The Arrogance of Power – The Secret World of Richard Nixon
Posted: 26 Jan 2019, 12:40
I am often very pleasantly surprised at what turns up on the bookshelves of our local community shop. Nearly 650 pages of hardback in unread, mint condition for 50 cents is pretty good value by any standard. “The Arrogance of Power – The Secret World of Richard Nixon� by Anthony Summers makes for fascinating and terrifying bedtime reading considering the comparisons now being made between the present incumbent of the Oval Office and Tricky Dick.
There are clear differences of course, Nixon certainly was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth and had a long political apprenticeship, including the notorious House un-American Activities Committee, before eventually getting the top job.
One difference we must at least be thankful for is that Trump does not drink, or consume quantities of psychoactive prescription drugs, without medical supervision and go into wild ranting drunken rages, terrifying all around him threatening to nuke some despised opponent.
Similarities abound in the areas of personal relationships, demeanour (or lack of it), ruthless ambition and innate disdain for mere trifling legalities. The marriages of both seem dysfunctional and endured merely for appearances sake. A common factor is long hit lists of real and imagined foes, which significantly include an all consuming pathological hatred of large sections of the media, cronies who show anything less than total unquestioning loyalty and lawyers who really do not seem to understand client confidentiality and end up singing like canaries.
Summers is obviously no great fan of Nixon but largely lets the stark facts dispassionately speak for themselves. One aspect described, that actually almost shocked this old cynic, is the sheer level of illegality that is tolerated in funding and dirty tricks in US politics , whether illegal contributions from abroad, contributions from convicted gangsters, abuse of the tax system and essentially blackmail to target opponents etc. Campaign fundraising is little more than a hard faced shakedown operation or buying political favours and in this Nixon’s gang certainly excelled, as one suspects does Trump’s.
Funnily enough I learned that Nixon had the White House bugging equipment, previously installed by LBJ, removed just after his election only to be reinstalled towards the end of his first term. What can have been going on in his mind? The rest as they say is history.
So my current prediction is that the Trump will also get re-elected for a second term, like Nixon maybe even with a considerably increased margin only, to shadow Nixon’s subsequent rapid descent into ignominy as the criminal and treasonable activities of his goon squad apparatchiks, carrying out his orders, can no longer be plausibly denied.
I can only hope the white house is still bugged.
There are clear differences of course, Nixon certainly was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth and had a long political apprenticeship, including the notorious House un-American Activities Committee, before eventually getting the top job.
One difference we must at least be thankful for is that Trump does not drink, or consume quantities of psychoactive prescription drugs, without medical supervision and go into wild ranting drunken rages, terrifying all around him threatening to nuke some despised opponent.
Similarities abound in the areas of personal relationships, demeanour (or lack of it), ruthless ambition and innate disdain for mere trifling legalities. The marriages of both seem dysfunctional and endured merely for appearances sake. A common factor is long hit lists of real and imagined foes, which significantly include an all consuming pathological hatred of large sections of the media, cronies who show anything less than total unquestioning loyalty and lawyers who really do not seem to understand client confidentiality and end up singing like canaries.
Summers is obviously no great fan of Nixon but largely lets the stark facts dispassionately speak for themselves. One aspect described, that actually almost shocked this old cynic, is the sheer level of illegality that is tolerated in funding and dirty tricks in US politics , whether illegal contributions from abroad, contributions from convicted gangsters, abuse of the tax system and essentially blackmail to target opponents etc. Campaign fundraising is little more than a hard faced shakedown operation or buying political favours and in this Nixon’s gang certainly excelled, as one suspects does Trump’s.
Funnily enough I learned that Nixon had the White House bugging equipment, previously installed by LBJ, removed just after his election only to be reinstalled towards the end of his first term. What can have been going on in his mind? The rest as they say is history.
So my current prediction is that the Trump will also get re-elected for a second term, like Nixon maybe even with a considerably increased margin only, to shadow Nixon’s subsequent rapid descent into ignominy as the criminal and treasonable activities of his goon squad apparatchiks, carrying out his orders, can no longer be plausibly denied.
I can only hope the white house is still bugged.
