#worse than watergate

[cynicalclassicist]

Trump is worse than Nixon, and Nixon was already an utter bastard. Certainly worse than Watergate... and that was his first led to an impeachment event!

[lothcatthree]

tag your otp

[maeamian]

Saw a post claiming that the Biden memes on here are why Joe Biden is generally not getting as much criticism as he probably should for the bad parts of his agenda, and some offense, but it really seems to me like that doesn't pass the sniff test at all and maybe if you believe this you need to go log off and get some outside air.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Maybe you’ve been asking yourself:

1. “How could Donald Trump have won 51 percent of the popular vote?”

2. “How hard is it to immigrate to New Zealand?”

3. “What the actual fuck?”

Fair questions. Let’s try a thought experiment. Could Tuesday’s election results have been any worse?

Well, what if, instead of 51 percent, the Republican nominee had won 59 percent? Or 61 percent? And what if he had won 49 states?

Those aren’t hypotheticals. Those were the results of the 1972 and 1984 landslides that reelected Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

With thumping victories like those, what could possibly go wrong for the winners?

If history’s any guide, some nasty surprises await Donald Trump.

In 1972, the Democratic presidential nominee, George McGovern, won just 37.5 percent of the vote, carrying only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia for a total of 17 Electoral College votes. He didn’t even win his home state, South Dakota.

In 1984, Democrat Walter Mondale did carry his native Minnesota, but that was as good as it got for him. In the Electoral College, he fared even worse than McGovern, with a whopping 13 votes.

In the aftermath of these thrashings, the Democratic Party lay in smoldering ruins, and Republicans looked like indestructible conquerors.

Now, some might argue that those GOP victories, though statistically more resounding than Trump’s, weren’t nearly as alarming, because he’s a criminal and wannabe autocrat.

But Trump’s heinousness shouldn’t make us nostalgic for Nixon and Reagan. They were also criminals—albeit unindicted ones. And they were up to all manner of autocratic shit—until they got caught.

The Watergate scandal was only one small part of the sprawling criminal enterprise that Nixon directed from the Oval Office in order to subvert democracy. For his part, Reagan’s contribution to the annals of presidential crime, Iran-Contra, broke myriad laws and violated Constitutional norms.

The hubris engendered by both men’s landslides propelled them to reckless behavior in their second terms—behavior that came back to haunt them. Nixon was forced to resign the presidency; Reagan was lucky to escape impeachment.After the Watergate scandal forced Richard Nixon from office, this bumper sticker helped Massachusetts voters brag that they handed him his only Electoral College loss in 1972.

Of course, Trump would be justified in believing that no matter how reckless he becomes, he’ll never pay a price. He’s already been impeached—twice—only to be acquitted by his Republican toadies in the Senate. And now that the right-wing supermajority of the Supreme Court has adorned him with an immunity idol, he’ll likely feel free to commit crimes that Nixon and Reagan could only dream of. Who’ll stop him from using his vast power to persecute his voluminous list of enemies?

Well, the enemy most likely to thwart Trump in his second term might be one who isn’t on his list: himself. The seeds of Trump’s downfall may reside in two promises he made to win this election: the mass deportation of immigrants and the elimination of inflation.

Trump’s concept of a plan to deport 20 million immigrants is as destined for success as were two of his other brainchildren, Trump University and Trump Steaks. The US doesn’t have anything approaching the law-enforcement capacity to realize this xenophobic fever dream.

And as for Trump’s war on inflation, the skyrocketing prices caused by his proposed tariffs will make Americans nostalgic for pandemic-era price-gouging on Charmin.

It's possible that Trump’s 24/7 disinformation machine, led by Batman villains Rupert Murdoch, Tucker Carlson, and Elon Musk, will prevent his MAGA followers from ever discovering that 20 million immigrants didn’t go anywhere. And it’s possible that if inflation spikes, he’ll find a scapegoat for that. (Nancy Pelosi? Dr. Fauci? Taylor Swift?)

And, yes, it’s possible that Trump will somehow accomplish his goal of becoming America’s Kim Jong Un, and our democracy will go belly-up like the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City.

But I wouldn’t bet on it. I tend to agree with the British politician Enoch Powell (1912-1998), who observed that all political careers end in failure. I doubt that Trump, with his signature blend of inattention, impulsiveness, and incompetence, will avoid that fate.

And when the ketchup hits the fan, the MAGA movement may suddenly appear far more fragmented and fractious than it does this week. You can already see the cracks. Two towering ignoramuses like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert should be BFFs, but they despise each other—the only policy of theirs I agree with.

If things really go south, expect MAGA Republicans to devour each other as hungrily as the worm who feasted on RFK Jr.’s brain—and that, my friends, will be worth binge-watching. I’m stocking up on popcorn now before Trumpflation makes it unaffordable.

One parting thought. Post-election, the mainstream media’s hyperbolic reassessment of Trump—apparently, he’s now a political genius in a league with Talleyrand and Metternich—has been nauseating. It’s also insanely short-sighted. Again, a look at the not-so-distant past is instructive.

In 1984, after Reagan romped to victory with 59 percent of the popular vote and 525 electoral votes, Reaganism was universally declared an unstoppable juggernaut. But only two years later, in the 1986 midterms, Democrats proved the pundits wrong: they regained control of both the House and Senate for the first time since 1980. Those majorities enabled them to slam the brakes on Ronnie’s right-wing agenda, block the Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork, and investigate Iran-Contra.

The lesson of the 1986 midterms is clear: the game’s far from over and there’s everything to play for. If we want to stem the tide of autocracy and kleptocracy, restore women’s rights and protect the most vulnerable, we don’t have the luxury of despair. The work starts now.

Andy Borowitz

[findafight]

Tw for hospitals and use of of pain medication, infection, and canonical injuries, brief mention of the AIDS crisis. Ohhhh steddie dating pre S4 au where Robin has now been subjected at work to Steve both striking out spectacularly and flirting like he knows he's getting laid that night. She isn't sure which is worse. (The striking out is worse. She is glad her friend is happy. She's just painfully single and pining away)

The same stuff happens in s4 minus Robin and Eddie pushing Steve and Nancy together romantically (Dustin is trying to push Steve to both Robin or Nancy he's like dude these are girls you like why are you not making a move on them! I want you to be happy!!! And Steve rips his eyes away from Eddie's lips like huh?) But they're still like hey Nancy! It would be nice! If we could be friends maybe! And it's still awkward.

Robin is out here sweating and glaring at Steve and eddie trying to beam thoughts into Eddie's brain in the Upside Down like Eddie please cool it I know it's a stressful situation but stop staring at Steve's tits for five minutes pl-oh giving him your vest??? You think that's going to help? Ok buddy. I'm just going to. Distract Nancy up ahead a little bit while you and Steve chat aaaaand neither of you are listening. Fine.

And it's still a mess. Max and Eddie and Steve end up in the hospital. The ground split open but sealed itself once Steve cut Henry's head off. Everything is over.

Eddie gets discharged first, despite having more bites than Steve, because his didn't have two days to get infected with Upside Down nastiness. So he ends up camped out with Robin at Steve's bedside as he fights the infection with antibiotics (the doctors hope will work), pain meds, and a slight fever.

Which is to say, completely out of it and high as a kite.

So when Dustin visits and Steve is awake, he gets to see a big, goofy grin spread across his best friend's/adoptive older brother's face as he reaches out and says "dusssstyyyy! Cmere. Lemme. Boop you." And yeah, okay, it makes him feel a bit like a baby but Steve is out of it and apparently drugged Steve likes to Boop his younger friends noses. Dustin can accept that. He sighs and leans forward and allows his nose to be booped.

Steve giggles and smiles and pats his head. "Good to see you, man"

Dustin smiles, a bit watery because it's hard to see Steve in the hospital again, and because it was fucking terrifying to watch him nearly drop to the ground after making sure Eddie got treatment, only being caught by Robin. Dustin almost lost three people he loves, and he is so fucking glad they're all alive, if not well.

"yeah, Steve. Good to see you, too. They say when you're allowed to blow this pop stand?"

Steve frons. "No. Still got Upside Down goobies in my guts, 'parently."

Robin sighs. "They said a few more days. Make sure the infection is clear and there's no suspicious side effects."

"yeah. That's what I said, Robin."

Dustin grins, then settles down beside Robin, across from Eddie. He hasn't said anything since Dustin walked in, but was playing with the sleeve of Steve's hospital gown and tracing patterns on his arm. He looks up at Dustin, and offers a small smile.

