illegal". One of the most guano-crazy things he ever said. Any leader who claims that being in that position of leadership exempts them for moral or legal standards is plain delusional.
- pfortuny 10y agoWell, that is the definition of dictatorship, in a nutshell.
- anigbrowl 10y agoI don't agree; he was just stating a fact about power. When you get down to it, moral and legal codes aren't real, they're just arbitrary concepts people agree to abide by. Classical Greeks thought it was pointless to attempt to legislate for all situations and had a notion of 'virtue ethics' - that what a sufficiently virtuous person does must of necessity be virtuous/ In our own time, it's plain that sufficient power does in fact put people above the law and that's a reality we have to deal with whether we want to or not. Rule of law is only as good as the amount of respect people have for the law, and law as an institution has been on a decline in the west and in the US in particular, because so much of it is so obviously for sale to the highest bidder.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- pvg 10y agoThe line is from the Nixon/Frost interviews, you can look up the context. Nixon is definitely not musing about the nature of power or making a philosophical point about the reality of the rule of law.
- mhneu 10y agoDon't forget the whole "when the president does it that means that it is not illegal". One of the most guano-crazy things he ever said. Sounds like you already know this, but the current president-elect just said the same thing: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/When-the-president-does-it-that-means-it-is-not-illegal.html http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/When-the-preside... “The law’s totally on my side," the president-elect told the Times. "The president can’t have a conflict of interest.” Translation: When this president does it, that means it is not illegal. Unlike Nixon, however, I'm starting to worry that Trump's going to get away with this.
- tyingq 10y ago>As far as I can tell, Nixon was a complete nutjob I agree, though, he has the disadvantage that a bunch of taped archives he never intended to leak...leaked. I assume you would hear similarly disturbing quotes from other presidents if their private conversations got out.
- icelancer 10y ago>I assume you would hear similarly disturbing quotes from other presidents if their private conversations got out. There is no question you'd hear the same or worse. The stress alone in that position makes people say insane shit, I'd be willing to bet.
- grogenaut 10y agoThere are also only a few people who can actually nuke a country. So anyone else who says it we just discount.
- Waterluvian 10y agoIt wouldn't surprise me. As a result of seeing some pretty horrible animal torture on YouTube, I was convinced for a few months that summary executions was the only appropriate way to deal with people capable of that behaviour. I was convinced that if you can harm a defenseless animal, you were sub-human and not worth our time to try and fix. Amazing what anger can bring you to.
- quesera 10y agoMy evening has been soured by the simple contemplation of the idea that such things might exist. Starting to wonder whether this whole Internet thing was a bad idea.
- ec109685 10y agoWhy would you assume that? Nuclear bombing and not caring about civilians is not normal behavior. The Clinton emails were supposed to be private, yet never had anything close to that type of behavior.
- Spooky23 10y agoYou know that you're over the line when you've shocked and horrified Kissinger.
- api 10y agoDidn't Nixon attempt to portray himself as crazy and willing to hit the button as part of a "mad man strategy?"
- tps5 10y agoYes, but you wouldn't think that strategy would extend to his own secretary of state.
- api 10y ago... Unless this was designed to be leaked via known compromised individuals, etc.
- halima_hilkas 10y agosef
- brobinson 10y agoYes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madman_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madman_theory
- artpepper 10y agoI'm no fan of Kissinger but that really shows the importance of having qualified advisors.
- Johnny_Brahms 10y agoI understand that you mean in qualified in regards to that special moment, but I can't help myself: According to Christopher Hitchens "The trial of Henry Kissinger", Kissinger was very much a part of the private diplomacy that crashed the vietnam peace deal. He later negotiated more or less the same peace deal, only 4 (?) years later and with about a million more dead people. If 10% of that book is true Kissinger is a war criminal that shoud be tried in the Hague.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- maxq 10y agoA "somewhat horrified Kissinger" when chatting to Nixon is comedy beyond Shakespeare! You read that in a mainstream journal? You were played. You typed it yourself? You've been played. You dreamt it? You're a bard.