I’m presently reading a book by Seymour Hersch, “The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House,” which is focused on Henry Kissinger and his years in the Nixon administration.  Just another attempt on my part to grasp a better understanding of “how we got here” in relation to this America I love which seems to be self-destructing.  I still remember JFK warning us about the “enemy within” and that is precisely what will undo our standing as the “leader of the free world” if “we the people” don’t soon come to our senses and reverse the “tilting” to the “right” which began under Nixon but hit “full throttle” with the election of Ronald Reagan.  Studying the Nixon administration is VERY interesting and Hersch does a great (and thorough – over 1000 e pages) job laying out all the details that went into the Nixon White House.  As I’m reading the book (I’m about half way through at this point) I can’t help but feel that everything I’ve read in the past suggesting it was the CIA that “did Nixon in” is true.  Nixon AND Kissinger were motivated by “self” and they both appear to me, as I’m reading this, as  being paranoid to the “nth” degree.

In fact, Kissinger’s self-serving manipulation of people REALLY reminds me of what I’ve read about Dick Cheney.  It’s really a bit scary the more I find out about some of the people who’ve been “in charge” of our nation in the past 40 years.  I can see clearly why the “founders” were so adamant about putting “checks and balances” into the constitution and it worries me more as I wonder how many Americans really understand that the present day republican strategy is to circumvent those checks and balances any way they can.  Their beliefs will NEVER garner a majority without somehow “jobbing” the system – and, the expertise in doing that seems to have gained serious momentum during the Nixon years.  In the Nixon White House both the President and Kissinger were not only terribly disingenuous with “we the people” but, also with their own cabinet members.  It’s really much easier for me to see where Nixon could have received the mantra “Tricky Dick” from his own team members!

Take for example Viet Nam.  Now, for the sake of full disclosure, I have to admit that by the time Nixon took the oath of office I was officially part of the “anti-war” group that he so despised.  I had actually enlisted in the Marines in 1967 only to be discharged after the doctor took a second look at my shattered knee during the final physical.  It took me about another year to realize that the United States was lying about every part of this “fiasco” and, as my high school classmates began to die in Nam I became a member of the protesting students of the “day.”  As I read this book and see the evidence of how Nixon and Kissinger manipulated the media, their own associates, and anyone else interested into thinking they were extracting us from the ill-advised “war” all the while as they were ordering expansion into Cambodia and Laos which only accomplished accelerating the number of human victims to their quest for a political saving grace I feel a return of the anger which engulfed me in the late sixties and early seventies.  Despite the fact I was medically discharged from the Marines without participating in the war, Vietnam had a profound impact on my life.  It angers me to this day that Kissinger and Nixon were not only lying to the American public, they were lying to a large portion of their own cabinet.  The hundreds of thousands of lives lost were nothing more to them than “collateral damage.”

Nixon was so paranoid that he was wiretapping EVERYONE including HIMSELF!  Of course, it was the public’s learning of the “White House tapes” that ultimately did Nixon in – regarding his legal confrontation over the Watergate break-in and ensuing coverup – but, based on all I’ve read over the past few years, it’s reasonable to me to conclude that the CIA (in cahoots with the elite Eastern “oil” establishment) were at the very least “anxious” to get Nixon out of the White House.  Nixon had his close inner circle while important members of his cabinet – Secretary’s of Defense and State, for example – were reduced to superficial roles that included periodic humiliation at the hands of Nixon and Kissinger during any type of significant negotiation – it seems as if both Nixon and Kissinger were more worried about making sure they got credit for any successes than the successes themselves.  Neither man was shy about taking credit for someone else’s idea and they weren’t shy about finding out what others were thinking.  Not only was Nixon wiretapping his own cabinet members and their assistants, but he was wiretapping news reporters and Kissinger suspected Nixon was wiretapping him as well.