It's a bit weird, how close he's stuck by Steve this whole time, but Dustin guesses they probably bonded when they got sucked through the watergate, and that Steve saving his life really endeared him to Eddie. He hopes they can be actual, real friends once things settle. Given how much Eddie is at Steve's bedside, he thinks they're well on their way to it.

They all chat for a while, Steve sometimes getting off topic and dreamy, but looking happy even when he isn't quite following what they're all saying. Dustin is pretty sure Steve doesn't have his hearing aids in on top of the drugs, so he isn't really surprised.

His mom eventually bustles into the room, and fusses over Steve. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry. Let me know if we can do anything, I mean anything, to help, okay? I'm sorry I cant visit for longer today, but what with everything happening like this, I -"

"isss okay, Mrs. H...Ma." Steve corrects himself immediately, smiling. Dustin's insides always get a bit squiggly when Steve calls his Ma, Ma. Like they're actual brothers, and she's their mom, and no one could ever argue they're not family for real. What makes it better that it was Ma who insisted Steve call her that since January of '85, as though she knew just how much both Dustin and Steve needed each other like that.

"I'll be by tomorrow, okay, dear? Robin, you and Eddie are alright for tonight? I'll stay tomorrow but today I re-"

"it's fine! Seriously, Mrs. H. Don't worry about us. My parents will force me home tomorrow anyways, but tonight we're good." Robin grips at Steve's ankle, grounding herself. Dustin doesn't think there's been a day when she hasn't been in Steve's room. Doubts if the places were reversed Steve wouldn't have to be dragged out to shower and change clothes. They're so weird, but Dustin is glad Steve has someone older that loves him like Robin does. It makes it easier to not be able to spend all day with him like he wants to.

"okay. Alright." She leans forward and kisses Steve's forehead a few times, brushes some stray hairs out of his face, just like she does when Dustin is sick in bed. "You take care Steve, sweetheart, and make sure you let Robin and Eddie take care of you too." She turns to Dustin. "I'll give you a few minutes to say goodbye and then meet me down at the car, okay?"

Dustin nods, and his mom is out the door. He sighs. "Well. I guess I'd better head out." He gives Steve a hug, a bit awkward from Steve lying down, but it's fine, Steve wraps his arms around Dustin and tries to give him his normal double squeeze, but it's more of a press with his hands than anything. Dustin'll take it. "I'm glad you're getting better Steve. Glad we're all safe."

Steve's smile is soft, gooey in a way that he usually tries to hide. "Glad you're safe, too, man. Love you." Something in his smile sharpens, then. "Unlike some people in this room you actually...listened? When I told you not to be a hero. And didn't nearly almost die."

Eddie groans, dramatic. It seems like a game they're playing with each other more than anything, but it's a game Dustin doesn't know the parameters of, and it's jarring. "C'mon, Steve. I said I was sorry! I wasn't going to let Dustin get hurt."

Steve glares at Eddie, which would be more intimidating if he wasn't scrutching up his nose or propped up by pillows freshly fluffed by one Claudia Henderson. "Which is the reason why you're allowed in here even though you almost died. Dustin is safe, and that's good. But I'd've been so fuckin pissed if you died."

Robin snorts, pats Steve's hand. "Oh, buddy. You'd have been inconsolable."

"yeah. Exactly. it would have fucking sucked, Eddie. So. I'm still mad at you, even though I love you. Probably because I love you."

Which is. Not what Dustin was expecting. Sure, Steve was pretty open about his love. Especially after Starcourt, when he finally seemed to settle into something Dustin thinks of as comfortable with who he is. (Which is, actually, a big softie with a bit of a bitchy mouth) He's told Dustin he loves him before, and he's pretty sure he's told Max too. Steve says he loves Robin all the time, just not romantically even if Dustin doesn't think that's entirely true, but.

This feels different.

It is different, given the way Eddie squeaks a bit and sways towards Steve. "Steve..." He breathes, his eyes big and wet and wide. He swallows. "Steve. Dustin doesn't. He's still here, i--"

Steve's brow furrows. "Yeah? So? Did you not want...oh." something in the blankness that drops over Steve is scary, especially in comparison to how Steve's been open and lax the entire time Dustin's been in the room.

Steve turns his head slightly towards Eddie, ten slightly away, like he doesn't know if he wants to look at him or not. Dustin shuffles his feet, not quite sure what's going on, feeling awkward and wrongfooted. Robin stands, puts her hand on Dustin's shoulder, tries to turn him away and out the door, but Dustin isn't leaving when Steve's face is all stiff and blank like it is.

"steve--" Eddie sounds wrung out, wrecked. What the hell is going on?

Steve sniffs ever so slightly, interrupting Eddie. "You don't have to say it. You don't even have to-uh. To feel it, right now. That's okay. I've done that before. I can wait." Dustin sees a muscle twitch in his jaw. "But if you- if you don't think you can, I need to know now, actually. Because now Dustin knows but he's my brother so that's good and fine but if you don't want to--if you don't think this is gonna, like, be a long-term, tell people important to us kind of thing; if you're realizing that it's been long enough that you should feel that--that way about me but you don't, then I need to know because I don't want you lying about how you feel. I can't do that again. When you say it back I want to be sure you mean-"

"I love you too, Steve! Jesus fuck." Eddie blurts, apparently having had enough of. Well. Everything Steve was saying.

It's dawning on Dustin that maybe when Steve and Eddie said they knew each other they didn't just mean from highschool. That they. Well. Obviously they love each other. Which is....something to consider later because Steve looks like he's about to cry. Because Woah, Dustin has misread a lot between the two of them if they're...like this.

"yeah? You're sure?" He says, wobbly now he isn't rambling.

Eddie's squished himself more into Steve's space. "yes, yeah, of course Steve. Fuck. You met Wayne! I want you in my life, for a long, long time. I don't- I didn't do anything to make you think I didn't, did I?" His voice is a little rough, and little pleading.

Steve shakes his head, grips Eddie's hand in his m, even as Eddie uses it to support himself over top Steve. "No. I just. I know it freaks people out, is all, and I don't want you to freak out, or leave, or think you had to because we've been dating for a few months and I want to say it. It just came out because it's true."

Eddie laughs, leans in reeealy close to Steve. "Honey. It came out because you're high and morphene."

Steve grumbles a bit, but he's smiling too, and knocks their foreheads together. "Yeah. And also because it's true. I love you."

Eddie's eyelids flutter, Dustin can see, as he grins. "And I love you." He says, before closing the distance and kissing Steve squarely on the mouth.

Robin clears her throat. "As...heartwarming and sappy you two are. Dustin has to leave, and probably...has some questions? That he's not going to be a dick about?" She says this as she grips his shoulder tightly, in a way that is definitely a threat.

Dustin nods furiously. Eddie sighs but pushes away from Steve, not before pecking him again, drawing that dopey smile back into Steve's face. "Yeah." He says. "I'll walk you out Henderson."

Dustin waves goodbye to Steve, who seems cheery once again, wiggling his fingers are Dustin and Eddie, before walking out the door behind Eddie.

"so. How long have...has that been a thing?" He asks, as soon as they clear the doorframe.

Eddie huffs, but seems good natured about it. "Few months. December."

"okay." Says Dustin. "Uh. I didn't. I didn't know you...or Steve, I guess...I didn't know you guys were-" he lowers his voice, despite the hallway being surprisingly empty. "Gay."

There's something steely in Eddie's eye when he answers. "We're not. Well-we are, but we both also like women."

Something doesn't sit right about that with Dustin. "But! You just said-"

Eddie holds his hands up, and Dustin shuts his mouth on instinct. "You can like both while just dating one person, Dustin. Just because you like women doesn't mean you're going around with girls who aren't Suzie, right?" He nods. He adores Suzie, can't really imagine looking at any other girl like that because she's just. Amazing. She's his girlfriend and they love each other, and just because girls are pretty great doesn't mean Dustin wants anything other than friendship wi--oh. He sees where Eddie is going.

"right. Yeah. Sorry."

Eddie shrugs. "Steve kinda dropped a bomb in both of us, today"

""isn't it weird though?"

"well...girls and guys are different"

"they are indeed."

"so, if you like girls, why do you like...boys...too?"

"why do you like girls and not boys, Dustin?"

Which is hard to answer because, well. Dustin's never really thought about why he likes girls. He just does. And maybe that's what Eddie means. There's no reason, really. People just...like what they like.

