Treasonous Dick

By Jeff Simpson

 The Nixon tapes have been out there a while and Thom Hartmann has actually pointed this out before, but this is the first time that I have seen it in print to share it.

Tapes dating back to the last days of the Johnson administration reveal that Lyndon Johnson knew of a plan by Richard Nixon to thwart Vietnam peace talks so the war wouldn’t end until he could get into office.

According to the tapes, Johnson learned through FBI wiretaps that Nixon had played a role in getting South Vietnam to withdraw from peace talks in Paris that would effectively end the Vietnam War, and was therefore guilty of treason…

Johnson found out that Nixon had reached out to Anna Chennault, one of his senior campaign officials, to convince South Vietnam Ambassador Bui Diem to pull out of peace talks until after the election, according to the BBC.

Accusations of Nixon’s influence in the peace conference have been reported before, but the tapes provide a look at how the situation was handled by Johnson.

Without an end to the Vietnam War by Election Day, Nixon was voted into the White House.

Johnson could be heard saying on one particular recording that Nixon, another fan of White House audio recordings who would resign the presidency in 1974, had ‘blood on his hands.’

During a conversation with Senator Everett Dirksen of Illinois, Johnson, referring to people close to Nixon, and said, ‘This is treason.’ Dirksen was the Republican leader in the Senate.

n a call to Sen Richard Russell of Georgia, Johnson says: ‘We have found that our friend, the Republican nominee, our California friend, has been playing on the outskirts with our enemies and our friends both, he has been doing it through rather subterranean sources.’

I wonder how many of the 58,282 dead Americans would have been able to survive if not for Richard Nixon and the rights blind ambition.    I personally would like to see everywhere we have his name on a Government building, get the Joe Paterno treatment!

I think it is safe to say    Worst! President! EVER! 


 

Sunday's Discussion

This week former republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, defended Penn St and Joe Paterno's handling of allowing an assistant coach prey on young boys for twelve years.  

SANTORUM: I actually read the Freeh Report. I don’t know if you did or not, but I did. And, my concern with the Freeh report, a lot of the conclusions in the Freeh report aren’t matched by the evidence that they presented and so I’ve been talking to a lot of folks at Penn State and they say, ‘you’re just gonna have to wait for the criminal trial of these two guys at Penn State.’ I think there is going to be a whole new line set on what really went on there. So I’m sort of sitting back and waiting for the facts to come out as opposed to at least I’m being told is a version of the facts. … Let’s get the truth. So I think we’re going to see some things come up a little different in the next six months. I just want to make sure we get it right.

I actually voted for Rick Santorum in the presidential primary.   Not because I felt he was the best person, but because I see the republican party as insane these days(and I am not alone).   The problem with primaries is only the true believers pay attention and many have no idea how extreme this party is.   I felt that putting Rick Santorum(understanding I only had one vote) on the national stage would help to show their true colors to the vast majority of independents in this country.

I now realize I was wrong, because(as we see with the support of Mitt) that if Santorum would have been the candidate it would not matter how crazy he is, many people would vote for him anyway.  Is he that much worse than Mitt?  Is it better to swim with crocodiles or alligators?

The question is, was I wrong for voting for Santorum?  Do people even care that the republican party has become so extreme?  is there anything that would make the republicans NOT vote for the candidate with the R after their name?  While I have admitted the error of my ways, what about the people who actually voted for Santorum as a real candidate? or Newt?   DO not forget Rick Santorum was American for Prosperity's Poverty's candidate of choice!