Additionally, as has seemingly become American custom, members of Nixon’s cabinet (and Nixon himself) considered political survival and expediency over principal in virtually every tough situation they faced.  For example, it’s hard to estimate how many human beings died as the result of Nixon and Kissinger’s attempt to “save face” in Viet Nam – in a war they were obligated to end (based on their own “promises” and the voters “wishes”).  (Remind you of anything??? ie Iraq and Afghanistan?)  Nixon and Kissinger were involved with the SALT 1 negotiations which were attempting to curb the spread of nuclear weapons – where they ended up accelerating the “arms race” instead of curbing it, they were involved in actually blocking Soviet Union and Egyptian attempts to create peace in the Middle East (anything that The Soviet Union was involved with was “taboo” – again, sound familiar?), they were actively pursuing the overthrow of democratically elected governments around the world (ie Salvador Allende in Chile – this seems like a broken American “record” – as today we are apparently doing the same thing in Ukraine – that is, supporting a tyrant in order to block a democratically elected government that is unresponsive to “our” wishes – some estimates suggest our CIA undermining as many as 50 elected governments since WW II), and, at home, they were doing everything in their power to curb the rights of protestors to freely assemble and express their frustration with the “Military Industrial Complex.”

Many of the “operatives” who were getting their “feet wet” in the Nixon White House are among the right wing extremists who are taking America further “down the drain” as I write this piece tonight.  One of the most powerful is Roger Ailes who has become the head of GOP TV – sometimes referred to as Fox “news.”  I guess it will be up to History to determine the damage this one member of Nixon’s “dirty tricks” team has been able to cause over the years.  Fox is, as far as I can tell, (as a leader of the republican “sound machine) a proponent of the Joseph Goebbels’ “Big Lie Theory” which was the propaganda scheme which propelled the Third Reich into power in 1930’s Germany.  The philosophy: if you repeat a LIE over and over enough times, people will believe it’s the truth – is clearly the basis of Fox’s “reporting” and, unfortunately, the American public STILL has too many unsuspecting dupes to cause a backlash that will (I believe eventually it will happen) put Fox, and those associated with it, out of business.

In Nixon’s quest for a “second term” – it seems reelection was the motivation behind almost every decision (and, yes, I “get” that our system is “infected” by acceptance of that “strategy”)- led to fiasco’s around the world that were almost as disgusting as the Nixon/Kissinger actions re Viet Nam.  For example the Nixon/Kissinger fear of the Soviet Union led them to make terrible decisions regarding the Middle East (Jordan) and Africa leading to many unnecessary casualties and turning many people against America (needlessly).  Then there was Pakistan and the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Bengali’s in the early 1070’s as Nixon and Kissinger turned a “blind eye” to what the Pakistani leader Aghar Khan was doing because he was their “conduit” into China – which Nixon and Kissinger felt was critical to winning the 1972 election.  One decision after another led to massive casualties in places most Americans would never even imagine being, and it was all based on political expediency.  I’m sure many in America today would argue that this was simply “politics as usual.”  I would argue that the Nixon/Kissinger belief that the “end justifies the means” is morally bankrupt and the very image of America around the world, as other “leaders” have followed the same “strategy,”  has been undermined regarding our standing as the “leader of the free world.”

It was during the Nixon/Kissinger years – I believe – that the expertise in manipulating the press became routine in American politics.  It was the attempt to control “leaks” which led to much of the illegal wiretapping that was ordered out of the White House and carried out by our FBI and, unfortunately, I believe The Bush/Cheney regime took up where Nixon/Kissinger left off and we’re seeing remnants of that same policy today under the presidency of Barack Obama – as “whistleblowers” are attacked by our Justice department.  This is the Justice Department that was clearly targeted during the George W Bush/Dick Cheney regime (again, many of the Nixon “holdovers” were in that administration) as a potential political “ally” instead of being the non-partisan source of impartial justice it was designed to be – and, I haven’t seen much evidence that the department has been “fixed” under Obama/Holder.  It doesn’t seem to matter what party controls the White House, but the word “transparency” seems to be nothing more than the hope of us naive liberals.  It’s almost as if a willingness to accept DISHONESTY is a requirement for participation in America’s government.  (what the people don’t know can’t hurt them – right?)