Or there are reasons, because girls are pretty and often smell nice and Suzie looks like a mad scientist when her ponytail gets a little loose after hours of working on a project, her eyes glinting behind her glasses as she giggles and bites her lip, just a little. But that's mostly Suzie. So. He can't really put a finger on why he's only ever had crushes on girls, or why before last summer they've never been as much or as consuming as his love for Suzie. Never been anything like the long days spent together at camp building and creating and blasting ideas off each other, before one day Suzie took his hand and they ended up sneaking away to look at the stars, trying to outdo each other's knowledge about them and slowly being pulled into the other's orbit like binary stars. He's never really wanted to kiss anyone like he wants to kiss Suzie, not even when he had a brief and fleeting crush on Max.

"oh." Is what he says, and feels pretty lame for it.

Eddie shrugs. "You can't really choose who you like." He says before breathing in. "But you do choose who you love, and how you love them."

And. Well. Dustin thinks of his Ma sweeping Steve up into family dinners every other week, and how the party absorbed Max into it as easy as anything, and holding Suzie's hand as they looked up at the stars in dew covered grass feeling like the world starts and ends there, and of Steve and Robin cackling together and having seemingly no personal space or boundaries between them. And of Steve and Eddie, saying I love you for the first time in a hospital room after saving the world.

"That's pretty good." Dustin says, and Eddie smirks at him.

"yeah. Steve said it to me, way back on our second date."

Dustin scoffs. Because he should have known; it's so typically Steve to say something like that. "And you were surprised when he said he loves you?"

Eddie's eyes twinkle in the florescent lights of the hospital. "Nah. Just... it's different being pretty sure, and knowing for sure. I also didn't want him saying something in front of you he'd regret."

He nods. "That's fair. I...don't know how I would've taken it if Steve weren't in the hospital, honestly. Like!" He tries to reassure Eddie "I would have gotten over it, for sure! But if had had sat me ore the party down and talked it out I might've been, like, y'know. Super weird about it. Because. I mean. This talk is good, right? I'm think about things and thinking about how I've only ever really wanted to kiss Suzie, even if I thought about maybe abstractly kissing other people. And how we as humans have all these quirks that let us be human, but different, which enable us as a species to thrive." He heaves a breath. "But. Seeing Steve all loopy and saying it, and then being worried you felt pressure about it, I dunno. It makes sense, I guess. I don't know how you two met or got to know each other, but. I guess it makes sense, how you like each other. And talking to you now. It's helped, I think."

Everything is a bit scrambled in Dustin's brain, the love and the confusion and the worry, because it's setting in that in Hawkins, something like this, for Steve and Eddie, is dangerous. Something that could get them hurt or killed, scorned by the town they've helped save.

His mother always grumbles agrily when ads about how the virus going around is God's punishment for sinners, or how it's cleaning up the streets of unwanted people gays and addicts. She huffs, swears. Says that just because bigots don't consider the people getting sick as wanted or valuable, doesn't mean no one does. That no one deserves to get sick for things they cannot control, or for things they can. A smoker is more likely to get lung cancer, but that doesn't mean they deserve it more than someone who's never seen a cigarette.

Their families will mourn them the same.

They reach the main doors, and Dustin sees his mom has pulled into a pick up lane, blinkers on. He turns to Eddie, and burries his face in his neck.

Eddie takes it in stride, parting his back and giving him a bit of a squeeze. It's not as good a hug as Steve gives, but that bar is only really surpassed by his mom, so it's still a good hug.

"please be careful, Eddie."

"ah," says Eddie, and he pulls back slightly. "We are, man. You're close to both of us and didn't suspect. We know what we're doing."

Dustin raised his eyebrows. Now that he has context, a lot of interactions between Steve and Eddie in the wake of getting them out of the Upside Down seem a lot less friendly.

Eddie chuckles. "Seriously. We are. It was just hard during everything, and, well, we both feel safe around you guys. I think Steve's been gearing up to ask me if we can tell all of you sheepies soon."

"yeah?"

"yeah, bud. Don't worry about us."

"Considering you just got released and Steve is still in the hospital, I think a little worrying over you jackasses is justified."

Eddie smirks. "Fine. A normal and reasonable amount of worrying, then. But no more than that. Now, git! Your ma's waiting on you."

Dustin smiles, "yeah, yeah. I'll see you tomorrow."

"yep. You know where to find me."

He waves again as he hopes into the front seat, and buckles his seatbelt before Ma can ask him to. He smiles at her, and feels oddly...grounded. a mystery has been solved, even if Dustin doesn't have all the pieces, he still has the big picture.

"everything alright, Dusty? Nothing wrong with Steve, is there?" She asks, even as she changes out of park.

"yeah, yeah. Just accidentally stumbled over something saying goodbye, and was worried about them. But everything is fine. Robin and Eddie have Steve handled."

They turn out of the hospital parking lot, heading for home. Ma smiles. It's softer, more indulgent than usual. "Yes. They're good for each other, I think. Compliment one another nicely."

Dustin doesn't bother asking which set she's talking about, thinks maybe they both know.

[crazy-pages]

Here's the thing which really enrages me about Joe Biden pardoning his son. Because it's not just about the pardon.

For decades, the inherent and pragmatic value of proper procedure and not giving the Republicans any excuse to cry foul has been the motivating driver behind so many Democratic rejections of progressive demands. Everything from removing the filibuster so they could actually pass legislation to addressing the Supreme Court. Heck not even addressing the corruption of the Supreme Court through seat packing, Democrats refused to pass a law decreeing an ethics code for them on the premise that the perception of it by Republicans would be that it was partisan. They wouldn't even pass a genuinely neutral ethics code in response to a blatant corruption scandal in one of the three most important government bodies in the country.

Because it would be perceived as partisan.

The Biden Administration refused to even put together a plan for how to help people with Roe v Wade being overturned until after the decision came down, even though the decision was linked and they knew more than a month ahead of time what it was going to be. Because acting on that information could be perceived as disrespecting the process. The process already being blatantly butchered by Supreme Court Justices who had to perjure themselves during their nominations to make it happen.

But we had to respect the process.

The Democrats refused to stall judge appointments at the end of the Trump Administration just like the Republicans did the democrats, because when they go low we go high. Heck there's a whole lot of stuff they could be forcing through the nomination process right now to create every bit of buffer possible in the way of all the shit Trump is going to do, but they're not. Because that wouldn't be respecting the process.

When they go low we go high.

Until Joe Biden's son commits some crimes. Relatively modest crimes which most legal news outlets agree were probably not going to have severe sentences. The maximum potential penalty is very severe, but he's a rich white guy and a nonviolent first offender, the sentencing is happening prior to Trump coming onto office, and the judge doing the sentencing isn't a Trump appointee. Or hell, Biden could have just waited until after the sentencing and pardoned his son if it was something genuinely unfair.

But reasonable consequences would be fair because his son did do the crimes by all accounts. Fox News keeps trying to spin it into a fountain of corruption that is worse than Watergate and it ain't that, but his son did commit modest criminal acts which carry a legal penalty and the process says he must experience the consequences of that.

And yet.

Here the process doesn't matter. When we are going into a historically nepotistic presidency which is almost certainly going to have criminal actions beyond anything in previous US history. That's when Biden sets the president of nepotistic pardoning of family.

Do I believe that Biden doing this would change anything about Republican behavior? Absolutely the fuck not because I'm not an idiot. But for decades Democrats have been asking us to behave like that idiot. To believe that this time, this next time, the Republicans will be law abiding and precedent abiding and cooperative if we just set aside our agenda for another couple years to build good relationships and set a good example.

Until the Democratic president's son needs a pardon.

It's not really about the pardon. It's about the decades prior. It's about growing up literally my entire life, ever since I was old enough to grasp politics, being told over and over and over and over and over and over and over and fucking over again that the process and the appearance of respectability are more important than anything else because everything flows from them.

And you know the one fucking thing I could give the Democrats? They were actually pretty consistent about that. Even when they shot themselves in the foot and the people they swore to protect in the head about it, they were consistent. And that consistency was at least some attenuating factor on the helpless frustration of it all.

So this? Seeing Democratic pundits gear up to defend it?

It is a lifetime of furious rage boiling over.

Because they're right. Breaking a precedent does matter for how people see you.

