YOU'LL LEARN SOMETHING NEW FROM 'WATERGATE PLUS 30'.Byline: David Kronke Television Critic `One of the things that never occurred to me when I went over to the job was that the counsel of the president needed to be a criminal lawyer,'' recalls John Dean, who served that function for Richard Nixon while the Watergate scandal Watergate scandal (1972–74) Political scandal involving illegal activities by Pres. Richard Nixon's administration. In June 1972 five burglars were arrested after breaking into the Democratic Party's national headquarters at the Watergate Hotel complex in Washington, unfolded. He adds drolly, ``I came to realize in that particular administration it was essential.'' After 30 years, it would seem that Watergate would be pretty well tapped out in terms of revelations. Nonetheless, along comes tonight's PBS PBS in full Public Broadcasting Service Private, nonprofit U.S. corporation of public television stations. PBS provides its member stations, which are supported by public funds and private contributions rather than by commercials, with educational, cultural, documentary, ``Watergate Plus 30: Shadow of History.'' And even though several journalists attending the recent Television Critics Association The Television Critics Association (or TCA) is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian journalists and columnists who cover television programming. They meet in the Los Angeles area twice a year, in January and July, in conferences known as Winter and Summer were openly wondering what more there was to say entering the press conference for the documentary, even the skeptics were engaged in what turned out to be PBS' most provocative session. Dean was joined by Sam Dash of the Senate Watergate Committee (which, he proudly noted, uncovered the fact of Nixon's amateur audio adventures, not the Washington Post) and Jeb Magruder, who ran Richard Nixon's Committee to Re-Elect the President The Committee to Re-elect the President, often abbreviated to CRP or CREEP, was a Nixon White House fundraising organization. This organization was found to have employed money laundering and slush funds. It was also involved in the Watergate Scandal. in 1972 (its acronym, appropriately enough, was CREEP). For the first time, the documentary reveals the claims of Magruder that he heard Nixon ordered the break-in of the Watergate offices of Democratic party chairman Larry O'Brien
Lawrence "Larry" Francis O'Brien, Jr. (July 7 1917 – September 28, 1990) was one of the United States Democratic Party's leading electoral strategists when, for more than two . Magruder and Dean broke from Nixon to testify against the White House, and both did prison time for their efforts. The three panelists recalled G. Gordon Liddy's crackpot crack·pot n. An eccentric person, especially one with bizarre ideas. adj. Foolish; harebrained: a crackpot notion. idea to smear Democrats by planting prostitutes outside the 1972 Democratic Convention. Magruder added, ``The worst part - he comes up with an expense account for $7,000 ... . He said, '(That) was for me to test them all out to see if they were qualified.' I turned down the expense.'' Dean added, ``(Liddy) says, 'These are the finest women from Baltimore.' '' Dash pointed out that in 1972, ``(Nixon's) theory was that they were the 'true' Americans, the 'true' patriots, that a Democratic victory ... would destroy America as they saw it. And the pendulum has swung again. Our (current) Attorney General (John Ashcroft John David Ashcroft (born May 9 1942) is an American politician who was the 79th United States Attorney General. He served during the first term of President George W. Bush from 2001 until 2005. Ashcroft was previously the Governor of Missouri (1985 – 1993) and a U.S. ) has pretty much said the same thing that they were saying at the time of Watergate: That anybody who disagrees or criticizes what he's trying to do in the Patriot Act is un-American, giving aid to the enemy. ``One of the most dangerous things in the world is an American presidency that so misunderstands the nature of our country and our Bill of Rights that dissent is seen as un-American, when our whole country is built on the fact that the American people are the ultimate sovereigns and dissent is healthy.'' In the end, Watergate represented a victory for America and its Constitution - Nixon, seeking to squelch squelch v. squelched, squelch·ing, squelch·es v.tr. 1. To crush by or as if by trampling; squash. 2. it, was instead squelched squelch v. squelched, squelch·ing, squelch·es v.tr. 1. To crush by or as if by trampling; squash. 2. . But Dash added, ``I'm not sure there is anybody in the Congress today, if the president abused the power the way Nixon abused his power and actually engaged in crimes, that there is the kind of leadership that would take it on. And I'm not sure it could be handled in the press.'' The men also tackled Watergate's two biggest mysteries: the identity of the Washington Post's critical source ``Deep Throat,'' and the person who erased those 18 infamous minutes of tape. ``I was in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of working on a book,'' said Magruder, ``when the first draft of (Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's) book 'All the President's Men' came in. Not only was Deep Throat not in any article, but also, Deep Throat was not in the first draft. The first draft was sent back to Washington as dull and boring. And in the second draft, Deep Throat appeared.'' As to the latter: Dean remembered, ``The panel of experts came in with a report (saying the erasure ERASURE, contracts, evidence. The obliteration of a writing; it will render it void or not under the same circumstances as an interlineation. (q.v.) Vide 5 Pet. S. C. R. 560; 11 Co. 88; 4 Cruise, Dig. 368; 13 Vin. Ab. 41; Fitzg. 207; 5 Bing. R. 183; 3 C. & P. 65; 2 Wend. R. 555; 11 Conn. ) took five to nine passes to erase it, that it was a very awkward job. (Those) who had access to the machine were very mechanical (except) Nixon. I remember he used to have trouble getting the top off his medicine bottle. I would suffer watching the president trying to do mechanical things. When I saw that report, there was only one person who could conceivably have taken that many efforts.'' David Kronke, (818) 713-3638 david.kronke(at)dailynews.com WATERGATE PLUS 30: SHADOWS OF HISTORY What: Documentary on the televised hearings that helped bring down the Nixon presidency. Where: KCET KCET Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (Japan) KCET Kamaraj College of Engineering and Technology . When: 8 to 10 tonight. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: ``Watergate Plus 30: Shadows of History'' includes the story of Jeb Magruder, shown testifying before the Senate in 1973. He says President Nixon ordered the Watergate break-in. Associated Press |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion