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Watergate & My Crazy Aunt


clueliss

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So The Impeachment of Trump 2.0 - and my ability to pay attention to it due to Covid Pandemic Work From Home World is generating some memories for me.  And I'm returning to my long neglected blog here to record (and share) this one.

I was 9 or 10 years old in 1974.  Fourth Grade.  My parents marriage was dying - Mom Divorced Dad that year.    We moved that summer.  But before we moved, I have this very vivid memory of being highly upset one Saturday morning, because the next Saturday morning cartoon should have been Josie and the Pussycats.  Only it wasn't.  We had live coverage of Watergate Hearings.  Being a fourth grader, I couldn't care less.  And in 1974 small town, wide spot in the road Kansas you had only a few over the air options for TV.  And all of them had the one thing on.  Watergate.  I didn't understand.  Granted, I had no idea how much life was going to change later that year either. 

I also remember my Crazy Aunt.  The maiden aunt who never married, was a teacher at the school for the deaf being rather 'into' all of this.  I remember her cutting out newspaper and magazine articles about Watergate and perhaps Nixon and everything going on.  And hey, 10 year old, thought it was over the top.  I didn't say anything.  I wasn't raised that way.  Mouthing off about that would have gotten me grounded. 

And right now.  At 56 years old.  Watching all of this.  This time.  Because of the world gone sideways.  Because I can pay attention.  And because I am THIS upset about what happened.  About the Insurrection.  About the Abomination that OFM is.  I understand my Crazy Aunt and those Watergate Hearings. 

Now to be honest, part of my wants to say "How many times do you get to watch an Impeachment Trail during your life?"  But then I have to stop myself.  Because the answer is now THREE.  And Nixon came very close to being a fourth.  But I was repulsed by what Clinton did, and the lies - but rather ambivalent about the whole Impeachment.  And the first Trump Impeachment, I checked out on mentally because deep down I didn't want to get invested in something that I didn't think was going anywhere.  And something I didn't think they could prove or change minds about. 

But this time?  This time I'm angry.  And I am invested.  I'm invested because I sat here listening to and later watching during Work From Home on January 6, 2021.  And I cried that day.  And I called out to God - many times.  And I felt fear and confusion I hadn't felt since September 11, 2001.  And because as 2020 wore on, I became increasingly angry at that disgusting excuse for a President and so much time asking in prayer for his removal from office that this time - I'm invested and I'm here for it.

So to my aunt - that because of Covid and her dementia  - I can't explain any of this to - I'm sorry for my 10 year old self not getting it.  Because I get it now.

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HerNameIsBuffy

Posted

I get your aunt, too.

But I also totally get 4th grade you because I still want "long tails and ears for hats" to be business casual so I could live my dream of growing up to be Melody.

I won't even discuss my childhood crush on Richard Nixon.

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MrsBeasley

Posted

I do so wish you would blog more, as does our lovely friend Buffy.

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47of74

Posted

1974 was a year before I came along. 

In Iowa back when I was 9 to 10 in the mid 80s we had four channels - ABC, NBC, CBS, and PBS.  Occasionally more if the weather conditions were just right.  My mom said back when Reagan got shot I wasn't too happy because news about the attempt was all that was on all the channels.  She said five year old me was upset that Mr. Rogers got pushed off TV to cover Reagan.

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turquoise

Posted

I was also 10 that summer. My dad watched as much of the hearings as he could and at the time I thought they were sooooo boring. But I get it now.

 I was at a friend's house the day Nixon resigned and I remember her mom's surprise as she learned the news from the afternoon paper. I also remember my mom's reaction when Ford pardoned Nixon. It was rare to see her get angry, but she was furious.

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PennySycamore

Posted

I was glued to the Watergate hearings and an active member of the Committee for the Impeachment of Richard Nixon at UGA.  I  recall the day that Nixon resigned very well.  I was at work at my summer job doing phone interviews about Georgia public tv for my sociology prof when we heard the news that Nixon was resigning at noon the next day.  A bunch of my friends and I went to the Spaghetti Store in Athens to toast Nixon's resignation at noon.   

Ford should definitely not have pardoned Tricky Dick.  

Harry Truman said of Nixon that Nixon could talk out of both sides of his mouth and lie of them both.  

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47of74

Posted

6 minutes ago, PennySycamore said:

Ford should definitely not have pardoned Tricky Dick.  

Harry Truman said of Nixon that Nixon could talk out of both sides of his mouth and lie of them both.  

It's why I think the pardon power needs a real going over to prevent abuse like we saw with pcff.  I think it should be locked down so that it's not a get out of jail free card like it was with pcff.  And no President should ever be allowed to pardon a predecessor.  That should be left up to Congress.  Maybe if Ford hadn't pardoned that SOB Nixon we wouldn't have had all these problems because Presidents would have learned that they were not above the law.

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clueliss

Posted

@PennySycamore - by the time he resigned/left office -  we had moved and my parents were divorced.  74 was a defining year in my life for many reasons.

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This is bringing back an informal and saucy Nixon-era campaign slogan:  Vote for Nixon in 72! Don't change Dicks in the middle of a screw! 

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