[halles-comet]

Every news story this week makes me think of that only murders line where Charles is trying to explain Iran-Contra and says “it’s worse than Watergate, just not as interesting”

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Dean Obeidallah at The Dean's Report:

Earlier this week, current Trump top advisor Boris Epshteyn and former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis plead not guilty to the nine felony charges each was charged with in connection with helping Donald Trump attempt to overturn the 2020 election in Arizona. Given all the pleas entered by Trump’s criminal associates over the past year, we should just refer to this event as: “Tuesday.” When I read about these latest criminal developments by Trump’s allies, though, for some reason what popped into my head was Trump’s past comments calling numerous scandals “bigger” and “worse” than Watergate because he believed it helped him politically to say that.  In fact, Trump said that about everything from Hillary’s emails to his false claim that the FBI had engaged in surveillance of one of his then 2016 campaign advisor, George Papadopoulos.

The Watergate scandal was huge and it did send more people to jail than many may recall. As a quick refresher, like Trump’s 2020 illegal scheme, the goal of Watergate was to illegally impact a presidential campaign to help the incumbent Republican President win re-election. The Watergate scandal began on June 17, 1972, when several burglars connected to President Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign were arrested in the office of the Democratic National Committee. They had been caught wiretapping phones and stealing documents.

From there, a sprawling cover up involving President Nixon and top aides was launched ranging from providing hundreds of thousands of dollars in “hush money” to the “Watergate burglars” to a plan to instruct the CIA to impede the FBI’s investigation of the crime. By the time the criminal prosecutions came to an end, more than 40 people were charged with crimes relating to the Watergate scandal--—including high ranking Nixon administration and campaign officials.

Some of the best known include Nixon’s Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman who served 18 months for conspiracy and obstruction of justice, former U.S. Attorney General and reelection campaign manager John Mitchell who was found guilty of conspiracy, perjury, and obstruction of justice and served 19 months in prison, and top domestic policy adviser John Ehrlichman, convicted of conspiracy to obstruct justice and perjury. Others who went to prison included Nixon’s White House Counsel John Dean, legal counsel to the Nixon campaign G. Gordon Liddy, White House aide Jeb Magruder and more. Nixon would’ve been charged with crimes if he had not been pardoned by Gerald Ford—a point former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks has made on my SiriusXM show.

In the case of convicted felon Trump, though, what he and his criminal conspirators did was far, far worse both in terms of the potential impact on our Republic and the sheer number of people involved. Trump attempted to remain in power despite losing the 2020 election. And while Nixon lacked any ethics or morals, only Trump incited a terrorist attack on our Capitol on Jan 6 as part of his scheme to remain in power. Plus—very importantly—the scope of Trump’s scheme involved both the federal government and various GOP state officials as well. Trump corrupted not just his White House associates but in essence the entire GOP across the nation—with few exceptions. Even Nixon didn’t do that!

For example, the most sprawling criminal case involving Trump and “All the President’s Men” is the one in Fulton County, Georgia, where 19 people have been charged with illegally interfering in the state’s 2020 election. The defendants include Trump and prominent Trump allies like Rudy Giuliani, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Trump lawyers John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro and more.  But also charged were numerous local GOP officials such as the former chair of Georgia’s Republican Party, a sitting GOP State Senator and the former head of the Coffee County Republicans. Then there are the fraudulent elector charges brought against Trump allies in five states: Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan. While Trump has not been charged in these cases, all the crimes were committed by Trump’s advisors, lawyers and local GOP officials in an effort to help Trump overturn the election results in their respective states so he could remain in power as President despite losing.

[...] Yes, we are witnessing something actually far “bigger’ and “worse” than Watergate. And it’s the crime spree of convicted felon Trump and his allies. This is the person the GOP chose to be their 2024 presidential nominee knowing full well this very history. Again, this reminds us of how dangerous today’s lawless and anti-democratic GOP is and why we must politically crush them this November in order to save our democratic Republic.

Dean Obeidallah has yet another banger post: The GOP’s fake electors plot to attempt to steal the 2020 elections for Donald Trump in multiple close states was worse than Watergate ever was.

[inkandguns]

I use Watergate (the orchestrated takedown of one of americas most popular presidents and subsequent media cover up) as a benchmark.

When I see a crazy govt corruption story I ask myself, “does this threaten the republic as much or rise to the level of importance that Watergate did?”

Dozens of turns over the last five years I’ve seen stories that are way crazier than Watergate get zero public attention. Try talking to someone about the burisma scandal or the Twitter files. They won’t have any idea what you’re talking about.

Laziness and complacency have ruined America. To maintain a republic people need to engage with the system. Stupid fucks have turned this country into the equivalent of the junked out car that sits on your neighbors lawn.

Americans are mostly stupid, ignorant, fat fucks. They gave up their country for NFL Sunday Ticket, HFCS, and video games. Looking at the voting turnout rates is even worse. Americans are just fucking pieces of shit. We suck ass. Next step is for the govt to cuck us like they do in Canada and the UK.

It was a good experiment while it lasted. It was the 17th amendment that broke the republics back.

[agentredops]

Kingslayer - Lonely is the Muse

Kosmo "Kingslayer" Solovyov (or "Bell") recalls their past, leading them up to the present...

1040 Words

!: Mentions of blood and torture

You gotta fight for your right

To party!

You gotta fight!

Beastie Boys, ‘86. Kingslayer got it for their birthday in ‘87 from Naga. Naga was originally gonna get them the full album but soon saw the single and decided to get that one instead. Kingslayer appreciated either option.

Music was Kingslayer’s lifeline, keeping them in check and grounded, yet allowed some dreaming. It was the one thing that stayed with them, even through the brainwashing. If you asked them, if they never became part of the military, they would probably be a musician. No matter if they were famous or just down at the local bar, they would just sing their heart out, living that life...

Yet, life always has a dark sense of humor…

So instead, they are at the Rook, with the crew, sewing some of the clothes. The ripped, dirty clothes of the crew. It wasn’t a job they hate, they rather do this than fight again. Fighting was something odd to Kingslayer now. They used to be fine with it up until Solovetsky, when their old life died for the third time. After that, fighting was seen as a creature that would swallow them whole and just make them suffer.

Kingslayer would rarely fight when they were with Naga. It was rehabilitation after all… They were trying to free Kingslayer of the brainwashing, not make it worse. So Kingslayer stayed away from fighting, working on the sidelines, away from all the violence.

At least until ‘84…

—

I can’t stand it,

I know you planned it!

I’ma set this straight, this Watergate

“We have Adler.” That was all that Naga told Kingslayer that day, that hot day. Those words made Kingslayer’s blood boil. That rage they have been holding in for years, now returning back.

“And why you come to tell me this?”

“Cause we need you to make him scared. Show him that you are no longer his little dog. Show him that you are the monster.”

And in an hour, Kingslayer arrived at where Adler was held, ready to release all that anger… At Naga’s insistence, they wore a mask to hide their face since Naga didn’t want Adler saying anything to the others. And for a full day, Kingslayer tortured Adler. They did anything they were allowed to do. All as a warning. Kingslayer became the monster that Adler is.

Everyone was surprised at what Kingslayer did that day… Even Naga, but he doesn’t say a word about it. Yet, if you ask Kingslayer about it, all they tell you is, “All that stuff finally got out of me.”

The smell of blood stayed on Kingslayer that whole week. No matter how much they tried to clean themselves, the smell stayed. Kingslayer went into hiding for a couple of weeks after that, trying to hide that monster… Their music saved them… By May, Kingslayer appeared again and continued their rehabilitation once again, wanting to forget that day.

—

But I’m a creep, I’m a weirdo

What the hell am I doin’ here?

I don’t belong here…

By 1990, the CIA were starting to get on Naga’s trail for his connection to Perseus. At this point, Naga was ready to go on the run again and Kingslayer was ready to go. Yet they realized that if Kingslayer went with them and got caught, who knows what they would do to them.

So Naga forced Kingslayer to not follow them and go elsewhere. While Kingslayer didn’t want to do this, they had no choice. Naga gave them their stuff and was taken on a helicopter by one of his men to anywhere.

“Stay safe out there Kosmo!” The last words Naga said to Kingslayer as they left. Kingslayer would soon arrive in Soviet Armenia a couple of days later. Their supposed home country. They were left there, with their items and little money to their name. On a fake identity, they started to find work and try to live their life…

Yet, in a foreign country, they felt lost and confused. Their rough Armenian barely got them through the day and didn’t feel connected to the people around them. Their books didn’t help them enough, leaving them barely able to survive.

