We're going to [put] more of these little Negro bastards on the welfare rolls at $2,400 a family—let people like Pat Moynihan ... believe in all that crap. But I don’t believe in it. Work, work—throw 'em off the rolls. That's the key ... I have the greatest affection for [blacks], but I know they're not going to make it for 500 years. They aren't. You know it, too. The Mexicans are a different cup of tea. They have a heritage. At the present time they steal, they're dishonest, but they do have some concept of family life. They don't live like a bunch of dogs, which the Negroes do live like.
This could be something from a Donald Trump stump speech, or his first press conference.
It isn't.
Instead, these are the words of Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the United States.
I've been thinking a lot recently about Trump and Nixon. There are a lot of parallels. Both came to power in very close elections. Both were known for their strident political views on the threats facing America. Both were convinced that there were enemies out to get them. Both railed against the media. Both inspired terror on the left. Both have/had foreign policies apparently based on the 'madman' theory, whereby your opponents have no idea what you will do. Both campaigned on the idea of a broken, lawless America, defeated at home and abroad, and promised they alone could solve the problems.
The parallels between Nixon and Trump are so scary it seems to be obvious. Indeed, there are even stories that Nixon wrote to Trump in the late 1980s, encouraging him to make a bid for the Presidency.
What's more worrying is that Nixon was more than happy to use and abuse his power. State agencies were employed to pursue political opponents. The law was broken, firstly to get Nixon elected (he sabotaged peace talks between America and North Vietnam, to prevent the Democrats from taking advantage of an end to the Vietnam War), and then many other times after, as Nixon's attacks on his opponents crossed the line that divides robust debate from intimidation. Ultimately, this zeal to win, and defeat his 'enemies,' was to be his undoing. A group of men were caught trying to break into the Democratic Party headquarters, and the ensuing paper trail eventually drove Nixon from office.
But it is the main difference between Nixon and Trump that is perhaps the scariest. Nixon won two elections, the second a massive landslide, in which his opponent was crushed. But both these victories came before his darker side was known to the American public. When it was eventually uncovered, laid bare in Nixon's fight to the death with the Washington Post, the outcry was too much. He became the only US President to resign from the office.
But Trump's flaws are already out in the open. The reason I know he is like Nixon is because he has made no attempt to hide his dark side. It did nothing to hinder his election, may even have been the reason he was elected.
In a week's time, a man singularly unfit to hold the office of President of the United States will become the leader of the free world. Unlike with Nixon, America knew beforehand, and did not stop him. They can't now be surprised if it turns out he is the monster many fear him to be. It was all there, from the start.
I'm going to end on a note of optimism. Nixon got away with being President for six long years. But, ultimately, he was brought down. A man who won over 60% of the American electorate to his cause in 1972 had been forced to resign by 1974. Let's hope the USA doesn't let us down in the end this time either.
Some more Nixon gems are below. The bottom is particularly amusing, in light of the storm over Trump's private life that has erupted this week.
I've been thinking a lot recently about Trump and Nixon. There are a lot of parallels. Both came to power in very close elections. Both were known for their strident political views on the threats facing America. Both were convinced that there were enemies out to get them. Both railed against the media. Both inspired terror on the left. Both have/had foreign policies apparently based on the 'madman' theory, whereby your opponents have no idea what you will do. Both campaigned on the idea of a broken, lawless America, defeated at home and abroad, and promised they alone could solve the problems.
The parallels between Nixon and Trump are so scary it seems to be obvious. Indeed, there are even stories that Nixon wrote to Trump in the late 1980s, encouraging him to make a bid for the Presidency.
What's more worrying is that Nixon was more than happy to use and abuse his power. State agencies were employed to pursue political opponents. The law was broken, firstly to get Nixon elected (he sabotaged peace talks between America and North Vietnam, to prevent the Democrats from taking advantage of an end to the Vietnam War), and then many other times after, as Nixon's attacks on his opponents crossed the line that divides robust debate from intimidation. Ultimately, this zeal to win, and defeat his 'enemies,' was to be his undoing. A group of men were caught trying to break into the Democratic Party headquarters, and the ensuing paper trail eventually drove Nixon from office.
But it is the main difference between Nixon and Trump that is perhaps the scariest. Nixon won two elections, the second a massive landslide, in which his opponent was crushed. But both these victories came before his darker side was known to the American public. When it was eventually uncovered, laid bare in Nixon's fight to the death with the Washington Post, the outcry was too much. He became the only US President to resign from the office.
But Trump's flaws are already out in the open. The reason I know he is like Nixon is because he has made no attempt to hide his dark side. It did nothing to hinder his election, may even have been the reason he was elected.
In a week's time, a man singularly unfit to hold the office of President of the United States will become the leader of the free world. Unlike with Nixon, America knew beforehand, and did not stop him. They can't now be surprised if it turns out he is the monster many fear him to be. It was all there, from the start.
I'm going to end on a note of optimism. Nixon got away with being President for six long years. But, ultimately, he was brought down. A man who won over 60% of the American electorate to his cause in 1972 had been forced to resign by 1974. Let's hope the USA doesn't let us down in the end this time either.
Some more Nixon gems are below. The bottom is particularly amusing, in light of the storm over Trump's private life that has erupted this week.
"I want to be sure he [the next head of the IRS] is a ruthless son of a bitch, that he will do what he's told, that every income tax return I want to see I see, that he will go after our enemies and not go after our friends."
"You see: homosexuality, dope, immorality in general—these are the enemies of strong societies. That's why the communists and the left-wingers are pushing the stuff; they're trying to destroy us."
"You know, it's a funny thing, every one of the bastards that are out for legalizing marijuana is Jewish. What the Christ is the matter with the Jews, Bob? What is the matter with them? I suppose it is because most of them are psychiatrists."
"Look, people get drunk ... People chase girls. And the point is, it's a hell of a lot better for them to get drunk than to take drugs. It's better to chase girls than boys."
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