So, in the quest for a second term President Nixon pissed off just about everyone (including Kissinger, based on his memoirs).  Both Nixon and Kissinger were busy trying to take credit for all the “great” decisions that led to the 1972 electoral landslide win for Nixon.  In fact, it was Kissinger’s enormous ambition that led Nixon to “turn” on him as they “sparred” over who should get credit for their “foreign policy successes.”  Of course, when all the “you know what” hit the fan after Watergate, neither Nixon nor Kissinger were so eager to take credit for many of the REAL decisions as they became public.  (like the wiretapping) All the taping exposed what was REALLY going on in their White House, and it wasn’t “pretty.”

“Conservatives” were unhappy with the rapprochement with China because they felt we “gave away” Taiwan, the SALT 1 treaty with The Soviet Union actually accelerated the arms race, they (Nixon/Kissinger) blew a chance for an Egyptian/Israeli peace accord because of their paranoia re The Soviet Union,  hundreds of thousands of people around the world lost their lives because of Nixon and Kissinger’s willingness to support tyrants, and, as all the wiretapping evidence emerged, even members of their own party had a hard time supporting them.  Sadly, the “Nixon tapes” showed Nixon to be a racist, anti-Semitic, and alcoholic, and seemingly a paranoid “madman.”  It’s really kind of scary reading about some of the possible scenarios that were considered in the meetings with his closest advisers.  I guess ambition is a required “quality” of people who reach the highest levels of our government – but, what I’m most tired of is the lack of moral principal from people who publicly profess their self righteousness as the reason people should support them.  (I “get” that this is truly a bipartisan issue)

We need more reporters like Seymour Hersch who meticulously investigate and report what they find – accurately.  I checked on other books he’s written (I’ve read “Chain of Command” and heartily recommend it) and see there is one that delves into the private life of President Kennedy – apparently not so complimentary.  It will soon be in the pile of books next to my bed on the  “to read list.”  If you’ve been around my blog much, you know that I have been a strong ANTI-REPUBLICAN proponent since the day George W Bush ordered troops into Iraq.  However, you won’t find me arguing in favor of many democrats either. I’m coming to grips with the reality that my main motivation to argue against the republican party is that its “base” seems to be the “Christian ‘Right'” which really gives me pause.  I have a hard time understanding how anyone who calls themselves a Christian can support a political party that stands for what the republican party stands for – I believe most of the “rank and file” Christians have no idea what republican “leaders” are really up to.  (I’ve got to emphasize again, I’m not arguing in favor of the democratic party!)

To me, Iraq was Deja Vu all over again regarding Viet Nam.  In fact, as it’s turned out Bush initiated TWO Viet Nam type fiasco’s that are taking MANY years to get out of (the old “peace with honor” routine America seems to think is a “right” and was the driving force behind the Nixon/Kissinger “strategy” in Viet Nam) – as I’m writing this, we (America) have been MIRED in Afghanistan for 13 LONG years – and counting.  The “leading characters” in the Bush war “machine” were men who got their “feet wet” in the Nixon White House – Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney (among others).  It’s almost as if they learned NOTHING.  Not only did the Iraq and Afghanistan wars bring back bad memories for me, but they (the Bush/Cheney regime) included the wiretapping and the attacks on the press (and the war protestors) as well.   Amid all the lawbreaking, Nixon famously said, “If the President does it, it MUST be legal.”  It took a major effort to prove him wrong, but Cheney and Rumsfeld didn’t seem to “get the message.”  The Bush/Cheney administration took the lawbreaking to new heights and, of course, (with the infamous words, “we’re looking forward instead of back”)  Barack Obama set “we the people” back 40+ years in our attempt to hold our leaders to the same standard that we hold ourselves.  (do you find it as ironic as I do that republicans are complaining that Obama’s not enforcing the laws?  That’s one issue where I can certainly agree with them!)

The bottom line here, to me, is that the “dirty tricks” of the Nixon administration (I didn’t even write about the “Plumbers” – the operatives hired to secretly break into places they shouldn’t be) have become routine in American politics.  The philosophy of “The end justifies the means” is simply normal republican operating procedure.  Since the days of Nixon/Kissinger the illegal activity of the republican party has mushroomed.  From Iran/Contra to outing a CIA agent to authorizing TORTURE to MULTIPLE examples of LYING to Congress (Kissinger was not shy about that one) the Nixon administration set the tone for a party that seems almost Mafioso to me.