The radio, however, brought them back. They had a small radio in their little room, allowing them to listen to the music and the talk shows. And for once, felt they had a place here…

However, by the end of 1990, Kingslayer started to get stuck in the wrong crowd. They realized that they couldn’t stay here for much longer and on Christmas Day, they grabbed their stuff and went on the run. They would leave the country and start going west. They would hitchhike, barely surviving. Kingslayer would travel across Turkey, experiencing the culture, both the good and bad side.

By 1991, Kingslayer arrived in Bulgaria. They arrived in small towns and villages that couldn’t speak any of the languages there. So they decided to travel up north, hoping to find a new start. They would find one in the city of Burgas. They would work in a little shop for an old lady, fixing up clothing and other clothing. It worked for a while until they met Luke.

“Heard you can fix clothes quickly,” he told Kingslayer.

“Yeah, what you need?” Just a couple of shirts, nothing serious. They would finish the shirts in a couple of hours, returning them to Luke. Things went quiet for a bit until the man came back, looking a little worse for wear. They chatted a bit while Kingslayer worked until the man let something slip about a man named Russell Adler…

—

Lonely is the muse

Ah-ah

Lonely is the muse…

And here was Kingslayer, working with the crew at the Rook. They had a spot in the attic, away from everyone. It was for the safety of everyone and themselves. They worked on sewing stuff and even some repair work, but always did so in the night or away from others. Kingslayer knew the monster they have become will always be a part of them and can never get their original self back again. They just hope that this team won’t discard them in the end…

[hisui555]

Hazbin Hotel Thoughts : Alcohol, Part 2 !

Part 1 here (Hazbin Crew)

Part 3 here (Heaven's side)

Masterpost here

So, just for your information. Last post has the record of gathering the quickest notes in the least time. Now that the Vees and other Overlords (but mainly the Vees, let's not kid ourselves) are on this one, wonder how it will fare. I think I already know the answer. Now let's jump to it.

The Vees

While they're all seen having a drink in the conference room, they haven't been seen nor mentioned getting inebriated, so it's mostly speculation from there.

Vox, from his personality, could cycle between "emotional", "nostalgic", and "pathetic", ranging from a hyper, super-excited guy that tries to one-up everyone to a sobbing mess because Alastor left meeeee...! and embarrass himself - well, not much of a change from his sober self, in retrospect. He would hold it relatively well though, have a bit of resilience until the watergates open, but the more Vox drinks, the closer he gets to the "emotional" side of it. On a darker side, he could also be the "violent" and "angry" type of drunk, especially around the middle of the slippery slope : not outright trying to get into fights but sure not stopping once it has started until he has gouged something out of someone, or someone out of something. But I can also see him being the "denying" type, trying to make people believe he's way less drunk than he actually is - he'll hide it well (having practice as a multimedia CEO and colleague babysitter)... for a while. The more he drinks the more cracks in the façade appear, at which point everyone can see he's sloshed even through a blindfold but won't peep a word unless they want to provoke the wrath of the TV man. The next mornings are spent deliberately avoiding eye-contact with him and editing everything out of feed themselves as to not tip him off either, and pretending collective amnesia (or even better : "Oh I wouldn't know, Mr Vox, I was too drunk !"). Blissful ignorance.

Vox would be somewhat around a normal weight, though he could outlast Charlie by a few glasses, but like Alastor if he downs a whole bottle he's done for. The only difference between them is that they would have their hints of tipsyness inverted : Vox would be physically clumsy but able to perfectly rant like Robin Williams with almost perfect pronounciation, while Alastor can keep up no problem on the dancefloor but have his words tying in knots and stumbling upon themselves like the screwiest pretzel. Well, that, and having their gazes slightly out of focus, a looser 100-watts grin and still talking to that poor coatrack in the corner that didn't asked for it - though Vox might be able to better differenciate things from living things, he's just unaware he's asking the wrong person about his pitch sale of demonic baby powder with abestos inside.

Velvette would be the "competitive" drunk, and the "cranky" one. On normal she already thinks everything and everyone is pants-on-head retarded, so a drunk Velvette might be able to dish out so much piling up verbal abuse you'd need wings to stay above it. She'd also be the "susceptible" type : breathe one word wrong and she's at your throat, whether it's someone way more powerful than her or not. Kinda the embodiment of yeah keep your eyes on Napoleon there, she's gonna start something we're gonna finish (absolutely not my 5' arse even when sober with my 6'4" friends in gatherings. Nope. Nnnnnope.) she'll promise to destroy you on every social media platform she mans or owns, and by the time she's right as rain again only remembers half of it. But she WILL want to know what went down, to turn it to her advantage and erase every instance of recorded poor decisions on her part. What's worse with her is that, like Lucifer, you can't really tell she's boozed up : it looks so much like her everyday attitude, only worse (congrats on that) that the only evidence will be the multiplying number of empty glasses and the diminishing levels of whatever's inside the bottles. The only metric you could go by is how fast she snaps when angry - if it's something in the milliseconds instead of the centiseconds, yep, she has a few glasses in her already. She'll still be coherent and girlbossing through it like a champ, busting out moves that would lead an Olympic pro skater into the Paralympics instead, and have astounishing eye for details despite her plastered state, as if it accrued her already good sense of picking up small things (only, again, to remember half of it once the rush goes down).

She'll probably hold better than what her weight and stature suggests, possibly outdrinking Vox, though not to the point of Angel, or Husk. She'll start feeling something around the 15th glass possibly, and by 20-22 is assuredly smashed, but hiding it rather well (undeliberately, it just doesn't really show on her) but I wouldn't want to be around her for the morning after, boy.

Valentino, hoooo sweet mother of god and all her wacky nephews, now he'll be something. As a pimp who regularly uses drugs and his various aphrodisiac/narcotic powers, smoke included, he'll be rather resistant, because he built said resistance overtime, and his lifestyle very much helps with that. He'll hold his own fairly well, but when he reaches the point of being three sheets to the wind, he goes down HARD. A slurry, half-coherent mess that just lets his body do its thing on its own, with bouts of sudden energy before crumbling down in a heap again. Don't ask him to dance unless you want yourself, and everyone else around, ending up in a hospital : him and a drunk Vox could take out everyone in a 10 meter radius during a slow waltz. Given his temperament, Val would hop from "angry" and "violent" type (unlike Vox, he will seek out the fights and shoot at the slightest provocation) to "seducing" and "happy with everything", but the surprising part, methinks, would be that he'd be also a "nostalgic" and "contemplative" type of drunk, and NOBODY expected that one. He'll wax philosophical while downing his 20th glass and musing about life, one elbow on the counter, nursing the drink in his hand, before snapping back to shooting the fucking pianist dead because the tune irritates him. It's really a ping-pong game of states and you better fucking hope he doesn't get to serve, because that curveball is hard to dodge. He also loves the feeling of being fuzzed out of his mind (fuzzed. FUZZED. Two Z, gutterbrains) and riding the wave while it lasts, but he hates having to depart from it and will prolong it as much as he can. Not that his mornings are particularly bad, unlike Velvette above, but because he likes just giving into the impulse and not having to care about pesky things like thinking and managing a business.

He'll need a bottle and a half or two to get completely tanked, and will range from impossible to reason with and be let loose, to semi-casual during his contemplative episodes. Basically, he's like a tornado : you point him in a certain direction opposite to you and when shit stops flying, you hope you're in a better shape than whoever poor schmucks were around at that time. He will 100% confuse people with things, and, as the meme goes in this fandom, try to make out with a lamppost or two, then become angry that it ain't listening to get in the car for more "fun". Hey, I had to say it, it would have been a missed opportunity otherwise.

Other Overlords

Rosie isn't against a few glasses of fine wine (it goes well with liver, as we all know), and very much knows how to keep her composure, but also lets herself get loose a bit. She's the "giggling" type, finding everything charming and funny, but again, don't be fooled, that makes her no less dangerous, just jollier and sillier. Might also say hello to every bird and dog that passes and curtsy to the local squirrel if quite inebriated, but otherwise she can tank it like a boss : expect at least two bottles down, and she'll give Husk a run for his money. Careful with the chop-chop-happy attitude, though. She could also bust out cutting sarcasm that would normally be hidden behind the sober filter, a bit like Treasure Planet's Captain Amelia.

