Poll: Should President Nixon have been impeached?

[nageov3t]

I grew up amidst Hudson County, NJ politics... it's given me an abnormally high threshold for looking the other way and shrugging off corruption in politics if the job still gets done.

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose

Originally posted by: Pabster
No question, yes. And he would have been.

Yep, it was a bad day for our country when he was pardoned.

I have no doubt similar crimes were performed by other presidents and went undetected though.

I think the 'others just didn't get caught' is highly exaggerated, per my own research. Obviously there are limits to what you can say about what are by definition secrets, but by getting well informed about presidents, you can get a sense for what's reasonably feasible. I wouldn't put much past GWB/Rove, but most presidents IMO did not do similar things to Nixon and just not get caught, however plausible that might seem.

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: Harvey

Originally posted by: Deudalus

What happened at Watergate had jack shit to do with Carter's worthless ass, Reagan and his spending, Clinton's hummers, Mogadishu, Iraq, or any of a number of other screw ups.

And nothing that Carter did had anything to do with Nixon's wholesale felonies. He wasn't hauled before Congress for the Watergate breakin. It was for the coverup that followed, and... < clue >... he was caught leading it on his own taping system.

Before that, he had authorized illegal surveillance and breakins against a number of those on his "enemies list," in much the same way as the current Traitor In Chief.

Nixon was every bit the criminal that George W. Bush is, and he was a lot smarter. Smart does not mean good, and it is only our good fortune that Nixon and his gang didn't have access to today's computers and the Internet when they were the criminals in charge.

I don't want to defend Nixon, but I have to disagree with you that he was 'every bit the criminal'.

He was a horror, and his policies caused a lot more US casualties than Bush (so far) for less reason, but read 'Worse than Watergate' by John Dean for a comparison.

In fact, I've seen many who knew Nixon well say that GWB is worse, and can't think of one who doesn't. They're both terrible, though.

 

[Harvey]

Originally posted by: Craig234

He was a horror, and his policies caused a lot more US casualties than Bush (so far) for less reason, but read 'Worse than Watergate' by John Dean for a comparison.

In fact, I've seen many who knew Nixon well say that GWB is worse, and can't think of one who doesn't. They're both terrible, though.

I agree that Bush is far worse than Nixon, but not necessarily because one is "worse" than the other, but because of a combination of intellect and opportunity and the seriousness of the results of Bush's follies.

Nixon's participation in trying to cover up Watergate was not his first crime or lapse of ethics. For example, Nixon's "Plumbers" were just as much into illegal surveillance against American citizens. The Bushwhackos have the advantage of technology that allows them tap into phone and Internet traffic with much more advanced computer systems to sift through both text and voice message.

The crimes are the same. I don't have time to research and document a fuller history of their misdeeds, but I have no doubt Nixon's crew would have gone as far if they had the means and the opportunity.