The Parallel is Watergate

[Guest guest]

The Parallel is Watergate

by Marc Ash

t r u t h o u t | January 20, 2002

 

In the spring of 1974 the nation was torn by war, the White House was

occupied by a rather dictatorial Republican President and there was a Scandal

brewing that threatened to bring him down. Twenty eight years later the

ghosts of Watergate have returned to the Oval Office with a vengeance. Now,

as then, it will all come down to two small but very terrifying questions:

What Did He Know and When Did He Know It?

 

In the beginning, as the first reports of a break-in at the Watergate complex

surfaced, the White House took a firm stand: no one connected to the

Administration would have been involved. But, day by day, first with one

revelation, then another, Nixon's inner circle began to crumble, and the core

of the White House defence strategy emerged. It was based on one premise that

had to be defended at all costs: " the President had no prior knowledge of any

crime. " Clearly, Karl Rove, Karen Hughes and Ari Fleischer will employ the

same strategy.

 

If guilt by association is good enough to bring down a president, George Bush

is gone. Ken Lay and George Bush were heavily involved both financially and

socially and made no secret of it. Access to the White House for " Kenny Boy "

as he was affectionately called by Bush was in a word, unprecedented. To the

extent that a private concern was actually allowed to sit in and contribute

to the very planning of the policies from which they would profit -- not once

but six times. Moreover, it is now clear that Ken Lay was more than a donor

to George W. Bush, he was a 'stakehorse'. Supplying cash, a private jet

during the 2000 campaign -- even financing the Florida recount effort that

reversed the national popular vote. Clearly Kenny Boy had a vested interest

George W. Bush.

 

Ultimately, evidence of criminal involvement will be the standard by which

Mr. Bush is judged, but the parallels to those events twenty eight years ago

are nothing short of Shakespearean.

 

Against a backdrop of war and political controversy Richard Nixon and George

Bush both established reputations for being aloof, autocratic and downright

vindictive. Each espoused a conservatism akin to fundamentalism.

 

As each scandal broke, the reaction from the White House -- the same:

distance, indignation, and a call for immediate investigation. Now, as then,

each day brings new revelations contradicting the denials. So too, just as

Rose Mary Woods was forced to explain how critical minuets of taped White

House phone conversations were mysteriously erased, Anderson Accounting must

explain how critical accounting records were mysteriously deleted.

 

In the end Nixon was never directly implicated -- the tide just rose around

him. Now twenty eight years later as Mr. Bush stands on the beach, he too

must ponder a tide that is rolling in.