Ah, Nixon
02 December 2008 7:27 pm by Taylor Marsh
BY TAYLOR MARSH
Nixon discussing porn with the Chief Justice? Oh Lordy.
Telling exchange between Bill O’Reilly and Chris Wallace tonight on “The
Factor.” Wallace was at a screening of the new Frost/Nixon
film, with the audience getting into a discussion afterward. Evidently,
the panelists started wondering who would be Frost to George W. Bush’s Nixon,
and Wallace took offense, then stood up and said so, which percipitated an epiphany
on Wallace’s part. He really doesn’t see any abuse of power correlations between
Nixon and Bush, and was surprised that the Washington crowd around him did.
All this was precipitated by more Nixon gems released from the National Archives.
The first one below is an oldie, but certainly resounds today. The next two
are new, with more over at NBC’s
First Read:
– On May 18, 1972, Nixon talks to Henry Kissinger about the National
Security Adviser’s meeting with Ivy League college presidents regarding the
war in Vietnam:NIXON: “The Ivy League presidents? Why, I’ll never let those sons-of-b——
in the White House again. Never, never, never. They’re finished. The Ivy League
schools are finished … Henry, I would never have had them in. Don’t do that
again … They came out against us when it was tough … Don’t ever go to
an Ivy League school again, ever. Never, never, never.”– On Nov. 14, 1972, Nixon talks with his aide Charles Colson about
his landslide re-election victory over Democrat George McGovern:NIXON: “What in the hell did you think of McGovern’s statement on the
election? Wasn’t that the sour grapes crap again?”
COLSON: “Well, it’s unbelievable, the arrogance of the guy … God,
what a bad man. Just awfully glad we got him buried and put away for good.
I think he is.”
NIXON: “Oh, he’s buried. He’s buried.”– On Dec. 9, 1972, Nixon talks to Colson about the appointment of
building trades union leader Peter Brennan as secretary of labor:NIXON: “The idea, they finally think the appointment of a working man
makes them think we’re for the working man.”
COLSON: “That’s precisely it.”
NIXON: “They talk about all the tokenism. We appoint blacks, and they
don’t think we’re for blacks. Mexicans. They don’t think we’re for Mexicans.
But a working man, by golly, that is really something.”
Really something. But about those Ivy League presidents. Never again. Yeah,
that’s right, Dick.
