Who here was sentient and aware during the Saturday Night Massacre?

[Stinky The Clown]

This feels WAY, WAY, WAY worse.

[bettyellen]

1. I was a child but followed the news carefully and yes- this is worse.

Much much worse.

[tnlurker]

2. I was 13 at the time

But was already a student of history and politics.

I agree it feels worse because it looks like they will get away with it this time.

[catbyte]

3. I was and it does. Back then, we had Republicans who were patriots who loved our country

more than party/power. Not anymore. They know their days are numbered & demographics are against them unless they destroy our multi-racial democracy NOW and replace it with Soviet-style authoritarianism. They're discrediting everything that has made America America. They are all fucking traitors. I'm very worried.

[Stinky The Clown]

6. THIS!

[SharonClark]

17. Agree 100%

[hvn_nbr_2]

48. Yep, it's much worse

Then it was trying to stop one investigation. Now it's about trying to destroy law enforcement organizations and even the idea of the rule of law.

One quibble: There are Republican patriots today, but none of them are in positions of power; none of them hold office. A few R Senators briefly pretend to be a bit sensible now and then, but any R who is critical of this monstrosity is not an officeholder. They must have them all over barrels with "fundraising" (i.e., bribery) and kompromat.

[TheRealistRealist]

4. How does one close their DU account?

[enough]

7. It's not hard. NT

[JI7]

8. Start a thread and ask to be banned

[Stinky The Clown]

9. Why do you ask?

[TheRealistRealist]

18. Each time I reply a thread ....it's deleted.

So I would rather leave and close my account. No offense as their are some nice people here.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

24. It's easy, just stop posting or reading.

[Grassy Knoll]

28. 2 More Hides Should Do It..

[Hekate]

41. Whatever your issue is, just stop reading & replying. Go into your account & change your password...

...to some nonsense string, then walk away and forget it.

No one is taking attendance.

[JI7]

5. No, but i have read about it and this is a lot worse

[gordianot]

10. Trump was worse before he took office,

The Republics Ultimate test to date. The Union unravels.

[dchill]

11. I was 22. Not sure if that counts.

All the news bulletins sure made it seem like the nation was in a Constitutional crisis. But Tricky Dick said he wasn't a crook, so...

I remember seeing my first "Impeach the Coxsacker" bumpersticker at that time, and I began to see the situation as something more than a subject for Johnny Carson's jokes.

[Stuart G]

12. I was totally aware of what Nixon did, followed it very closely.

It may to some feel worse. But I need to know more. Besides, Nixon did not get away with it. Eventually, the truth came out. All of it. Now, if Mueller is fired, then what? A constitutional crises? Someone else will take over the investigation? Who?. How? When?

Mueller has not been fired. There is no evidence of that yet. A report is on the way out. Does the report lie? What does it say? Is there an alternative report? Maybe we will know more tomorrow.

Saturday Night Massacre eventually started the downfall of Nixon. Showed how vulnerable he was. We will see, and we need to know exactly what has happened and what the result will be.

[Stinky The Clown]

21. When Cox was fired, that was all you knew. All the rest in your post was unknown on that day.

As I said, this feels WAY, WAY Worse if for no other reason than back then, there was a functioning two party system.

[Stuart G]

32. When Cox was fired, there was a functioning system..

To some extent there still is. But, if Mueller continues the investigation and is not fired, what then? Firing Mueller will initiate a crisis, but is that for sure? Are we sure Mueller is going to be fired? I am not. We will know in the next few day.

[MaryMagdaline]

13. I was aware but there was a feeling that

Justice would prevail.

We had the congress and even though senate committee had a lot of Dixiecrats who actually liked Nixon, or their constituents did, there was a definite respect for procedure.

I tried to figure it out today. Was it all of those older Guys who had military service and knew that one does not step outside of authority or procedure? Or just the fact that there was balance of power?

[Mister Ed]

14. It feels way, way worse because it IS way, way worse.

I was seventeen then, and, despite my tender years, I was well-informed and read the newspaper every day.

Watergate really was a "third-rate burglary", followed by a criminal cover-up. That's bad, all right, but it was next to nothing compared to what we are seeing now.

