Lay off Nixon

That's right. L.O. wants all of these damned bloggers and left-wing journalists to leave Nixon out of this current situation. Loyal Opposition has been hearing a lot of "Well, even Nixon had a second term!" followed by snickers of derision. You leave Nixon alone. L.O. doesn't have to go into the litany of what was wrong with Nixon and the horrible things that Nixon and his aides and advisers did. We all know that. But Nixon is no George W. Bush. Not by a long shot. Say what you want about Nixon but Nixon WORKED to become the 37th President of the United States. Nixon came from nothing, had nothing, got into college and law school on his own merit and did well, served in the Navy, became a Congressman and Senator, all of which he did largely through his own wit and ambition. Nixon likely had the 1960 election stolen from him by the Democratic machine in Chicago, but he conceded rather than rend the nation in twain.

He was a conservative, and worked zealously for the conservative cause--he inspired the Solid South and the takeover of the court. It's because of him we have Rehnquist. But because of him we also got Harry Blackmun. And Nixon thought the religious right and their zealots were nuts. And coming from Nixon, that's saying something. As President, Nixon kept his own counsel--he wasn't a convenient tool for the conservative radicals like President Gerald Ford would be. Nixon did more for the environment than any U.S. President since Teddy Roosevelt. Nixon felt an obligation towards the poor, and did not engage in the severe slashing of social services that Reagan would engage in, and would actually deign to speak of the poor as if they actually existed. And as for foreign policy, Nixon certainly was no Bush. Cambodia's tragic fate is Nixon's fault--and he should be pilloried for it. But Nixon inherited an unwinnable war, and while he continued it, he used it intelligently, to bring us towards a rapproachment with China, possibly the most important development in terms of large-scale, long-term global stability. Nixon opened the door to China, and that's what brought the Russians into signing SALT and brought them into a phase of detente, setting the stage for Gorbachev's peaceful overtures.

What's more, Nixon was a thoughtful, intelligent man who wrote and read widely. He was crass and was a boor (bore, as well?) but damn it, he was deep. There's a lot of there there.

So with all due respect to L.O.'s compatriots, lay off Nixon. George W. Bush isn't even in HIS league. A more apt comparison would be "Well, even U.S. Grant got a second term!"