Zestial... doesn't know what getting smashed looks like. He'll stick to his tea, thank you very much, but on the occasion, does enjoy a very fine wine. He'll be the only guy still standing after everyone else is shaking the white sheet, shrug, and go on his way. This ancient and powerful being is above the turpitude of youngsters and their funny, slurry-worded games.

Carmilla, while reasonable, would be a "tired" drunk - if she ever drank herself to this point to begin with. Everything's too loud, she can't find what's so funny about the curtains' motif or the wallpaper, and just watch, trying to blink away her daze, as others make fools of themselves. She's in no mood for fancy acrobatics but might casually pop one move or two in a complete blasé way to avoid that stumbling drunkard. The main difference is that she's slower, a wee bit sloppier, but no less graceful - it's like a different type of grace, one that's more languid, applied, tai-chi like. She might also become something of a terse talker, giving out a few words at a time, expect monosyllables and vague non-committing hums from her. If launched on a topic of interest, blurts out very technical and analytic paragraphs, only to switch back to one word every five minutes once it's done. Wouldn't be very sociable either, and avoid contact on reflex : it's just not her thing.

Next part, Heaven's side !

Again, Masterpost here.

[myovergrowngarden]

The Right Time (a poem by Stephanie Rose Hold)

Sometimes I wish I’d been born in 1990 Not because I was born in the wrong generation Not because I particularly care about the 90s But because I wish my life was one decade closer to its conclusion Because I want so badly to be stepping outside of  The vulnerability that comes with youth To not be looking ahead at oblivion and realizing that I’ll have to live through it all That I have extra decades ahead of me to watch this country collapse  That it is my obligation to survive as long as possible To ramble about how miserable it is to be trans in what will inevitably become A Republican controlled America again Whether it’s this election cycle Or the one following When promises are unfulfilled To hope and pray and scream for my salvation, and for the salvation of every other person Damned to live through an unhealthy chunk of this century 

Maybe I wish I was born in 1980 instead Not because I think the 80s were cool, To be honest, I’ve never once had that thought And certainly not because I think the 80s were easy To grow up under Ronald Reagan must have been its own special hell But because, by now, that time would be over I would be looking at it in the hindsight of my early 40s With the same lack of steady insurance  With the same gap in my last doctor’s visit And I would know that I’d probably be dead  By the end of my 50s So I only had to squirm for a little while longer Until the reaper came to free me 

Perhaps, then, 1970 Born just before Watergate With an extra decade under my belt Maybe then it would be quick Maybe then it would be easy But my mom was born then And she’s still alive and well Working harder than I ever have Making sure I can live Until I manage to get my first job Late to life Late to dance With the red robed figure Who crashed my party I certainly wish for her to live a long life And I wish for all of this to go differently  Than I know it will  So that she isn’t doomed To four more decades God willing Of misery and death Just to hop off the train  Before things get good

1960 Things were worse The world was bad And improvement Was on the horizon If it was ever coming I don’t want that It would be cruel to say I did Thoughtless and heartless  To anyone who had to be there

Maybe there’s no good time to be alive Maybe there’s no right point to be born Maybe this was all a big mistake And I should just keep my mouth shut And wait for the next decade

[arokel]

WIP WHATEVER

i forgot to do a wip thing yesterday but i wanna see what y'all are working on, so here's just a general "show off some of your wips" tag(ish) game! if you see this in the fandom tag or because you follow me, consider yourself tagged <3

anyway here are things i'm primarily focusing on right now despite The Sleepy

I've Heard About People Like Me (TBITB)

The rumors begin almost immediately. Joe, with his customary anxiety, wonders aloud if he's ill. Johnny thinks injury is more likely.

"Family emergency, maybe? His folks live in town; he could be with them," Bobby says, muffled as he pulls his undershirt over his head. He emerges ruffled and frowning, rotating his shoulders with a wince.

Shorty carefully looks away from the flex of tendons in Bobby's slim neck. He doesn't believe any of these proposed theories - to him, they all sound like something Ulbrickson would have addressed immediately. Whatever's going on, it's worse than the average personal tragedy: it's the kind of tragedy you don't talk about.

Love You Like That (TBITB)

He barely thinks anymore about how unconventional it is to have Bobby sprawled next to him on the bed as he reads portions of the letter aloud, offering helpful and acerbic commentary in turn. But of course they’re on the bed - in was a special occasion that Bobby has never indicated a desire to repeat. Don would if he did, no questions asked.

Unconventional or not, Bobby is adorable like this, kicking his feet in the air and letter held at arms' length above his head. It's a distance from which Don certainly couldn't make out words, but Bobby has always had sharp eyes. Don only hopes they're too focused on the letter to notice how often Don has to tear his own gaze away to focus on his updated draft.

He's so consumed with not looking too obviously and making Bobby uncomfortable that he doesn't realize Bobby has reached the end of the letter - and, more importantly, that Bobby has stopped talking.

Then, after several minutes of silence, Bobby says, hesitant and hushed, "I'm your best friend?"

Tell Me (ATPM)

“It wouldn’t kill you to stare a little less,” Carl murmurs, as Sy Hersh slips into the men’s locker room and out of sight, white tennis shorts stretching across heavy thighs for just a moment before they’re gone.

“What?” Bob says, distracted.

Carl rolls his eyes, once, before looking Bob up and down illustratively and not a little lecherously. “He’s not the kind of guy to keep quiet if you hit on him too obviously. You’re lucky I didn’t rat you out.”

“Because you’re so free of sin,” Bob scoffs, to cover the discomfort of having been caught looking. He and Carl are by no means exclusive - far from it; privately Bob thinks the only reason they’re fucking each other at all is that neither of them have time to meet anyone else. But he still feels guilty.

Carl cocks his arm as if he’s about to throw his fluffy white towel in Bob’s face, only to change course and playfully scrub it over Bob’s sweaty hair, succeeding only in disordering it even further. “He who speaks first is a witness,” he says philosophically, echoing Rosenfeld’s wry mantra ever since John Dean scooped Magruder in the race to join the Watergate prosecution.

“He who speaks second is a defendant,” Bob agrees.

What Extraordinary Vehicles (ATPM)

“Why me? Why not Anderson, or Sheehan, or - hell, everyone knows you're leaking to TIME. You've clearly got a direct line to Sandy Smith. So why me?”

Bernstein's eyes are squinted, his voice sharp and uncompromising. He's suspicious - both in this moment and, Bob suspects, by nature. Good. Bob made the right choice after all.

He shrugs. “You’re putting in the work.”

“Yeah, I am," Bernstein says matter-of-factly. Some of that suspicion melts away, to be replaced with a reluctant smile. "Glad someone around here appreciates me.”

Damn it. Yes, Bob made the right choice. He can work with Bernstein. But he can't let himself grow to like him.

“Make something out of what I give you, and we’ll see if that’s deserved," he says. He doesn't watch Bernstein's smile fade.

[meret118]

On addition to the long looong list of recent cheating, don't forget what came before:

1968: Famously, the Nixon campaign committed treason here, sabotaging the Paris Peace Accords and prolonging the Vietnam War. LBJ said to Everett Dirksen, the Republican leader of the Senate, “This is treason.” Dirksen’s reply? “I know.” 1972: Nixon won in a huge landslide but still felt the need to cheat. Ever hear of Watergate? 1980: Surely the great Ronald Reagan didn’t cheat? Au contraire. This was arguably worse than Nixon. The Reagan campaign negotiated with the Iranian government to keep the hostages in Tehran until after the election. A Reagan operative named Ben Barnes confirmed the whole story to The New York Times in 2023. . . . 2000: The butterfly ballot, the hanging chads, Katherine Harris, the Brooks Brothers riot, and of course one of the most disgraceful Supreme Court decisions in American history. . . . So they’ve cheated, or told astonishing lies, in nearly every election they’ve won in the last 64 years. A former GOP operative named Allen Raymond was convicted in a 2002 Election Day phone-jamming scandal, went to prison briefly, and wrote a book about all the schemes he was involved in, called How to Rig an Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative. Of his time in the hoosegow, he writes, he told his wife: “After ten full years inside the GOP, ninety days amongst honest criminals wasn’t any great ordeal.”

More at the link.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

de Adder

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

June 16, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JUN 17, 2024

Early in the morning on June 17, 1972, Frank Wills, a 24-year-old security guard at the Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C., noticed that a door lock had been taped open. He ripped off the tape and closed the door, but when he went on the next round, he found the door taped open again. He called the police, who found five burglars in the Democratic National Committee headquarters located in the building.

