Posted on 06/02/2005 9:19:32 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Just a few more thoughts on the events of the day:
Now, we read that Mark Felt's family and Mark Felt put out their story solely to make money off it. So, this makes the family's karma even more unnerving. The father, patriarch, Mark, took out his anger and frustration for being passed over at the FBI, by ruining the career of the peacemaker, Richard Nixon. So, he condemned a whole subcontinent to genocide and slavery and poverty to please his own wounded vanity. (Maybe his nickname should be "sour grapes" and not "deep throat" because he has as much in common with that fox as with a porn star.) And, blood will tell, as the old saying goes: his posterity is now dragging out his old body and putting it on display to make money. (Have you noticed how Mark Felt looks like one of those old Nazi war criminals they find in Bolivia or Paraguay? That same, haunted, hunted look combined with a glee at what he has managed to get away with so far? )
And it gets worse: it's been reported that Mark Felt is at least part Jewish. The reason this is worse is that at the same time that Mark Felt was betraying Richard Nixon, Nixon was saving Eretz Israel. It is a terrifying chapter in betrayal and ingratitude. If he even knows what shame is, I wonder if he felt a moment's shame as he tortured the man who brought security and salvation to the land of so many of his and my fellow Jews. Somehow, as I look at his demented face, I doubt it.
Third, correct me if I am wrong about this, but isn't it a crime not only to dispense classified information but also to receive classified information? Why wasn't anyone ever prosecuted about this? Is there a statute of limitations?
Finally, there is a lot of debate about whether or not Mark Felt was a hero. Obviously, I don't think so. I think the hero was Richard Nixon, fighting for peace even as he was being horribly mistreated and crucified just for his fight for peace.
But there was and is a bigger story here. Frankly, Nixon is no longer alive. If he was a hero, he is a deceased hero. Bob Woodward is no one's idea of a hero. A super businessman and accomplished writer, but no hero. Mark Felt is only Richard Ben-Veniste's hero. But there are major heroes out there every day. There are 140,000 of them in Iraq and about 15,000 in Afghanistan, at lethal risk every minute of every day. There are a million more ready to go. There are millions of family members of these heroes. Can we possibly, possibly, conceivably forget them? Somehow, I think we have. The lead news stories are almost never about them. The story is about Michael Jackson or about Mark Felt. This is desperately wrong, and I do mean desperately. I am going to write a lot more about this Monday, but in the meantime, let's remember there's a war on, and the best and bravest of our nation are dying every day -- to protect a great nation, but one which seems lately to have forgotten even what the nation is all about.
ping
I love Ben Stein. Thanks for posting this.
Looking forward to Monday's column from Stein. I think he's gettin' warmed up. I hope it's going to be one of those "so tell us what you really think Ben, don;t hold back" articles.
Same here.
bump for Ben
Thank you Mr. Stein, not many have the courage to speak the truth, I salute you, and I salute the real hero's of today, our Troops.
However, riddle me this Stein. Did Nixon not realize that his peace in Viet Nam was bound to fall apart in time? Was his phased pull out from Nam timed to coincide with his reelection? He wanted to make sure Viet Nam fell after his reelection so he timed it. Unfortunately that timing cost the lives of thousands of Americans. He basically spent their lives on his reelection. Frankly he was more deserving of impeachment for that than for Watergate.
Let's not forget Nixon gave us the first racial quotas, wage and price controls, and a huge growth of government (the EPA started in his Administration). We expect Democrats and liberals to recognize that Clinton was a crumb and we should be honest enough to do the same with Nixon.
I don't know what Mr. Stein thinks, but if you look at the George Neumayr article, he points out that Nixon's poor behavior is no excuse for his critics to act the same way. If the ends don't justify the means, the ends don't justify the means.
As you are probably aware Stein was in the Nixon Administration as a young economic advisor. He is loyal to his old boss but I contend it is misplaced loyalty.
Could you elaborate a little on the "justifiable" mistakes you mention?
Creating almost untraceable funds to finance break-ins by Liddy and Hunt?
Hiring an Attorney General ready, willing, and able to control such funds and authorize such acts?
Paying hush money to burglars to buy their silence?
Most people of Stein's intelligence should realize that Nixon's own lack of ethical standards created the Watergate situation. Felt was not responsible for Nixon's failures. Nixon was.
A strategic retreat is the most difficult of all military manoeuvres. Withdrawal from Vietnam, without inflaming 30-40% of U.S. domestic opinion, or paying heed to the interests of the South Vietnamese allies, was not possible in any shorter period of time than that in which Nixon managed it. Few others could (Humphrey, McGovern) or would (Reagan) have done it. As recently as July of 2004, not less than George McGovern expressed his strongly admiring opinion of Nixon's skill in this achievement. Stein was absolutely correct in his assessments and any who were around at the time would agree that Nixon, who endured intense media hysteria over the Xmas Bombing of 1972 (public support was 70%), know that, had he remained in office, he would never have allowed the Cambodian Communist massacre that Nixon's opponents brought about. Those who opposed the policies Nixon pursued were soundly rejected by what is still the largest electoral majority in any presidential election in U.S. history (more than 13 million votes), and the coup that led to this popularly elected leader being ousted led directly to the Cambodian genocide.
I think I heard it was his father who was in the Nixon admnistration.
this is very personal for Ben ... as I recall both of his parents worked in the Nixon White House .. this wasn't some obscure WaPo headline, but struck home.
We were a country at war, and the President may have believed the Democratic party was of dubious loyalty. As Stein points out, the killing fields of Cambodia were a direct result of Nixon's impeachment, and millions of South Vietnamese lost their freedom because our Democratic Congress abandoned our obligations to defend them in the mid-1970s.
I don't see how Felt could have kept quiet about the Nixon administration's indiscretions, but what the Democrats did to take advantage of the situation incurred a heavy price. The situation could have been handled differently. Democrats in Congress have a lot of blood on their hands, and it'll never wash out.
racial quotas being affirmative action.
Bueller...Bueller.....anyone????
I really like Ben Stein and it looks like he is writing more and more. Does anyone have a Ben Stein Ping list??
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