> The ONLY violation of law they ever established even to the
> probable-cause level, that Nixon had actually done, was participating
> in a cover-up. THAT is what brought Nixon down.
That really is _preposterous_.
Nixon's presidencies were marked by a gross contempt for law and
ethics as well as every principle of a Constitutional Republic.
Never mind every decent principle of the Republican Party.
"When the President does it, that means it isn't illegal.' DUH...
The most probable explanation of 'Watergate' is the one detailed
(and albeit denied by DCI Richard Helms -- whose autobiography is
imminent BTW) in John Ranelagh's magnificent history of CIA, 'The
Agency' [1988]. The Watergate complex was built on the site of
CIA's old Headquarters Building... >:-}
Briefly: Howard Hunt, long-time senior CIA Covert Operations
practitioner (and novelist), set out to entrap Nixon, whose
Sauron-like attempts to concentrate the power of every branch and
Department and Agency of the Federal Government under the control of
servile Nixonite White House nominees was _completely intolerable_
to anyone concerned to ensure the survival of a free Republic. Only
CIA and NSA held out. Hunt used to joke that -- in 20 years in CIA
-- there were only two kinds of people he'd never met: assassins;
and fellow-Republicans. >:-} CIA are world masters of bureaucratic
infighting -- it's our^H^H^H their _forte_.
Nixon was a political soul-mate of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (the
most evil man in the history of America). Like Hoover, he avidly
collected seamy 'political intelligence' blackmail material on his
'enemies' (i.e. anyone who opposed his agenda). So when a
'black-bag job' on the Democratic Party National Headquarters itself
was dangled in front of him, he found the temptation _irresistible_.
Using anti-Castro Cubans with a CIA background seemed smart, because
they could be trusted (or so it seemed); and because they looked
'deniable.' And - best of all! -- CIA (which Nixon and Hoover hated
as 'liberal' and free-thinking) could be blamed if things went
wrong! "Let's pull a fast one on Joey!" >:-}
Hunt's plan duly scheduled (quite ambiguously) the 'accidental
discovery' and subsequent arrest of the 'Watergate' burglars _in
flagrante delicto_. Anyone who believes that ordinary beat
policemen will usually arrest and charge active-service CIA
operatives within America itself _is_ living in a dream-world, and
will believe anything... >:-}
Remember, _Hunt knew_ that _Nixon knew_ that he (Nixon) was guilty
_right from the start_. So -- once events were set in motion --
there was no way that Nixon could ever escape _actual_ complicity.
He'd 'signed off' on the project, remember.
Nixon -- being wholly predictable -- could then be relied upon to
use every power of the Federal Government to attempt to get off the
hook. All to no avail, because CIA _and_ NSA had the whole
operation _wired_, and could neatly 'blow' any Nixonite maoeuvre
with perfect timing and precision. Any slowing of the action, and
tit-bits of information culd go to Woodward and Bernstein to keep
the pot boiling.
So -- like a giant buzz-saw -- the 'Watergate' game inexorably cut a
chasm right through the edifice of power which Nixon had created,
exposing all the horrors of his political abuses of power.
As in a good Greek tragedy (Howard Hunt was very literate -- CIA
employs more Doctorates and post-grads than any other Agency) Nixon
and his gang were doomed from the outset. There was no way out.
Even when Nixon fired half of the entire CIA Covert Action
Directorate -- 400 people -- in vicious retaliation, this only
worsened matters, as they could then all say and do whatever they
damn well liked, all over 'official' Washington.
America owes a great deal to CIA and NSA -- more than the American
people will ever know.
/ /\ \
--*--<Tony>--*--
Tony Hollick, LightSmith
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/la-agora (LA-Agora Conference)
http://www.agora.demon.co.uk (Agora Home Page, Rainbow Bridge Foundation)
http://www.nwb.net/nwc (NorthWest Coalition Against Malicious Harrassment)
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<EOT>