40 Years Ago Today, Tricky Dick Ran Away from Justice.

[riqster]

And America hasn’t been the same since. We have become cynical, our government and media have been largely taken over by Republicans who are still pissed off that their party’s crimes were uncovered. Really, though, they should be grateful that the GOP as a whole pretty much got away with it.

Shortly thereafter, Ford pardoned Nixon so the crooked bastard wouldn’t have to account for his many crimes, while the Repubs planned a takeover of the public and private sectors so as to ensure that they would never again be held to account for their illegal, immoral, unethical or anti-constitutional actions. With a few exceptions, that takeover has been a great success.

Today, politicos routinely resign rather than face charges, because Nixon set a precedent; and they are rarely prosecuted, because Ford set another precedent. Political crime and corruption have been legitimized to the extent that an illegitimate “President” (Bush II) could steal the Executive Branch, loot the Treasury, allow thousands of us to be killed, lie us into war, kill thousands more innocent people in other countries…and face not one single consequence for such horrific crimes.

More than one commentator has bemoaned the decline in respect for the rule of law, the lack of trust in government, the rise of hyper-partisanship, and the general corruption and cynicism that plagues our society today. And justly so. But rarely do they trace these naitonal afflictions back to their root cause.

In my humble opinion, the reason our country has turned to shit can be traced back to 1974, when President Nixon shredded the constitution, committed and encouraged manifold crimes, lied to America…and was then allowed to walk away scot-free.

Crimes need to have consequences. Criminals need to be punished. Otherewise, a society will become a lawless, corrupt cesspool of neo-anarchistic social Darwinism. And that is what has happened in the past four decades.

Fuck you, Tricky. And fuck all those who allowed you to run away from justice.

[Gman]

1. We sat in front of the TV the night before and smoked a fat joint

Fast forward almost 40 years. Cheney worked in Nixon's WH. He always had a grudge about the way he felt Nixon was treated. Much of the way he conducted himself and which strings he pulled on Bush II as VP had to do with what he thought the presidency should be.

Clinton's impeachment was more about revenge for Nixon too.

[riqster]

2. Just so. The Powell Memo, which came from Repub anger at being caught, has changed our nation.

Not for the better.

[yeoman6987]

3. I just can't believe the voters

They gave him a huge win his second term. I was 3 years old when he resigned. Between Nixon and Reagan, the voters made huge errors and it was a super majority of voters at the time.

[riqster]

4. I was sixteen, and yeah, voters can be stupid.

It's why we need to get out and educate, motivate and GOTV.

[yeoman6987]

5. Very true!

2014 will be interesting. However, I am glad that 2016 looks to be our incredible year. If we can stop the Republicans to just 3 seats, in 2016, it is seriously possible to have the Veto majority.

[riqster]

6. Yep. 2014 is important too.

[Gman]

7. McGovern wasn't a good candidate

The far left took control of the party and Democrats stayed out of the WH for 24 years total.

[riqster]

9. Dunno about that. I know that is the prevailing wisdom.

But he didn't seem all that loony-leftie to me.

[Gman]

13. To the Depression World War II generation he was

And they voted a lot more than people our age did at the time. By today's standards he was pretty moderate. As a sidenote, he grew very conservative and pro-business in his later years.

[Cosmocat]

10. True story

I was in kindergarten, and we were riding the bus to school talking about the election.

Pretty every other kid liked the guy and I was mystified cause I knew he was scumbag.

True story.

In third grade, a couple of my classmates were drafting me to run for class president. We had to pick democrat or republican and I picked democrat. They came to me and said they wanted me to be president, but that I had run republican. I stayed democrat. Ended up a really popular class secretary ...

[Orsino]

8. Justice wasn't really chasing him.

He might have been impeached and convicted, but without a criminal conviction, he would have been protesting his innocence just as loudly, and his supporters would have long since erased details of his impeachment from the public's memory.

No, presidents never face justice.

[Cosmocat]

11. Not for nothing, but the guy was CLEARLY a scumbag

before Watergate came to light.

he was pretty much unelectable for a period before he kept sticking to it.

I don't think it was a mystery he was scumbag, heck I was in Kindergarten and knew it.

I do agree that we keep seeing an degradation of the process, but I think it was there to the point that people found a way to get him into the white house in the first place.

[riqster]

12. Oh yeah, it's not like a binary thing.

But I do think it accelerated after that.