Was Nixon A Jerk?

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TO MY KERRY SUPPORTING FRIENDS, BONNIE IS PRETTY FAR LEFT AND THINKS KERRY IS "IN THE POCKET" OF THE CORPORATIONS, WOULD RATHER VOTE FOR A REAL SOCIALIST AND MIGHT NOT VOTE FOR HIM. SINCE THE PURPOSE OF THIS SITE IS TO PROVIDE A FORUM FOR LEFTIES AND RIGHTIES TO CONVINCE UNDECIDEDS, I INVITE YOU TO TRY AND CONVINCE BONNIE TO VOTE FOR YOUR CANDIDATE.

Was Nixon A Jerk? Another search for the truth by I'm sure you all know about the Nixon tapes that were released over the past few years. I don't like Nixon personally because he treated everybody who was against the war as the enemy, not as his constituency, which they were. And he started the War On Drugs, I do believe. But from what I understand, he was a great statesman; opened relations with the Soviet Union and China, passed wonderful environmental and social policy legislation that was even left of Clinton. BUT... He talked like some idiot you'd run into in a bar. If these transcripts are to be believed - these are available from the National Archives to anyone so I'm making a leap of faith that all these various transcriptions all over the internet are accurate - he was a jerk. 1971 Nixon:"I want to be sure he is a ruthless son of a bitch, that he will do what he's told, that every income tax return I want to see I see, that he will go after our enemies and not go after our friends." Nixon describing his ideal candidate for IRS commissioner in 1971 Nixon: "John, we have the power but are we using it to investigate contributors to Hubert Humphrey, contributor to Muskie, the Jews, you know, that are stealing every--what the hell are we doing?" Ehrlichman: "I don’t know." Nixon: "Are we going after their tax returns? Are we looking in Muskie’s return?". Ehrlichman: "No, we haven’t." Nixon: "Hubert, Hubert’s been in a lot of funny deals." Ehrlichman: "Yes, he has." Nixon: "Teddy, who knows about the Kennedys? Shouldn’t they be investigated?" Ehrlichman: "IRS-wise I don’t know the answer. Teddy we are covering.". Nixon: We're going to [put] more of these little Negro bastards on the welfare rolls at $2,400 a family—let people like [New York Sen.] Pat Moynihan ... believe in all that crap. But I don’t believe in it. Work, work—throw 'em off the rolls. That's the key ... I have the greatest affection for [blacks], but I know they're not going to make it for 500 years. They aren't. You know it, too. The Mexicans are a different cup of tea. They have a heritage. At the present time they steal, they're dishonest, but they do have some concept of family life. They don't live like a bunch of dogs, which the Negroes do live like. Nixon: You know what happened to the Greeks? Homosexuality destroyed them. Sure, Aristotle was a homo, we all know that, so was Socrates. [...] Do you know what happened to the Romans? The last six Roman emperors were fags. [...] You know what happened to the popes? It's all right that popes were laying the nuns. That's been going on for years—centuries. 1972 Nixon: See, the attack in the North that we have in mind … power plants, whatever's left — POL [petroleum], the docks … And, I still think we ought to take the dikes out now. Will that drown people? Kissinger: About two hundred thousand people. Nixon: No, no, no … I'd rather use the nuclear bomb. Have you got that, Henry? Kissinger: That, I think, would just be too much. Nixon: The nuclear bomb, does that bother you? … I just want you to think big, Henry, for Christsakes. Nixon: The only place where you and I disagree … is with regard to the bombing. You're so goddamned concerned about civilians and I don't give a damn. I don't care. Kissinger: I'm concerned about the civilians because I don't want the world to be mobilized against you as a butcher. We can do it without killing civilians. Colson: People are beginning to sense that we're doing pretty damn well, that American casualties are down, which they are … 19 Americans killed last week. They're used to hearing about 25 killed on automobiles in a weekend … Nixon: … We want to decimate that goddamned place … North Vietnam is going to get reordered … It's about time. It's what should have been done years ago. Sources include: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/white_house/july-dec97/nixon_11-26.html http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5079259/site/newsweek/ Forgive me, but these are not the words of a great man. I wonder if he was only regarded as a great statesman because of Kissinger. Again, keeping in mind this could be complete fabrication, if these transcripts are accurate, he flat out admits using the IRS to cause trouble for individual Democrats. Worse than that, he has no respect for human life or Jews or minorities. And how he equates homosexuality with the decline of civilization just plain retarded. (Moral decline doesn't cause economic and social decline; they co-devolve, in my opinion) Now there is the possibility that these were just things he spouted off but didn't really mean. I'm sure any of us, if there was a tape recorder on us 24 hours a day, would spout out some doozies of our own. In my most angry lefists moments, I'll make sweeping generalizations like all republicans are Nazis or something stupid like that. It doesn't mean I really believe it once I regain my sanity. Maybe that explains his racist and jerkish remarks. Still, using the IRS to get at his enemies is pretty bad. I really think that falls into the category of "crooked." I also think his remarks about civilians proves that U.S. foreign policy has nothing to do with humanitarianism. (Is it still that way? Does Bush have any regard for Iraqi life? I don't know.) Maybe it was his very low-brow-ness that made him so popular with so many Americans. (How's that for a leftie elitist snob thing to say?) My conclusion - Yes, Nixon was a jerk. Posted by Bewildered Bonnie

 
 

Comments

[Arrogant Adrian]

Well Bonnie, that was a great post. However, if you study other presidents you'll find that they were all pretty much jerks.

President Clinton was certainly a jerk to the attractive women in his life.

Did you ever read about LBJ's personal habbits and foul language?

JFK was a womanizing phony.

My Dad's favorite President Truman was a rough speaking, unsophisticated boor.

So, my main point is that presidents should be judged by the job they did for America.

President Nixon was a great foreign policy President while he was to the left of Clinton on domestic policy which explains his failure in that sphere IMHO.

[Bonnie]

There is a BIG difference between drinking and cussing and womanizing and personal debauchery, and using the IRS to go after his enemies and not his friends. And since not giving a damn about the civilians started at the top in the Vietnam war, is it any wonder 4 million people were slaughtered?

Nixon was a crook and a war criminal.