As Tears Go By

[H2O Man]

One of the politicians I really admired was Ed Muskie. He was the Governor of Maine (1954); a US Senator(1958, re-elected in '64 and '70); and picked as VP on the democratic ticket (1968), before running for president in 1972. He was considered the strongest democratic candidate as the primary season began.

Muskie had become one of the most powerful democrats in the country between '68 and '72. The Nixon administration targeted him for their "operations." The extent of these may never be fully known, but if you get out your copy of the Ervin Committee's Senate Watergate Report, you can get a good idea by reading the pages on the Gemstone Plan and the Plumbers' activities that followed. There are a good dozen pages relating to the Nixon administration targeting Muskie.

Older DUers will remember that he won the New Hampshire primary, but that his campaign fell apart. Part of it was related to some bullshit in the Manchester Union-Leader, which included an attack on his wife. (I always thought of that when John Dean wrote in "Worse Than Watergate" that the attack on Valerie Plame was beyond Nixon; Dean said Nixon never attacked people's families. The Muskie business shows otherwise, though unlike Plame, it did not put anyone's safety at risk.)

Muskie held a press conference outside the newspaper's office to answer their vile charges. It was during a snowstorm. The national media claimed that he was wiping away tears; his campaign said he was wiping melted snow off his face. I had an opportunity to take part in a conversation with him a few years later, and he said it was snow. I believed him.

President Carter picked Muskie to serve as Secretary of State. I think he was working towards the release of the hostages in Iran in diplomatic channels, when he was undercut by people working for the Reagan-Bush team. That was an ugly chapter.

We have serious issues to focus on in the 2008 primary season. I hope we can have the class of one of the best of recent democratic statesmen, Ed Muskie.

[fenriswolf]

1. so what did the nixon campaign

attack his wife about?

[TomInTib]

3. Mental instability, nervous breakdown...

A bunch of crap, if I recall correctly.

[H2O Man]

6. The infamous

"Canuck Letter." It was part of a classic disinformation campaign, coordinated to paint Jane Muskie as a drunk who held the French-Canadian population in contempt. That was, as hard as it may be to believe today, a serious issue in the northeast in 1972 -- because few appreciated what the CREEP was up to. So the focus was on the Muskie campaign to disprove the rumors.

I'm not claiming today's event was in any way related to a republican "prank." It just brings back memories of some of the nonsense that derails people from keeping focused on what is important. We are human beings, and it is not a weakness to have a range of emotions.

[DemReadingDU]

22. I missed it, what happened today. n/t

[mzmolly]

31. "We are human beings, and it is not a weakness to have a range of emotions."

Absolutely! It's a weakness NOT to.

[Mountainman]

2. Nixon didn't attack Muskie, it was the owner of the newspaper.

William Lobe

[truedelphi]

5. If you read through "All the President's Men"

You find that the list of dirty tricks emanating from the WH included an attack on Muskie.

And who better to deliver such an attack than a newspaper editor of a regional paper.

[Mountainman]

11. Lobe attacked anyone who he didn't like. He once attacked someone running as Governor of

Pennsylvania because he was against the merger of the NYC and PRR into PennCentral. He had a reporter ask the guy during a campaign stop if it was true that he was in a mental institution.

[H2O Man]

12. Ha!

Surprised he didn't get a position in the Nixon Administration!

[truedelphi]

17. What a nasty guy. Sounds like a real piece of work. n/t

[Bluerthanblue]

19. he was a very caustic

man- So was Meldrim Thompson who we had for gov. for way too long.

Two bitter, biting old men who seemed to find pleasure in making others unhappy.

They're deathly quiet now.

And, I hope, content at last.

[H2O Man]

9. Read the Watergate Report ....

including pages 76, 247-49, and 309-11. The Nixon White House absolutely was involved in the attacks on Muskie. You are correct that others were, as well.

[Mountainman]

13. The attack on his wife was what I was referring to not the whole campaign.

[H2O Man]

25. I am under the

impression that the "Paul Morrison" letter was a cousin to the other "letter writing citizens" created either in the bowels of the White House, or at the request of the turds that inhabited them. If that is wrong, I stand corrected.

