Nixon's Denigration of Fred Thompson Newsworthy to ABC
(Media Research Center) - The news media have hardly been admirers of Richard Nixon, but ABC News found new respect Tuesday for Nixon's assessments now that old tapes show how during Watergate he ridiculed future GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson as "dumb as hell." On the day of Thompson's debut at a GOP presidential debate, both Good Morning America and World News featured stories from Brian Ross, who in the World News version boasted that "we spent weeks going through the hours of Nixon Oval Office tapes." But though Ross reported nothing not posted two months ago on ABCNews.com, he claimed to have discovered "a tantalizing inside look at how Thompson was regarded by the President and his inner circle." Ross reported that "when Nixon's aides told him of Thompson's appointment [to the Watergate committee], the President was less than impressed." ABC then played audio from May 14, 1973 of Nixon denigrating Thompson: "He's dumb as hell." For expert analysis of Thompson's complicity with Nixon, Ross turned to "author" John Dean who maintained Thompson saw it as "his duty...not necessarily to find the truth, but to find out what would be best for Richard Nixon." Of course, viewers of MSNBC's Countdown know Dean as one of Keith Olbermann's favorite guests and author of such books as Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush and Conservatives Without Conscience.
posted by BP News Bureau | 3:26 PM
8 Comments:
Lovely.
First, Brian Ross is an idiot. I used to think that he was just playing one for radio and TV but the more I listened to him, the more he began to sound like the Rosanne Rosannadanna character from the old Saturday night live. On Monday he is off on some kind of crusade and on Friday he discovers that he misunderstood something and had to say, "never mind." I think the media keeps him around because he is good in a sound bite. Or something.
Second, as I recall, Nixon thought all Southerners were "dumb as hell," his Duke University JD notwithstanding. I distinctly remember him assessing Sam Ervin in exactly the same way, using the same wording.
Third, why the hell should we care what Nixon thought of anything? Even without Watergate, Nixon was an unmitigated nightmare for the GOP. The guy was a liberal and a socialist. Before G.W. Bush came along, Nixon was the only Republican President who came even close to being as big a disaster for the country as Abraham Lincoln was.
What do you have against Abraham Lincoln??? Was Lincoln a neo-con??? :-)
Lincoln was the first to begin the trend of destruction on federalism. He was a weak President who used the constitution as a door mat just to curry favor with the Democrats, the war party of his era.
I thought the Democrats of that era represented the south.
I agree with Steve. He was a disaster. Also, had Lincoln not been killed, I doubt he'd have a GOP supper named for him. Too many of our Southern ancestors died in his reckless effort to maintain a Union. Lincoln suspended Habeas Corpus (I know FDR did too but the situation was entirely different) and generally used the backdrop of war to overextend the powers of the executive. But then again, what President has not?
The Congressional Democrats were the ones who were pushing the South toward secession. They forced Lincoln to put William Stanton, a Democrat, in his cabinet as Secretary of War, who then prosecuted the war against the South. The Republicans were a new party with almost no representation in Congress. The Whigs were a completely laissez-faire party that was in its death throes.
Indeed Steve.
However, the South should have been allowed to walk out of the union. Clearly, slavery, as a property owners' right was permissible under the Constitution and therefore the South certainly had every right to secede when their property rights were threatened. Moreover, the current USA perhaps would be more manageable today with a South CSA and a North USA.
In addition I am a supporter and friend of some of the activists in the Vermont secession movement. I think they could create a unique socialist republic.
RWM
Lincoln is an inspiration because he faced real difficult choices and handled them the best he knew how with God always at his side. You can question his motivations and his actions but you cannot question his commitment to what he believed. In the end this is what ultimately got him killed. Lincoln said at Gettysburg
“…that these dead shall not have died in vain - this nation under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”
These words are just as true now as they were then. Thank you Mr. Lincoln. Rest in Peace.
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