A couple of different folks, starting with Scott Marinoff, have suggested I alert you that the full video record of the Watergate Hearings can be enjoyed (that may not be the right word) at this link. I watched them at the time with way too much fascination.
I couldn't help but thinking as I watched that if I were a Republican serving on that committee, I would have had three conflicting thoughts throughout…
- Nixon and his cronies definitely did some very unethical and illegal things, many of which were also pretty damned foolish…
- If a Democratic administration had done these things, I would be eager to use this opportunity to oust many of them from office and send some of them to prison but…
- A lot of voters in my district want Nixon to remain in office, even if he is a crook. Some love him. Some don't but they don't want the Democrats to have a "win." So I have to defend him at all costs or I will have a primary challenger who will seriously threaten my chances of getting re-elected or ever having a role in my party. I could also lose vital financial support from a lot of wealthy donors who love the guy.
Eventually, the steady drip-drip-drip of revelations of wrongdoing budged Nixon's poll numbers with his supporters…and I like to think that if I were one of those G.O.P. Congressfolks who finally switched and voted against Nixon, it would have been because he was guilty and not just because his popularity was dropping and I felt it was safe to do the right thing.
I have no idea if that will happen this year. Maybe it's no longer possible. All I know is I'm not going to pay as much attention to these hearings as I did to the Watergate ones. I didn't have better things to do with my life in 1973 but I'd like to think I do now.