[OzarkDem]

14. Nixon was also behind the original swiftboating of Kerry

n/t

[karynnj]

20. Yep and that affected his family as it created an atmosphere

where the Kerrys had their tires slashed and bricks thrown through their window - one landing very close to Alexandra's cradle. Kerry replaced the windows with plexiglass! It says a lot about Kerry's committment to public service that he ever ran for office again after those attacks.

The really stupid thing is that the Republicans spun his 1971 efforts to end the war and to demand help for the veterans who were being cast aside when they returned home as done for political gain. Conveniently ignoring that he had all the connections he needed and was a highly decorated veteran, who could easily have succeeded in politics.

[OzarkDem]

24. Surprising they got by with it a second time

He managed to overcome Charles Colson's first swiftboat attack, but it didn't work the second time. The news media was a lot more professional back then.

[Tesha]

21. William "Bill" Loeb

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Loeb

[H2O Man]

28. A real charmer.

It sounds like his gentle nature resulted in a closely-knit family life.

[EFerrari]

4. Yes Dean was wrong. But so was the Muskie campaign

when they let them get away with that smear.

I don't know, H20 Man. Maybe it's my non protestant cultural difference. But, these attacks can be answered, defended and reframed. Muskie stood by his wife. Isn't that a "family value"?

Maybe it's just always easier to retort from an armchair than from a trench.

[Bluerthanblue]

15. the climate at that

time was anything BUT open or accepting Sfexpat-

I remember this because my family was trying to cope with the stigma of MI as well.

It really sucked. It re-inforced the urge to hide and deny what was overwhelming to begin with.

I can't blame Muskie- He stood by his wife.

peace, friend-
:hi:
blu

[EFerrari]

16. I remember the sense of shame and social rejection.

Some things, we don't forget.

[Bluerthanblue]

18. and if we're fortunate

we learn from.

:hug:-

blu

[Eurobabe]

7. Isn't that the song in the Mazda commercial?

:spray:

[Bluerthanblue]

8. I remember William Loeb- and this incident

even though I wasn't old enough to vote when it happened.

Loeb was a crotchedy old blow hard who delighted in using his paper to make people miserable.
I never knew about the 'melted snow' part of this story. I didn't think anything less of him as a result of the 'tears'- actually, that he cared that much about his wife, and wasn't afraid to show it made him more remarkable than before in my eyes.

I agree with you H20Man-
He had class.

peace,
blu

[Swamp Rat]

10. Thanks

We should often remind the Reaganistas the hostages were used as pawns by the Reagan-Bushler team to make Carter look bad, as Carter had already negotiated the release. It was obstructed by Reagan's goons for purely political reasons - screw the hostages. This is typical behavior of the GOP, which is why we should not waste our time making compromises with them - never make deals with fascists.

[Virginia Dare]

23. The right wing smear machine painted Carter as weak..

simply because he refused to give in to the Saudis and the big oil machine. He warned us of perpetual war in the Middle East over oil, and that is exactly what has come to pass. Why do Americans continually fall for this crap?

[tishaLA]

26. I recently read it was David Broder himself

that "Dean of the Washington Press Corps(e)," who initially printed the story about Muskie's tears. It seems that he was the only reporter of those there who actually saw them, but because it provided such an interesting narrative, it became the accepted perspective of the event. Muskie always denied it.

Here is the link to Somerby's account (scroll down): http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh112807.shtml

[Me.]

27. Karma Is Beginning To Kick In

I heard that Mehlman is pulling his hair out because the turnout in Iowa was 2-1 dem. The state is going blue. The Con elite are gnashing their teeth because of the Huck-A-Boo. What they are missing is that this mess is of their creating. It's all blow back. Diebold stock is tanking and the WH mentalist thinks he's going to bring peace to the Mid-East.

This has been such a good week compared with this same time period in any of the previous seven years. I can't believe we're all still here to tell the story and am delighted the plot line has changed.

[truedelphi]

29. But I am holding my breath, if for no other reason than

the Tonkin Gulf "incident" that has been reported in the Middle East today.

The wrong fingers are still on top of the button, just itching to push it.

[Me.]

30. Didn't You Know...

it was a case of mistaken identity? We're cool now. Anyone seen Cheney lately?