Richard Nixon’s grand jury testimony, given in 1975 after he resigned as a result of the Watergate Scandal, and was given a pardon by Gerald Ford in 1974, shows the same Richard Nixon we know–manipulative as always, feeling sorry for himself, and avoiding responsibility for ANYTHING! The National Archives and the Richard Nixon Presidential Library released new evidence a few days ago.
He is a master of the filibuster, as his party has been conducting in recent years in the Senate!
He claims to have no recollection of lots of details, even though he was the master detail man in the Presidency!
Nixon tries to explain away the famous 18 and a half minute gap as maybe a blank spot never erased!
Nixon spent a lot of time in the 298 pages of grand jury testimony talking about his love of foreign affairs, and in complaints about the brutal nature of politics, which he, of course, heavily contributed to!
Imagine if he was around in the age of the internet and blogs and the 24 hour news cycle, when he complained at the time about constant assault from the electronic news media for 30 minutes per evening!
Nixon portrays himself as the victim , a favored tactic of Sarah Palin and other Republicans today who love to attack the media for exposing their fallacies and shortcomings!
He also talks about his fragile health, emphasizing that he could die any minute because of his trouble in the fall of 1974 with leg phlebitis.
So he wants pity, and to be given a pass, and is insulted that he was not given one!
Reading Nixon should make us aware of the dangers of selecting for presidential nominations or elections ANY candidate who makes himself out to be a victim, who has demonstrated lack of ethics, who has obvious mental problems, who is ill informed, who says inappropriate things in debates, who acts strangely in ways that we can see–in other words, ALL of the GOP candidates except Jon Huntsman, Mitt Romney, and Ron Paul! And this includes a much rumored candidate, who thankfully, did not run–Sarah Palin!