2016 Postmortem

DonViejo

(60,536 posts) Sat Oct 19, 2013, 06:19 PM Oct 2013

Birth of conservative delusion: Roger Ailes takes his revenge

Birth of conservative delusion: Roger Ailes takes his revenge

The long road to Ted Cruz, Fox News, the Tea Party and right-wing insanity has its roots in the events of 1973

BY MICHAEL GOLDFARB

If you take the long view of Washington’s ungovernability — and when you’re as old as I am and live on the other side of the Atlantic as I do, the long view is all you’ve got — you have a particular insight as to how we got here.

Much of the problem can be traced back to events that took place exactly 40 years ago (Oct. 20, 1973): the Saturday Night Massacre, a major turning point of the Watergate scandal.

The next day, banner headlines across the entire front page of The New York Times read:

NIXON DISCHARGES COX FOR DEFIANCE;

ABOLISHES WATERGATE TASK FORCE

RICHARDSON AND RUCKLESHAUS OUT

It took a helluva lot to get that kind of coverage that autumn.

While Americans went about their weekend business, while the October war in the Middle East rumbled along, a mere 10 days after his vice president, Spiro Agnew, resigned over charges of tax evasion, President Richard M. Nixon raised the stakes in his fight to keep the truth about his involvement in the scandal and its subsequent cover-up secret.

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http://www.salon.com/2013/10/19/birth_of_conservative_delusion_roger_ailes_takes_his_revenge/

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Birth of conservative delusion: Roger Ailes takes his revenge (Original Post) DonViejo Oct 2013 OP

Great article! I knew many of the GOP operatives in charge now csziggy Oct 2013 #1

Nixon is the source of much of the poisonous political atmosphere Zorro Oct 2013 #2

"...while having a crook like Agnew...slanderously attack his political opponents." DonViejo Oct 2013 #3

csziggy

(34,136 posts)

1. Great article! I knew many of the GOP operatives in charge now

Reply to DonViejo (Original post)

Sat Oct 19, 2013, 09:41 PM

Oct 2013

Got their start in the Nixon White House. By "in charge" I mean the powers that be in various parts of government, business, and media.

That is why since 1968 and particularly since 1972 I have not been willing to give the Republicans a break. They as a political party conspired to subvert the legal framework of powers of our government. Once Nixon resigned they continued to do that, but setting up institutions to undercut our government and Constitution even more.

In their hearts they do not believe in the American system and are willing to do literally anything to get power and keep it.

Democrats have to stop them, but the weakness of our position is that we cannot be as unprincipled as the Republicans are.

Zorro

(15,740 posts)

2. Nixon is the source of much of the poisonous political atmosphere

Reply to DonViejo (Original post)

Sat Oct 19, 2013, 10:57 PM

Oct 2013

that has infected our public discourse over the past 40 years. A lot of assholes (Cheney, Rumsfeld, Buchanan, and Ailes etc.) learned their chops during his administration.

I clearly recall when he labeled college protesters "bums", while having a crook like Agnew (who got busted taking developer payoff money in his VP office) slanderously attack his political opponents.

DonViejo

(60,536 posts)

3. "...while having a crook like Agnew...slanderously attack his political opponents."

Reply to Zorro (Reply #2)

Sun Oct 20, 2013, 09:42 AM

Oct 2013

Ahh yes, Agnew's "nattering nabobs of negativism." I well remember Agnew's attacks. Nixon and his "southern strategy" have destroyed politics and inter-state relations in this country.

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