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"Are you watching the Beatles special on the Disney channel?" I asked the two teenaged daughters of my son's girlfriend as we waited for the Thanksgiving meal to be prepared. The older one looked at me like I was an escapee from a boring museum. The younger one said, "I think I've heard a couple of their songs."
Sensing an awkward moment that he could add confusion to, my son said, "You'd have never had the Bay City Rollers without the Beatles. Some people actually think the Beatles were more influential than the Bay City Rollers. Think about that." A nice tip of the hat to the notes on the cover of the first LP release of their Shea Stadium concert, that all of my kids recognize.
Had the girls and their Mom stayed, they could have joined us while Chloe played a couple of dozen of her favorite Beatles songs on piano, as we all sang along. I told my son that his lady risked being reported for neglect and abuse, for not teaching her daughters about the Beatles. He said that not everyone grew up in our house, and thus do not understand how that era influenced the area they now inhabit.
My son mentioned the conversation we had a few days ago. He stops by to work out in the gym here after work, and found me watching film of the 1973 Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, also known as the Senate Watergate Committee. I had said that so much of the information that came out then forms the basic model of the republican threat to democracy today. I've been thinking a lot about this, especially after Rep. Gosar's open threat aimed at AOC.
Nixon was a paranoid man, who could not resist the temptation to "punish" those he identified as enemies. Thus, he had Tom Huston put together a plan to coordinate intelligence agencies breaking the law -- opening mail, breaking in, etc -- while going after the administration's enemies. Though Nixon okayed the plan, J. Edgar Hoover rejected it. In time, there were claims Nixon changed his mind, and stopped the effort a few days later. As John Dean has noted, there is no record of Nixon ended the Huston Plan.
Indeed, Nixon thought back to his days as vice president, and a CIA agent who had headed the 1954 Guatemalan coup. As VP, Nixon had taken increasing control of Central American policy and operations, including the planning for the Bay of Pigs, of which Hunt had played a central role. Thus, after retiring from the CIA, Hunt took a position in the Nixon White House's Special Investigations Unit.
The SIU was engaged in numerous criminal activities. Hence, it was moved away from the White House, into the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP) for "cover." Though most famous for the Watergate break-in(s), and also the break-in of a psychiatrist, there were many other illegal activities, many never fully documented -- for example, in one of his early books, Dan Rather describes a unsettling break-in to his home at a time he was deemed an "enemy."
Luckily, a very disturbed, twisted man named G. Gordon Liddy had been moved between a couple White House positions to head the "plumbers," to stop leaks. He thus worked out of CREEP. His ego led to the uncovering of the Watergate scandal, and the eventual end of the Nixon era. Or did it?
During the Reagan-Bush years, we had the Iran-Contra scandal. It was headed by vice president George Bush, who had connections to Nixon. The White House was violating the Boland Amendment, by way of a secret group within the National Security Council. Using the NSC was an attempt to prevent congressional oversight. The NSC secret group coordinated their efforts with several international entities. The scandal was partially uncovered and many people connected to the administration were convicted and incarcerated. So much for criminal activities in the White House, right?
During the Bush-Cheney administration, there was the Plame scandal. This was a secret operation run out of the Office of the Vice President. His top aide, Scooter Libby, fancied himself a secret agent, and called his activities "black ops." Poor Scooter proved that those who fantasize about being a secret agent should not attempt to punish their "enemies" in real life. Surely the White House would remain as "clean as a hound's tooth," to borrow a phrase from what Frank Serpico was told.
Donald Trump demanded to be the Big Guy in the criminal activities that his misadministration was involved in. Over the years, this included his administration's connections with the Russian mafia and more. But let's focus on one important White House operation that we know as January 6th. While there was never really any question, the evidence the House Committee has uncovered traces the attempted insurrection and overthrow of our government right back to Donald Trump & Co.
That cancer on the presidency has matastasized, and spread thoughout the republican party from DC to state houses to local elections. It illustrates how a disease only partially treated is not cured .... it comes back, and eventually becomes strong enough to destroy its host. And while it is being put in check, we need to stomp the life out of it so that it no longer poses a current or future threat.
To do that, we need to focus on preparing at the grassroot's level for the mid-term elections. Often, the mid-terms favor the out-of-power party. But we can change that. And, in my opinion, that's much more important than arguing about what small -- or large -- differences there are between some Democrats. Just my opinion.
Peace,
H2O Man
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THIS - Nice read brother 