And so it began.

The U.S. president, Richard M. Nixon, was obsessed with the idea that opponents were trying to sink his campaign for reelection. The previous year, in June 1971, the New York Times had begun to publish what became known as the Pentagon Papers, a secret government study that detailed U.S. involvement in Vietnam from presidents Harry Truman to Lyndon Johnson. While the study ended before the Nixon administration, it showed that presidents had lied to the American people, and Nixon worried that the story would hurt his administration by souring the public on his approach to the Vietnam War. Worse, if anyone leaked similar information about his own administration—and there was plenty to leak—it would destroy his reelection campaign.  

To stop his enemies, Nixon put together in the White House a special investigations unit to stop leaks. And who stops leaks? Plumbers. 

These operatives burglarized the office of the psychiatrist who worked with the man who had leaked the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg, to find damaging information about him. They sabotaged opponents by “ratf*cking” them, as they called it, planting fake letters in newspapers, hiring vendors for Democratic rallies and then running out on the unpaid bills, planting spies in Democrats’ campaigns and, finally, wiretapping. 

On June 17, 1972, they tried to tap the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in Washington’s fashionable Watergate complex.

The White House denied all knowledge of what it called a “third-rate burglary attempt,” and most of the press took the denial at face value. But two young reporters for the Washington Post, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, followed the sloppy money trail behind the burglars directly to the White House.

The fallout from the burglary gained no traction before the election, which Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew won with an astonishing 60.7 percent of the vote. They took 520 electoral votes—49 states—while the Democratic nominees, South Dakota senator George McGovern and former Peace Corps director Sargent Shriver, won only 37.5% of the popular vote and the electoral votes of only Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. 

But in March 1973, one of the burglars, James W. McCord Jr., wrote a letter to Judge John Sirica before his sentencing, saying that he had lied at his trial, under pressure to protect government officials. McCord had been the head of security for the Committee for the Re-Election of the President, known as CREEP. Sirica was known for his stiff sentences—reporters called him “Maximum John”—and later said, “I had no intention of sitting on the bench like a nincompoop and watching the parade go by.” Sirica made the letter public, and White House counsel John Dean promptly began cooperating with prosecutors. In April, three of Nixon’s top advisors resigned, and in May the president was forced to appoint Archibald Cox as a special prosecutor to investigate the affair.

In May the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, informally known as the Senate Watergate Committee, began nationally televised hearings. The committee’s chair was Sam Ervin (D-NC), a conservative Democrat who would not run for reelection in 1974 and thus was expected to be able to do the job without political grandstanding.

The hearings turned up the explosive testimony of John Dean, who said he had talked to Nixon about covering up the burglary more than 30 times, but there the investigation sat during the hot summer of 1973 as the committee churned through witnesses. And then, on July 13, 1973, deputy assistant to the president Alexander Butterfield revealed that conversations and phone calls in the Oval Office had been taped since 1971.

Nixon refused to provide copies of the tapes either to Cox or to the Senate committee. When Cox subpoenaed a number of the tapes, Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire him. In the October 20, 1973, “Saturday Night Massacre,” Richardson and his deputy, William Ruckleshaus, refused to execute Nixon’s order and resigned in protest; it was only the third man at the Justice Department—Solicitor General Robert Bork—who was willing to carry out the order firing Cox. 

Popular outrage at the resignations and firing forced Nixon to ask Bork—now acting attorney general—to appoint a new special prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, a Democrat who had voted for Nixon, on November 1. On November 17, Nixon assured the American people that “I am not a crook.” 

Like Cox before him, Jaworski was determined to hear the Oval Office tapes. He subpoenaed a number of them, and Nixon fought the subpoenas on the grounds of executive privilege. On July 24, 1974, in U.S. v. Nixon, the Supreme Court sided unanimously with the prosecutor, saying that executive privilege “must be considered in light of our historic commitment to the rule of law. This is nowhere more profoundly manifest than in our view that 'the twofold aim (of criminal justice) is that guilt shall not escape or innocence suffer.'... The very integrity of the judicial system and public confidence in the system depend on full disclosure of all the facts….” 

Their hand forced, Nixon’s people released transcripts of the tapes. They were damning, not just in content but also in style. Nixon had cultivated an image of himself as a clean family man, and the tapes revealed a mean-spirited, foul-mouthed bully. Aware that the tapes would damage his image, Nixon had his swearing redacted. “[Expletive deleted]” trended.

In late July 1974 the House Committee on the Judiciary passed articles of impeachment, charging the president with obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress. Each article ended with the same statement: “In all of this, Richard M. Nixon has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore Richard M. Nixon, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.”

Still, Nixon insisted he was not guilty, saying he did not know his people were committing crimes on his watch. Then in early August a new tape, recorded days after the Watergate break-in, revealed Nixon and an aide plotting to invoke national security to protect the president. Even Republican senators, who had not wanted to convict their president, knew the game was over. A delegation went to the White House to deliver the news.

On August 9, 1974, Nixon became the first president in American history to resign.

Rather than admit guilt, though, he told the American people he had to step down because he no longer had the support he needed in Congress to advance the national interest. He blamed the press, whose “leaks and accusations and innuendo” had been designed to destroy him. His disappointed supporters embraced the idea that there was a “liberal” conspiracy, spearheaded by the press, to bring down any Republican president. 

When his replacement, Gerald Ford, issued a preemptive blanket pardon for any crimes the former president might have committed against the United States, he guaranteed that Nixon would never have to account for his illegal attempt to undermine his Democratic opponent, and that those who thought like Nixon could come to think they were above the law. 

On May 30, 2024, when a jury of twelve ordinary Americans found a former president guilty on 34 criminal counts, it reasserted the principle that no one is above the law. 

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[vote-democrat-president-congress]

Trump secretly sent covid tests to Putin during 2020 shortage, new book says

“War,” by Bob Woodward, traces how Trump and Biden responded to international crisis and concludes that Trump is worse than Nixon, the president exiled by the Watergate scandal.

By Isaac Stanley-Becker October 8, 2024 at 8:56 a.m. EDT As the coronavirus tore through the world in 2020, and the United States and other countries confronted a shortage of tests designed to detect the illness, then-President Donald Trump secretly sent coveted tests to Russian President Vladimir Putin for his personal use.

Cut through the 2024 election noise. Get The Campaign Moment newsletter. Putin, petrified of the virus, accepted the supplies but took pains to prevent political fallout — not for him, but for his American counterpart. He cautioned Trump not to reveal that he had dispatched the scarce medical equipment to Moscow, according to a new book by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward.

Putin, according to the book, told Trump, “I don’t want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me.”

Four years later, the personal relationship between the two men appears to have persisted, Woodward reports, as Trump campaigns to return to the White House and Putin orchestrates his bloody assault on Ukraine. In early 2024, the former president ordered an aide away from his office at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Florida, so he could conduct a private phone call with the Russian leader, according to Woodward’s account.

The book does not describe what the two men purportedly discussed, and it quotes a Trump campaign official casting doubt on the supposed contact. But the unnamed Trump aide cited in the book indicated that the GOP standard-bearer may have spoken to Putin as many as seven times since Trump left the White House in 2021.

These interactions between Trump and the authoritarian leader of a country at war with an American ally form the basis of Woodward’s conclusion that Trump is worse than Richard M. Nixon, whose presidency was undone by the Watergate scandal exposed a half-century ago by Woodward and his Washington Post colleague Carl Bernstein.

“Trump was the most reckless and impulsive president in American history and is demonstrating the very same character as a presidential candidate in 2024,” Woodward writes in the book, “War,” which is set to be released Oct. 15.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

With publication on the eve of the presidential election, Woodward, who has chronicled the successes and failures of U.S. presidents for 50 years, concludes that Trump is unfit for office while President Joe Biden and his team, mistakes notwithstanding, exhibited “steady and purposeful leadership.” Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, makes several appearances in the narrative, with Woodward presenting her as a shrewd and loyal No. 2 to Biden but not an influential voice in his administration’s foreign policy.

The book is Woodward’s fourth since Trump’s upset victory in 2016. It focuses principally on the twin wars consuming Biden’s national security team — Russia’s all-out war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022, and Israel’s campaign against Hamas and other Iranian-backed proxies since the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023.