Again, I’m finally gaining some clarity in my own thinking;  How can someone who believes in Jesus support an organization with those credentials (republicans)? However, Barack Obama’s first “Chief of Staff,” Rahm Emanuel, referred to LIBERALS as “f@#*ing retards.”  Those of us who think in terms of Jesus have a struggle to find a political philosophy – in today’s America – that is inspirational.  Personally, I refer back to the days of the “New Deal” and see a nation whose government was working from the “bottom up.”  That would be a very welcome sight to me after enduring almost 45 years of the (top down) “Trickle Down” philosophy of government.  People like Elizabeth Warren,  Bernie Sanders, Jeff Merkley, and Alan Grayson are out there (and they’re democrats) but they are even fighting the leaders of their own party who are basically (at least in my eyes) a little bit less “corporatist” than their republican brethren.  If that doesn’t change, I fear for our (my) nation!

I’ve spent a lot of time recently thinking about how I could write something that reflects why I seem to be so “against” the republican party.  Right now I’m reading a book by Seymour Hersch about Henry Kissinger and his role in the Nixon administration – which simply confirms again that I believe republicans have continually been WORSE than democrats for our nation.  I’m also in a Bible study on the book of Romans which has helped me to understand that my biggest concern about the republican party is that the so-called “Christian right” is the “base” of the party.  Paul’s words in Romans confirms (at least to me) that the actions of the “Christian right” is turning more and more people off to the message of Jesus, which, Christians we’re supposed to support.  That all being said, the words of the Los Angeles Clipper’s owner Donald Sterling this past week – allegedly racist comments to his girlfriend suggesting that she not “bring blacks to my games” – and, the overwhelming reaction to them has really given me “pause.”

While I TOTALLY agree that Sterling’s words were “abhorrent” as many in the National Basketball Association characterized them – I just have to wonder where everyone’s been as we’ve watched the emergence of the “Tea Party” during the years of Barack Obama’s Presidency.  Where was all the “media attention” when people like Jim DeMint (then a sitting U.S. Senator) were speaking to a “Tea Party” crowd in Washington D.C. where there was a seemingly plethora of signs depicting Barack Obama in a wide range of racially derogatory manners?  Why didn’t anyone notice, in the Presidential debates of 2008, John McCain refer to then Senator Obama as “That one.”  I could go on and on, I’ve heard anywhere from outright racist comments to an unending flow of “code words” as I’ve listened to people like Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, not to mention the many REPUBLICAN politicians who have been unable to hide their HATE of this president.

The now infamous “Koch brothers” – who were busily hiding “under the radar” until President Obama was elected – have been totally UNABLE to hide how they “really feel” about a Black president in the “White House.”  Despite the FACT that their net worth has essentially DOUBLED during Obama’s presidency (from $50 BILLION to over $100 BILLION!) they continue to push the message that Obama is a “socialist” or a “fascist” or a “communist” or he’s “bad for business” or etc. etc.  From my perspective, I’ve got some complaints myself about President Obama, but you would think that virtually EVERY where I’ve been disappointed, people like the Koch’s would be cheering our president.

However, the sad REALITY is that the Koch brothers and (presumably) many of their “brethren” who are helping to supply the endless supply of “Super Pac” money (enabled by our right wing Supreme Court via the “Citizens United” debacle of a decision) to right wing republicans are directly “out of” the remnants of the John Birch society.  Charles and David Koch’s Dad was a founding member of the John Birch Society which called President Eisenhower a “communist.”  I hope you can see how far we’ve come as a nation – today’s republican agenda is pretty much answerable to these two brothers.  When one of the Kochs was on a Libertarian ticket for the presidency back many years ago (I believe it was David Koch) their “philosophy” rang “true” with maybe 1 or 2 percent of Americans.  They’ve been “pressing” their agenda ever since.

