Today In History, June 17th, 1972-- Anniversary Of The Watergate Hotel Break-In

Today in History, June 17, 1972

(Photo, Roger Stone's Nixon Tattoo)

(Updated with new Introduction, June 17, 2022)

Fifty Years Ago Today In History, June 17, 1972, Anniversary Of Watergate Hotel Break-In-- (unedited) 

This short article below was written two years ago today. Given that we find ourselves in the middle of House Committee hearings into crimes by a President and his inner circle which make Watergate seem like jaywalking, I thought this piece would be worth reposting. 

Nixon was ultimately advised to resign by leaders of his own Party, who informed him that they could not, would not defend him from an Impeachment. This is one aspect of Watergate which many people either don't remember or never knew. 

As rotten as the GOP was even then in embracing the anti-FDR economic programs of the "Chicago School", and the racist "Southern Strategy" for winning elections, there was still a concept operating that the national interest overrode divisive partisanship. 

Maybe this unity was Cold War driven. Maybe we were closer in time to our experience in fighting fascist dictatorships which left fresh wounds on the psyches of people here and abroad. Also, it might be that our political leaders were held to a higher standard because the voters back then were themselves morally disgusted with the demeaning of the US Presidency by Nixon. 

There is virtually nothing that exists within today's GOP that could produce a leadership which could possibly have persuaded Trump to resign rather than drag the nation through two Impeachments. That says something. It speaks to the thoroughly sick outlook of the Republican Party base, which enables, resonates, and mirrors the narcissistic and racist evil of Donald Trump himself. That is the main difference between 50 years ago and today. 

Nixon was possessed by a kind of deranged evil, but his party and it's members, his supporters, were not then what they have devolved into today. That is how it is possible that a group of three of Nixon's dirty tricksters, Roy Cohn, Roger Stone, and Paul Manafort could do the damage they have in recent years. Stone helped install the Bush 43 regime by stealing the 2000 Florida vote from Gore. And this unholy trio helped create the monster who now threatens the very existence of our Democracy, Donald Trump. 

In that sense, in the words of The Bard, "past is prologue." Monsters such as Trump are not possible in a healthy society which has a built up political immune system to protect us from dictatorship and lies. Had not Americans still had their  resistance higher in 1972, Nixon might have done what Trump has, which is to refuse to relinquish power to save himself. But he couldn't because even his own party's leadership was better, despite itself. 

To me, looking at history is not about analyzing events, remembering dates, or commemorating personalities alone. It has to involve looking in the mirror personally, to see what we were, and what we are becoming, and knowing whether we have made progress or regressed over time. That is why I bother writing about it, and what I hope that enough folks draw from it.

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June 17, 1972--  Five people working covertly for the Committee to Re-Elect the President (Aptly known as CREEP) were arrested after being caught breaking into The office of Larry O'Brien, Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) at the Watergate Hotel in Washington DC. 

This team included former CIA operative E. Howard Hunt, G. Gordon Liddy, and former CIA assets and Cuban exiles who were involved in running Bay of Pigs.

As most people know, the coverup by Nixon and his White House team was exposed by the Washington Post's Woodward and Bernstein, along with the New York Times. What surfaced was a track record by Nixon of similar illegalities including the break in of Daniel Ellsburg's Psychiatrists office, looking for dirt to discredit him in retaliation for leaking the "Pentagon Papers". These documents exposed the failure and lies of the Military Command regarding their conduct of the Vietnam War. Nixon also used Federal Agencies such as the IRS and DOJ to target people on his "Enemies List", which included Celebrities, Journalists, and elected officials.

The Watergate break in was for the purpose of stealing the Democrats "Playbook" for the upcoming debates between Nixon and McGovern. Nixon was paranoid and scarred by his thrashing by JFK in 1960 in their TV debates back then, and was willing to break the Law to not have a repeat.

Nixon stupidly recorded his White House conversations and never destroyed the tapes. The existence of the tapes came out in Committee Testimony. Nixon's Secretary Rosemary Woods "accidentally" wiped out 18 minutes while supposedly transcribing the tapes for the Committee. When asked how this happened, she tried to assume the posture not even possible for a professional contortionist.

Nixon faced Impeachment when the cover up broke publicly, and GOP leaders Howard Baker, Barry Goldwater, and George Bush persuaded Nixon to resign because they could not successfully defend him. Shortly before the resignation, Nixon got drunk, and was crawling along the floor while screaming and crying at the Portraits of the former Presidents. Henry Kissinger called the Pentagon and had the access to the US Nuclear codes transferred to the VP Gerald Ford. Shortly thereafter, Ford pardoned Nixon as part of a deal to avoid prosecution.

What is interesting today is Donald Trump's undying affection and admiration for Nixon. Nixon buried the DOJ investigation of Trump and his Father Fred for racist Housing discrimination in the early 70's. Nixon was a close friend and favorite of Trump's mentor, Mob Lawyer Roy Cohn, who was also mentor to Trump cronies and co-conspirators, Paul Manafort and Roger Stone, both of whom worked for Nixon.

Trump recently in a Fox interview again expressed his admiration for Nixon and said he learned a great deal from him. When asked what he learned, Trump said "he should have never taped his conversations, or he should have burned the tapes". So, add that to the long list of shameless musings of a Criminal Mind.

Roger Stone, to this day, has a large Tattoo in the middle of his back of Nixon's face. His whole career as a dirty trickster and fixer, like Manafort, was nurtured by the evil Roy Cohn. Stone was the architect of the plan to use Hillary Clinton's hacked emails courtesy of Russian Intelligence against her to divide the Democratic Party. Stone's Rule #1 in Politics was "the purpose of Politics is to DIVIDE, and end up with 51% at the end". That was a lesson learned from Cohn, and passed on to Trump.

Notable also, in terms of long memories and never letting an opportunity for revenge go by, one of the leading staffers for the Senate Watergate Committee investigating Nixon was a young Lawyer named Hillary Rodham, just then beginning to cut her teeth in Politics.

So, we celebrate 48 years ago today the beginning of the downfall of an aspiring Dictator, criminal and dishonest liar, and hope we are on the cusp of witnessing the downfall of another.