The book also examines the long shadow cast by Trump over the foreign conflicts of the past four years, and over the bitter U.S. political environment in which they have unfolded. And it includes candid assessments by Biden of his own missteps, including his decision to make Merrick Garland attorney general. Reacting to the prosecution of his son Hunter — by a special prosecutor named by Garland amid partisan recriminations over the Justice Department’s prosecution of Trump — the president told an associate, “Should never have picked Garland.”

Woodward reveals how Biden weighed his fate before exiting the presidential race in July, including over lunch earlier that month with Antony Blinken, his secretary of state. Blinken, reports Woodward, warned Biden in the private dining room off the Oval Office that everyone’s legacy is reduced to a single sentence — and that, if he continued to campaign and lost to Trump, that would be his legacy.

Still, Blinken believed at the end of the meal that the president was leaning toward staying in the race, underscoring how unpredictable Biden’s decision-making remained until the final moment.

“War” illuminates the frantic, and often failed, effort by Biden’s team to prevent escalation of fighting in the Middle East — fighting that the president came to see as inseparable from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political fortunes, and from political dynamics in the United States, too.

According to Woodward, one of Trump’s national security advisers, Keith Kellogg, secretly met with Netanyahu during a trip to Israel earlier this year. Upon his return, Kellogg publicly circulated a memo effectively blaming Biden for the Hamas-led attack on Israel, writing, “This visit reinforced that the Biden Administration’s erosion of U.S. deterrence globally and its failed policies vis-à-vis Iran have opened America up to a regional war in the Middle East with devastating consequences for our ally Israel.”

At the time, Biden advisers were pushing Israel’s leaders to agree to a cease-fire deal as part of an effort to head off an invasion of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Their entreaties were futile; the Rafah offensive began in May. No one felt the limits of the administration’s ability to restrain Israel more acutely than Blinken. “It was obvious Blinken had no influence,” Woodward writes.

On Ukraine, too, Trump’s influence was pronounced, even from his home at Mar-a-Lago. The former president’s resistance to funding Kyiv’s war effort created a blockade on GOP support in the House. This past spring, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was able to persuade Trump to soften his stance, according to Woodward, not by showing him that Ukraine’s cause was just, but by convincing him that the aid package would help the Republican conference’s electoral chances and thus benefit him personally in the run-up to the November election.

“War” offers several snapshots of Harris, always in a supporting role to Biden and hardly determining foreign policy herself.

The book recounts how Harris sought to spur French President Emmanuel Macron into action in the fall of 2021, in preparation for what the U.S. intelligence community indicated would be a significant Russian military action against Ukraine. So, too, the vice president made her case to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Munich Security Conference in February 2022, going so far as to press him to develop a succession plan ensuring stability “if you’re captured or killed,” as she put it. And the book reveals how her forceful public tone following a meeting in July with Netanyahu — pledging that she would “not be silent” about Palestinian suffering — contrasted with her more amicable approach in private. The difference, according to Woodward, infuriated Netanyahu, who was taken aback by her public remarks.

From the Israeli viewpoint, however, Harris had little responsibility for the administration’s approach to the conflict.

“Until now, I didn’t feel that Vice President Harris had any impact on our issues,” Michael Herzog, the Israeli ambassador in Washington, is quoted as saying about the period before Harris replaced Biden on the ticket. “She was in the room, but she never had an impact.”

As for Trump’s own decision-making process on foreign affairs when he was commander in chief, the book shows how he took in a wide range of viewpoints, including from people without relevant expertise. During a high-level meeting about Afghanistan held at one point in the Situation Room, Trump went around the table to ask everyone’s opinion.

“Mr. President, I’m the notetaker,” one person deflected.

“Oh, no,” Trump replied, “if you’re in this room, you’re talking.” The notetaker briefly shared her views.

“War” presents the withdrawal from Afghanistan, in the summer of 2021, as a wound for the Biden administration that would shape its response to other international flash points. The debacle, in which U.S. intelligence failed to foresee how quickly the Taliban would seize power, elicited sympathy from the architect of the initial 2001 invasion, George W. Bush, who told Biden, according to the book: “Oh boy, I can understand what you’re going through. I got [expletive] by my intel people, too.”

Woodward contrasts the intelligence failure in Afghanistan to the remarkable insight gained by American spies into Russian plans ahead of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. U.S. capabilities, Woodward reports, included a human source inside the Kremlin.

The book shows how Biden’s early decisions, which were sometimes in conflict with the judgments of his closest advisers, shaped the course of the war. Foremost was his public vow that Washington would not commit troops to the conflict, which took a key bargaining chip off the table but laid down a marker for the American public wary of new foreign entanglements. Biden, according to Woodward, felt past Russian aggression had been badly mismanaged by his predecessors, including the one he had served, Barack Obama.

“Barack never took Putin seriously,” Biden told a close friend.

Biden’s own blunders were costly, the book reveals. In January 2022, he seemed to undercut American resolve by raising the possibility that Russia might seek only a “minor incursion.” His national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, had to do damage control with counterparts in nine NATO countries, in addition to Japan, Woodward reveals.

Woodward writes that Biden’s most delicate diplomacy, however, involved seeking to foreclose Russia’s nuclear option. In the fall of 2022, that option seemed like a live one, as U.S. intelligence agencies reported that Putin was seriously weighing use of a tactical nuclear weapon — at one point assessing the likelihood at 50 percent. An especially frantic quest to bring Moscow back from the brink came in October of that year, when Russia appeared to be laying the groundwork for escalation by accusing Ukraine of preparing to detonate a dirty bomb.

Biden’s team confronted similar hair-raising moments with the Israelis, Woodward reports, foreshadowing Netanyahu’s recent campaign against Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based militant group and Iranian proxy, in an explicit rejection of U.S. calls for a cease-fire. In a parallel of unsubstantiated Russian claims of Ukraine’s intention to use a dirty bomb, the Israelis seemed poised, in the days after Oct. 7, 2023, to launch a preemptive strike against Hezbollah based on what American experts deemed “phantom” warnings of Hezbollah mobilization along Israel’s northern border.

“The Israelis always do this,” was the reaction of Brett McGurk, Biden’s Middle East coordinator, according to the book. “They claim ‘We got the intel! You’ll see it. You’ll see it.’ But like 50 percent of the time the so-called intel doesn’t actually show up.” Apparent drones reported by the Israelis turned out to be birds.

Yet the book also shows how the Biden administration did little to alter its policy toward Israel even as senior U.S. officials abandoned their belief that the government in Jerusalem was operating in good faith. Already in the days after Oct. 7, Blinken’s impression of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s approach was: “It doesn’t matter how many people die. I have a mission to eradicate Hamas and it doesn’t matter how many Palestinians die. It doesn’t matter how many Israelis die.”

Biden, according to Woodward, was cautious about setting limits on Israel’s conduct lest Netanyahu blow past them. In a one-on-one call in April, Netanyahu promised Biden that the Rafah offensive would take only three weeks, a vow the American president never took seriously. “It’ll take months,” Biden replied.

To associates, Biden complained that Netanyahu was a liar only interested in his political survival. And he concluded the same of the prime minister’s associates, saying that 18 out of 19 people who work for Netanyahu are “liars.”

At the same time, support for the Biden administration’s Middle East policy came from unexpected places, the book reveals. Before the Oct. 7 attacks, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a loyal Trump lieutenant and shape-shifter who went from an outspoken critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to a trusted interlocutor, had relayed information to Biden about prospects for the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Graham believed normalization was best completed under Biden, arguing that congressional Democrats would be reluctant to lend support to a Trump-sponsored initiative. Graham promised he could deliver the Republican votes.

After Oct. 7, Graham continued to engage with the crown prince. During a March visit by the senator to Riyadh, which is recounted by Woodward, Graham proposed a phone call with Trump, so the crown prince pulled out a burner phone labeled “TRUMP 45.” In earlier meetings, the crown prince had brandished other such devices, including one labeled “JAKE SULLIVAN” for Biden’s national security adviser.

During the March call with Trump, conducted by the crown prince over speakerphone while Graham was present, the former president teased the senator for once calling for the Saudi royal’s ouster over the assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, which the CIA concluded Mohammed had ordered. Graham brushed it off, professing to have been wrong about the autocrat.

The royal court in Riyadh, however, is not the comparison Graham uses when describing visits to Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago. According to Woodward, the senator invokes an even more brutal form of authoritarianism.

“Going to Mar-a-Lago is a little bit like going to North Korea,” the book quotes Graham as saying. “Everybody stands up and claps every time Trump comes in.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/08/bob-woodward-new-book-war-trump-putin-biden/