It's a trick of age I suspect. I remember 1974 as though it was yesterday. On the other hand, I remember yesterday as though it was 1974. Apparently, you'll have that. It can be sort of annoying sometimes but usually it's just nice. I sure can hold a grudge but I tend to forget recent arguments.
Speaking of holding grudges. I sure didn't like Richard Nixon much and in the ensuing years my opinion hasn't gone up to any measurable degree. I thought it was a mistake in 1968 and I still think so. How's that for holding a grudge?
I, like most of the country, was taken by surprise when Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon. A lot of people seem to think Ford's pardon was the factor that made Jimmy Carter President. Nah, people didn't like most anything to do with the republicans by that time and Carter was a very good candidate. He seemed to speak directly to the Angels of Our Better Nature. That's sure fire if you're following a sour puss. Gerald Ford was a nice guy but Carter surely followed Nixon in the nation's mind. Carter's major shortcoming was he actually wasn't a politician. He was completely unprepared for what the people surrounding Reagan were prepared to do. He was a genuine nice guy. I don't think it had sunk in to him there actually were people of that ilk in government. I digress.
People didn't like the idea of pardoning Nixon much. I understood at the time and until recently thought it was the right thing to do. Nixon wasn't just the symbol of dishonesty. He was the symbol of the failure of the ideas that got us into Vietnam and by that time those ideas were recognized as poison. We realized we had been sold a deadly bill of goods. A few more years of criminal trials of Nixon were not what was needed. It was time to heal and move on with the business of the nation.
The business of the nation. That brings up a mistake about that era. There have been several reasons given for the economic troubles we faced at that time. None of them are correct. There were really only three things that mattered. The foremost problem was knuckling under to OPEC. That really screwed us all. It exacerbated the other two. Second was the economic wind down from the Vietnam War. The third one is never mentioned but was very important. The Baby Boomers came of age in that decade and entered the job market in unprecedented numbers. The pressure that put on the labor markets can't be overstated. It would help if it were even noticed to any degree but there you have it.
But that's not the mistake I mean. Given what's going on now it seems to have been a mistake to not make an example out of Nixon. There are people who seem to have gotten the idea that blatant, literal crimes against our way of life carry rather light personal consequences. Nixon actually dying in prison might have better informed the malefactors. I don't know about you but I prefer my malefactors better informed and with a tad more class. I prefer Ceasare Romero over Heath Ledger; Burgess Meredith over Danny DeVito.
Here's more of that mistake. The Federal Government is not a business. It can't be run as a business and a businessman almost certainly will be at least incompetent if not an outright disaster. One aspect we're witnessing now is the tendency to misunderstand the penalties for failure. In a business based on bombast, exaggeration and sharp dealing the greatest penalties are bankruptcy and occasionally subordinates do short stretches in jail. In politics the ultimate penalties can find you hanging upside down at an abandoned gas station while thousands cheer. Though not as extreme, we did miss an opportunity for Nixon to set a useful example and that was a mistake we are paying for.
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