Can you imagine what Watergate would have been like with Social Media?

[brooklynite]

People would have been ranting for over a year about how DOJ was intentionally not prosecuting anyone and Nixon was going to "get away with it".

Watergate break-in: 6/17/72

Grand Jury Indictments: 3/1/74

[AZProgressive]

1. It probably wouldn't have been as big of a story

Trump had so many scandals that we just moved on from plus people trusted the MSM back then including my conservative pro union grandparents.

[PoliticAverse]

2. We are in a full instant gratification world now. n/t

[Sneederbunk]

3. Bragg helps curing that.

[PoliticAverse]

4. Just don't Bragg! n/t

[MineralMan]

5. Indeed.

[Emile]

6. Comparing Nixon's one crime to Trump's numerous crimes. Seriously?

[brooklynite]

7. So if ONE charge requires 18 months to prepare then MULTIPLE charges......

[Emile]

8. Can't do them all at once anyways, just start with one is all were asking!

[brooklynite]

9. I'm not...

I'm relying on the prosecutorial experience of DOJ to decide when the best time is to bring one or more charges to a Grand Jury, without consideration for what the blogosphere demands.

[Effete Snob]

19. Now do ABSCAM

That was a complex conspiracy case that also attracted significant media attention.

Can you remind us of the crime-to-indictment timeline in that case, and all of the defendants?

That would be peachy.

[Effete Snob]

13. As if Watergate was the only relevant prosecution ever

Now do Abscam.

This is really great. No Congressperson can be convicted of a crime in less time than it takes to serve their term. Is that what you believe?

[Emile]

16. I believe Trump should not be making imaginary hole in ones, but serving time waiting

for the first Republican president that will pardon him. Time is wasting!

[Effete Snob]

11. Comparing typewriters and carbon paper to what can be done with computers

Brooklynite believes that advances in office and information technology have been worthless.

[Effete Snob]

10. Can you imagine what Watergate would have been like with personal computers

Why, yes, Brooklynite, you are correct.

With modern technology, the Watergate investigations could have proceeded much more rapidly and efficiently.

Or is your point that personal computers and the prevalence of electronic data has not resulted in any gain in efficiency?

Is that why everyone is still using IBM Selectric typewriters and wet copiers?

Because information technology, in your opinion, has not increased speed or efficiency one bit since the 1970's.

Can you imagine how much money we could all save by ditching this junk that doesn't let us gain any speed or efficiency?

[BlackSkimmer]

12. ...

Excellent point.

[beaglelover]

14. IMO, Social Media has been the runination of polite discourse in the world.

[Caliman73]

15. I have said in the past, Nixon would likely not have had to resign...

if the media landscape back then were like today's. In fact, there are some people who posit that the media landscape of today is a direct response to what happened with Nixon. While he was not impeached or convicted of any crimes thanks to Ford's blanket pardon, he was forced to resign and is considered a "disgraced" politician because his story was at least to a large extent, accurately portrayed by the media at the time.

With today's hyper partisan (mainly from the Right) media, it might have been a different story and portrayed as a partisan political attack.

Roger Ailes and Pat Buchanan were part of Nixon's press management apparatus. They had discussed, with Nixon, creating something akin to GOPtv. Likely what became FOX News in the 1990's.

I know that the point of your post is to state that people are too impatient about Garland's DOJ not getting quick results, but I thought it important to also point out the aspect that hyper partisan media plays on how we interpret information.

[Effete Snob]

17. Now do ABSCAM

Let's start with Senator Pete Williams. If time allows, I will do others. Senator Williams involvement in the conspiracy began in January 1979:



He was indicted in November 1980, and was the last of the bunch. Time magazine put it this way:

http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,949028,00.html

How does your bullshit framing explain that?

[Torchlight]

18. Comparing conjecture with an absolute seems imaginative

But my own reading of those same tea-leaves leads me to guess Nixon's support would have been galvanized on and by social media, that his base would be instructed to cry witch-hunt, in turn leading many in leadership who come from battle-ground states to side with the loudest voices.

Like today.