[DonViejo]

15. Yes and this is worse; the U.S. Congress is complicit.

[enough]

16. I followed it very closely at the time. The political universe is different now because

no one in the Republican Party has any interest in the rule of law or constitutional government.

This means that in fact Trump is their perfect President.

I think things will get worse fast.

[Stuart G]

25. No one is very strong.....This could be a turning point.

Perhaps this event will force those fence sitters, who have shut up till now, to come out against their own party. I believe there are some, yes some, Republicans who are not part of this. Perhaps I am too optimistic, but there may be some moderates who will not stand for this sh*t. And we do not know tonight if there are any, and if there are, who they are. This is tonight.

In the next couple of days we will find out. Perhaps it may take longer. To say no one in that party has any interest in the rule of law, is too much for me.

no one is extreme. But we will find out..in the next few days...

[PCIntern]

19. Activist in college.

[MaryMagdaline]

20. This is a little more like McCarthy's time

Ruthless liars, this time taking down good FBI agents

[jalan48]

22. I was. It's worse because in those days the Democrats controlled Congress.

This appears to be a blatant set-up for Trump. Make him privy to intel and allow him to "clean house".

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

23. I was, very much.

I had been out of college for four years, had long since become a devout liberal who already loathed Nixon and had been watching the Watergate matter develop since the burglary was first discovered. I was with friends when the Saturday Night Massacre came out on the news and we went completely nuts! One of the differences between that situation and this, is that nobody really saw the SNM coming - as slimy as Nixon was, he wasn't expected to do something that extreme - so there was a lot of shock as well as fury.

This, in contrast, is like watching a slow-motion train wreck where you already know somebody blew up the tracks up ahead, and all you can do is watch as the train heads for its inevitable derailment. Is it worse? Hard to say. The Saturday Night Massacre was eventually Nixon's undoing, but we shouldn't forget that even October of '73, many Republicans continued to staunchly defend Nixon and supported his insistence that it was all just a witch hunt (sound familiar?). This time, though, there is an active attempt by a number of GOPers in Congress (most notably Nunes and his minions) to help Trump obstruct justice and poison public opinion against the investigation - which did not happen back then. Even though Republicans supported Nixon they weren't in on the conspiracy. So that part is definitely much more disturbing.

[RandomAccess]

39. Of course it's worse.

Now we have:

* A foreign enemy at the heart of the problem (treasonous if not actual technical treason)
* Many more People in the administration involved
* More probable crimes (conspiracy, money laundering, obstruction of justice, more)
* More lawlessness and less shamefulness on the part of the President. Nixon could be persuaded to leave; Trump never will be. IOW: Trump is more of a sociopath than Nixon.
* Few if any statesmen in the Republican party - far too many are willing if not eager to be complicit
* Erosion of our democratic institutions and checks and balances
* Fox news and other rightwing truth antagonists. In those days we could all agree on the facts.

And probably other things I've missed.

[The Blue Flower]

27. In my 20s and followed it closely

Nixon committed crimes. Drumpf is a criminal, a gangster, a sexual predator, and a traitor who is taking orders from a foreign leader to undermine the nation. His entire family is tainted. He's going to end up thinking Nixon was lucky to just walk away from the office. He's going to wish he could just fly away on a chopper.

[TomSlick]

29. I was in high school and very interested.

This is different. Maybe worse, maybe not, but different.

First difference: The Saturday Night Massacre was in one night. This is a slow motion massacre.

Second difference: The Saturday Night Massacre failed because Congress would not stand for it. As a result, a new Special Prosecutor was appointed with guaranteed independence. I am not confident the current Congress would blink. However, what I believe is that if the end of the game is to fire Mueller, all the material is secured somewhere will be "found" when a new Democratic Congress establishes a new Special Prosecutor.

[Stuart G]

34. If they fire Muller, are we sure that the investigation stops? What about

the pending indictments? It is all going to go away?. I don't see it that way. I know I could be wrong, but I don't see it this way.