And, anyone who doesn’t understand that the Kochs are dangerously smart, in my opinion, are fooling themselves.  They’ve managed to “fund” several “think tanks” that spend their time promoting the Koch’s right wing libertarian philosophy, they’re busy doling out HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of dollars to right wing “Tea Party” candidates as  they continue to push the republican party farther to the “right,” and – probably worse – they’ve funded a group which goes by the moniker ALEC which has infiltrated state and local legislative bodies across America to “provide” pre-written legislation to legislators who (presumably) are unable to write their own stuff.  For example, ALEC is the “force” behind the “Stand your ground” laws passed in something like half of America’s states which allowed George Zimmerman to get away with murdering Trayvon Martin.  They are firmly behind the ANTI- WORKER initiatives which are taking away worker’s rights in one state after another (see, Scott Walker in Wisconsin).  They are funding politicians from the local levels all the way to the national level.  In my mind, they are without peer in the area of political power grabbers.

The other thing I have to mention about the Kochs and their affiliation with the John Birch Society is that “Birchers” are famously part of the white supremacy movement in America.  I subscribe to a group called the Southern Poverty Law Center which is the most significant force against the “white supremacist” movement I’m aware of in America and they point out some glaringly scary statistics since the election of our first Black President.  The “white supremacist” groups have grown at an alarming rate.  (I would suggest you check them out, and if you feel the same way I do, give them your financial support)  So, getting back to my main point – the Koch brothers are much more significant to the future of this nation than Donald Sterling and, yet, you rarely hear anyone in the so-called “liberal media” pointing out the racist nature of their actions against Obama.

In reality, most people knew what kind of person Sterling was long before his jilted girl friend (who must be 40 – 50 years younger than him) decided to make public his ranting during a “lover’s quarrel.”  I can only imagine that he chose not to respond to some kind of blackmail threat on her part and now he’s a piranha in the world of professional basketball.  I “get that” and I’m in no way attempting to defend Sterling (I thought he should have been “gone” long ago) – but where’s the uproar over the racist remarks of Rush Limbaugh, for example?  In my mind, he’s much more OVERT and dangerous than Sterling.  Limbaugh has an audience of millions and Sterling is an owner of a basketball team.  I agree that the NBA has done the “right thing” in banning Sterling, I just don’t understand why the silence against all the other “personalities” who are making racist comments?

Until “we the people” understand that that assault on our fundamental values goes much deeper than one ignorant sports BILLIONAIRE this kind of stuff will continue.  Again, Sterling is “small potatoes” compared to the Kochs!  Why is their racism tolerated?  Why is Rush Limbaugh tolerated?  Why is Sean Hannity tolerated?  Why is Bill O’Reilly tolerated?  Why is Mitch McConnell (republican senate minority leader) tolerated?  and John Boehner and John McCain and Lindsey Graham, and on and on?  Why is the assault on average American workers tolerated?  I think I know the answer – because “we the people” are so fragmented by irrelevant issues that we continue to tolerate a political process that is TOTALLY corrupted by money to the point where our “liberal media” is participating in our own demise.  Isn’t it time for “we the people” to STAND UP and return to the general attitude that America is a “we” nation?  I believe there will soon be a time, either voluntarily or through necessity, that “we the people” will be demanding a return to the principles of the “New Deal.”  (That’s exactly what the Kochs and their compatriots HATE)  A big part of that process will be the result of America deciding that for us to grow as a nation we MUST acknowledge that the battle against racism is not OVER and it goes way DEEPER than the words of Donald Sterling!

Since the days of Richard Nixon republicans have been busily cramming a “secret” agenda down the throats of the American people.  (I believe both Ronald Reagan and George W Bush were much more damaging to America than Nixon, but that’s a story for another time)  And, the Christian movement was commandeered by the false promises regarding the abortion issue.  So, many Christians are supporting a political party in which they have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes.  (to my republican friends, I’m not lobbying for democrats)  This racism in the republican party is NO SECRET to anyone paying attention.  I’ll end my rant tonight by asking again – why such a “stir” for the words of Donald Sterling when the words of Limbaugh, Hannity, O’Reilly, and the rest of the republican “front,” (which includes the actions of the Kochs and their brethren) which are much more racially damaging, continue to go unchallenged?