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Nixon's Attorney General, the horrible, horrible man, John Mitchell, had his wife silenced by drugging and sequestering her. "If you guys could get John Mitche

Nixon's Attorney General, the horrible, horrible man, John Mitchell, had his wife silenced by drugging and sequestering her. "If you guys could get John Mitchell, that would be beautiful." (Quote from All the President's Men) There's an interesting 1994 BBC documentary, "The Watergate Affair" that talks about it. Mitchell was one of the few players in that sordid saga that didn't speak on camera. They're such a bunch of smug bastards, the lot of them, except for John Dean; he's only half an ass. But, yeah, what was the elephant doing in your pajamas?

ashtonkem 6y ago
Nixon personally blamed Martha Mitchell for the scandal and impeachment.
- lpah4all 6y ago
  The same guy who told Frost, "Well, if the President did it, it's not illegal." Clearly, his grip on reality was a long time gone in service to his power-seeking for his constituency. Even a president can be a data point in Dunning & Kruger's "too stupid to know how stupid they are" category. Now, we have a mobbed-up slumlord 1000x more stupid and infinitely more amoral. He is a true credit to the GOP's fundamental guiding principles.
  - ashtonkem 6y ago
    It’s interesting to think what Nixon could’ve been if he wasn’t so paranoid and vindictive. Arguably the shenanigans in Watergate weren’t even necessary to secure a victory.
    - lpah4all 6y ago
      Yeah, it kinda seems that he was only a personality defect or two away from being a truly great President, with all his foreign policy successes. But, really, the GOP was already fully evil by then; they just got caught doing what they do to the other politicians, instead of to our own poor, especially minorities. And, sure, his victory was likely beyond doubt, but people so hell-bent on power are way beyond being able to not seize every advantage they can gain, no matter how risky. Amoral and ravenous, their momentum and self-belief are beyond examination. Watergate changed nothing but at least we caught a glimpse of their true nature, which was then, in their desperation, magnified in how far they went in the coverup. And is now utterly epitomized in the Dear Leaders of many nations.
mturmon 6y ago
That agents of President Nixon kidnapped and beat the wife of one of his cronies to silence her seems unbelievable, but it's true. E.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Mitchell#June_1972_kidnapping,_aftermath_and_vindication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Mitchell#June_1972_kidn... This was also covered in season 1 of the Slow Burn podcast, which was excellent.

ashtonkem 6y ago

Nixon personally blamed Martha Mitchell for the scandal and impeachment.

lpah4all 6y ago
The same guy who told Frost, "Well, if the President did it, it's not illegal." Clearly, his grip on reality was a long time gone in service to his power-seeking for his constituency. Even a president can be a data point in Dunning & Kruger's "too stupid to know how stupid they are" category. Now, we have a mobbed-up slumlord 1000x more stupid and infinitely more amoral. He is a true credit to the GOP's fundamental guiding principles.
- ashtonkem 6y ago
  It’s interesting to think what Nixon could’ve been if he wasn’t so paranoid and vindictive. Arguably the shenanigans in Watergate weren’t even necessary to secure a victory.
  - lpah4all 6y ago
    Yeah, it kinda seems that he was only a personality defect or two away from being a truly great President, with all his foreign policy successes. But, really, the GOP was already fully evil by then; they just got caught doing what they do to the other politicians, instead of to our own poor, especially minorities. And, sure, his victory was likely beyond doubt, but people so hell-bent on power are way beyond being able to not seize every advantage they can gain, no matter how risky. Amoral and ravenous, their momentum and self-belief are beyond examination. Watergate changed nothing but at least we caught a glimpse of their true nature, which was then, in their desperation, magnified in how far they went in the coverup. And is now utterly epitomized in the Dear Leaders of many nations.

mturmon 6y ago

That agents of President Nixon kidnapped and beat the wife of one of his cronies to silence her seems unbelievable, but it's true. E.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Mitchell#June_1972_kidnapping,_aftermath_and_vindication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Mitchell#June_1972_kidn... This was also covered in season 1 of the Slow Burn podcast, which was excellent.