Nixon's Ghostly -- and Ghastly -- Resurrection / THE FIFTH COLUMNIST by P.M. Carpenter

[Demeter]

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/node/4510



Nixon, of course, never did do anything wrong, to hear him tell it. There he was, from 1946 to 1974, just minding his own business and pluckily doing that of the people's, with minimal and commonly accepted underhandedness.

Then, one morning, reporters arose en masse and decided they didn't like him. Just like that. In time the right-wing mantra evolved that the press "got" Nixon, and he and they -- especially they -- never did understand that it was Nixon who got Nixon.



And now we are met on the same great battlefield, with only the uniforms reversed. It's now the quasi-leftie candidate and her devotedly chanting followers who claim to see reportorial bogeymen everywhere, the latter of whom simply awoke one morning and decided to sabotage Mrs. Clinton. Just like that. They're out to "get" Hillary, and this time before the candidate makes it to Nixon's ultimate destination.

And it's all a close-minded conspiracy of probably sexist origin. (The plot against Nixon, by the way, was a close-minded conspiracy of snobbish Ivy League origin, as everyone, deep down, well knows -- right?)...Eleven humiliating, on occasion dramatically upsetting, losses in a row for Hillary. That's the reality. The press didn't fix the Diebold machines; the voters merely voted, and there's no evidence that any of them first checked the Associated Press' wire reports to determine how. Instead, in most instances they went to see the candidates, to listen, to weigh, to decide.

It's called democracy. And for most pols, democracy can indeed be a most discomforting thing...
I am, however, holding out for a 1962-like "You won't have Hillary to kick around anymore" sendup

[tanyev]

1. Kick for later.