SCANDALS AT THE TOP
PART I
Last time I showed you how the widespread belief that Republicans are the best shepherds of our national’s economy is utter nonsense—as any look at our past proves convincingly. Now let’s move on to another enduring fable that just won’t die, no matter the evidence all around us, within plain view. It is? That Republicans are our solid citizens, the guardians of our morals, the law and order folks whom you can trust to govern us relatively free of vices. When election time comes around, you are advised to look for the candidate with the “R” (for respectable?) next to his or her name, and put your mark there.
Should we? Are they really guardians of the national morality?
Again, let’s look to the top, the most prominent persons in high office, their political parties, and how well they have managed the public trust…how well they’ve “served” their country. Start by Googling American presidential political scandals, of which there are a truly scandalous number. Let’s just stop at the top thirteen most prominent and dub them the “The Dirty Baker’s Dozen.” We will start with the most recent and then wander back in time to the post Civil War era, when the GOP was young and almost innocent.
Since the project will take some time and more space, I’ll break it up into a three-part series. The president presiding over each sordid scandal will be identified by party, with an “R” for Republican and a “D” for Democrat. We start with the present occupant of the White House, who has amassed more in his brief tenure than all the presidents otherwise mentioned.
Scandals
1-4. A Trump Sampler (R)
We start with the all-time champion of presidential scandalous behavior, Donald J. Trump, a grifter without conscience, who, for the sake of brevity, is charged here with a mere four of countless violations of the public trust, all committed within less than four years in office. We’ll select Russian Collusion, Ukraine Extortion, Stormy Daniels Payoff, and the Pudendum Grab ‘Em Tape—two of them treasonous and two of them sexual in nature. (He’s an equal opportunity offender.) We’ll pass on violations of the Emolument Clause of the Constitution because Senate Republicans have declared the document null and void. That would also clear him of his abuse of power and contempt of Congress charges in his impeachment trial as well. Trump escaped impeachment conviction, rescued by his Senate Peep Squad, in a capon caper that defied reason. But onward and downward.
5. Watergate (R)
Nixon’s power play to destroy the domestic opposition party through burglary and document theft by unconstitutional means was foiled at D.C.’s Watergate hotel. The cover-up involved a lengthy trial with some Republicans joining Democrats in finding Nixon guilty of abuse of power. Under threat of impeachment, and with the Constitution then in force, Nixon resigned. Sixty-nine of his associates were indicted, and 48 were convicted of crimes. The stain remains, a standard against all other scandals are measured.
Knowing you’ve got a lot to read in preparation for the upcoming vote, we’ll take a break here and be back with Part Two and Scandal 6 in a couple of days. In the meantime, try to remain sane, suspended as we are in an acid-induced nightmare of Franz Kafka’s.