[TomSlick]

38. If Mueller is fired, what happens next depends on the reaction by the GOP.

If the Repugnants feel enough pressure from home that a real replacement is named, then Trump is doomed. (Think Leon Jaworski replacing Archibald Cox.) If, on the other hand, the Regugnants allow Trump to get away with firing Mueller - by either not appointing a replacement or putting a Trump patsy in the position - then the investigation is effectively over at least until a new Democratic Congress convenes.

[Atticus]

30. I was and this is. As bad as Nixon was, treason was not an issue. Also, the Republicans of that

era were actually Americans who cared about facts and honor and integrity and took a very active part in Nixon's ouster.

[LisaM]

31. I was pretty young and I remember it.

One major difference was that the Fairness Doctrine still existed.

[Glamrock]

33. I was!

But, alas, I was 2....

[Demtexan]

35. I was aware of it.

I do.

I remember when Nixon gave his speech he was leaving the White House.

[jeffreyi]

36. I remember.

Media was a lot different. Slow. And yes, children, there was even a fairness doctrine.

[wasupaloopa]

37. I was in my 20s and this is worse. There are no patriotic Repubs today.

Trump is far more evil than Nixon. If trump gets away with this he will become a dictator.

Any of us who does not vote in Nov for a Dem for Congress is standing with trump.

[Hekate]

40. I was an adult then. This is much worse...

For all the intense angst I felt then, I never believed that our very government had been infiltrated and suborned by anything more sinister than American criminals. And our government was fighting back. Enough Republicans still had a sense of honor, a love of country and Constitution over political party, that the investigations into Nixon's crimes had real meaning, and a gravitas largely missing from House and Senate today.

When Nixon finally departed, I rejoiced with Barbara Jordan's sonorous statement that her belief in the Constitution was whole.

Today, while my belief in my country has not been exactly shattered, it has been severely beaten and bruised. Our country and our government are in the hands of not only American criminals, but hostile foreign invaders. I can enumerate the ways in which this is much worse, but while I am aghast, I am also, to a degree, benumbed. I hope and pray that the younger generations are not numb.

[H2O Man]

42. I was.

And I respectfully disagree that this is a "bad" day ......much like that famous day wasn't "bad" in the long run. This being the first time I can think of that I've ever disagreed you with you -- I have great respect for your opinion -- let me add something that you should keep in mind. Nixon wasn't only upset that Archie Cox was going after the tapes -- and this part is too often overlooked: Nixon learned that Cox had also focused attention on documenting that '72 re-election campaign funds were (mis)used to pay Nixon's pal Charles "Bebe" Rebozo for a little land deal in Florida.

Think about that. Apply it to today! The shit is hitting the fan.

[Stinky The Clown]

45. Thanks for the thoughtful reply

As I answered someone upthread, while what you say is true, it can only be seen as such through the lens of history.

Back then, we felt that criminals - the "crooks" Nixon denied himself being - had taken over the white house and the presidency. At the same time, we had the belief that our government remained fundamentally sound, with a functional Congress.

Today we see what i believe to have been as real an invasion as if troops walked ashore and joining with the American version of a Vichy government.

In 1972 we felt that the presidency was corrupted. Today we are feeling as if our government, our country, is corroded and our fundamental way of life in endangered.

[karynnj]

43. I was - I was in my early 20s graduating college in June 1972

I don't think it is just that I am much older, but I agree this seems far worse. In the early 1970s, the parties were not that polarized and there were many respectable reasonable Republicans. Not to mention, the supreme court was not as partisan as now. What is scariest is that all the checks and balances that we all learned about, spoke of almost as charm that would prevent the country going off a cliff, is absolutely not working. Very few Republicans in the House or Senate are putting country ahead of party --- even though impeaching Trump STILL leaves them in control of everything.

[unc70]

44. Remember that night well

My wife and I had been out with friends. Came home and turned on TV and saw the news bulletins. Stayed up as successive bulletins announced the resignations of Cox and then Richardson. Did not sleep much that night.

[Ms. Toad]

46. Definitely.

In the first couple of months of this administration I noted the similar feel (but at double-speed). The walls should have caved in on them by now.

[pressbox69]

47. It is worse.

I knew Nixon was a bastard but the guy is a bastard on steroids, and he has help from both the republicans and the Russians.