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RIP, Heroes of Watergate
In light of the latest news that Lois Lerner attempted to target a sitting U.S. senator (and potential chairman of the committee that oversees her agency) for an audit, it’s eerie to see that her polar opposite shuffled off this mortal coil a couple of days ago.
For those of us sufficiently fortunate to not be old enough to recall it, Johnnie Walters was the Nixon appointee to IRS commissioner who not only refused to go after Richard Nixon’s enemies, but kept the enemies list as evidence.
Mr. Walters had not been told of Nixon’s other job requirements, as revealed in a White House conversation recorded on May 13, 1971. “I want to be sure he is a ruthless son of a bitch, that he will do what he’s told, that every income-tax return I want to see I see, that he will go after our enemies and not go after our friends,” the president said.
Mr. Walters failed to follow this script — which was unknown to him — when John W. Dean III, the White House counsel, summoned him to his office on Sept. 11, 1972. Mr. Dean handed him the “enemies list” of 200 people, most prominent Democrats, whom he wanted investigated.
“I was shocked,” Mr. Walters said in a 1997 interview with The Washington Post. “John, do you realize what you’re doing?” he remembered saying. “If I did what you asked, it’d make Watergate look like a Sunday school picnic.”
But Mr. Dean was emphatic, he recalled, saying, “The man I work for doesn’t like somebody to say ‘no.’ “
Several days later, Mr. Walters went to his immediate boss, Treasury Secretary George P. Shultz, showed him the list and recommended that the I.R.S. do nothing. Mr. Shultz told him to lock the list in his safe.
He was a man of integrity.
Sadly, we lost another one from the era today, only two days after Walter’s passing. Howard Baker was the (Republican) Ranking Member on the select committee investigating the Watergate break in and cover up, who first publicly introduced the question, “What did the president know and when did he know it?” (The question was reportedly fed him by his aide at the time, future senator and Hollywood actor Fred Thompson.)
Baker, along with Goldwater and other Republican senators, were the men who eventually went to the White House to tell Richard Nixon that he wouldn’t survive an impeachment trial, an act which ultimately resulted in Nixon’s resignation. Senator Baker later became Senate Majority Leader when the Republicans took over with the Reagan victory in 1980, and then Reagan’s Chief of Staff.
Both he and Walters were men who put principle and duty above party. Where are their equivalents among today’s Democrats? Certainly not in the Senate leadership, who in fact have been instigators of the political warfare and corruption.
Many have said that the IRS scandal is worse than Watergate, both in that Lerner (and who knows who else) gleefully did what Walters refused to do, and in that Congress itself seems to be complicit. What we don’t know, due to the (so far) much more successful cover up by the Obama administration, is the answer to Howard Baker’s famous question in a new context. It is very likely, though, that given how damaging the emails we’ve seen are, the answer lies in the ones that have been “lost.”
It’s time, long past time, for someone at the IRS or some other agency, who no doubt received or was copied on one of Lerner’s emails, to step up and show the character displayed by Johnnie Walters and Howard Baker four decades ago.
Published in General
Rand,
One would think that somewhere in the IRS there is “DEEP INBOX”. We need a little help.
Regards,
Jim
Rand,
I’ll make a second comment. Some people think that heroes are born that way. I think that heroes are just good people who rose to the occasion.
Regards,
Jim
Sorry, I’m too cynical to think that the Leftist career and political appointees of the current administration, and their Praetorian Guard of major media will ever break ranks. Republicans and Libertarians should take note how this game is being played, doubt that they will though.
Fred Thompson The Lessons of Watergate.. What could have been if he had made the nomination.
Why would any progressive help racist homophobes tear down this president? You say “integrity” and I say Haiburton cruelty to animals because Bush. You say principle and I say climate change rape inequality because Koch brothers. Who’s on the moral high ground now, fascist heteronormative planet-killer? You are simply not equipped to deal with reality-based logic, creationist warmonger. And Hitler, so there!
OB,
Ding Ding Ding. You’ve done it! You’ve done it! In the entire blogoshpere, you have got the most liberal cliches in a single paragraph!!!
Jonah Goldberg, tell OB what his prizes are…
Regards,
Jim
“Both he and Walters were men who put principle and duty above party. Where are their equivalents among today’s Democrats? Certainly not in the Senate leadership, who in fact have been instigators of the political warfare and corruption.”
I would like to know where their equivalents are among today’s Republican leadership. I expect Democrats to be like they are, but I was brought up among the type of Republicans who are now dying and I see few replacements on the horizon.
Since there is a consensus “Where are the courageous Democrats?” And the same question for the Republicans. We find few in our Federal Government willing to fall on their sword for “Upholding and protecting the Constitution.” What we do have, in appearance, are younger Senators and Congressmen willing to go to all lengths to investigate, with a third stage fizzle; and instead of achieving prosecutorial orbit fall back to earth sabotaged by long time incumbents: “Waco birds”. Since when can a bureaucrat come to a Congressional hearing and state, “No emails – you will never see them – all destroyed,” without immediate impeachment proceedings – he does after all run the IRS! If one is prone to look and believe the worse, then it appears the IRS has grown more powerful than the Congress, Senate and President wielding it’s power of punishing the people to keep all in line and all quiet, and does it in an openly smug arrogant way never before seen. Well they think they have all the power, but the repeal of the 16th Amendment, passage of the 28th Amendment – a national sales tax – with the subsequent destruction of the most abhorrent bureaucracy to the Constitution.
Since there is a consensus “Where are the courageous Democrats?” And the same question for the Republicans. We find few in our Federal Government willing to fall on their sword for “Upholding and protecting the Constitution.” What we do have, in appearance, are younger senators and congressmen willing to go to all lengths to investigate, with a third stage fizzle; and instead of achieving prosecutorial orbit fall back to earth sabotaged by long time incumbents : “Waco birds”. Since when can a bureaucrat come to a Congressional hearing and state, “No emails – you will never see them – all destroyed,” without immediate impeachment proceedings – he does after all run the IRS! If one is prone to look and believe the worse, then it appears the IRS has grown more powerful than the Congress, Senate and President wielding its’ power of punishing the people to keep all in line and all quiet, and does it in an openly smug arrogant way never before seen. Well they think they have all the power, but the repeal or the 16th Amendment, passage of the 28th Amendment – a national sales tax – with the subsequent destruction of the most abhorrent bureaucracy to the Constitution.
Since there is a consensus “Where are the courageous Democrats?” And the same question for the Republicans. We find few in our Federal Government willing to fall on their sword for “Upholding and protecting the Constitution.” What we do have, in appearance, are younger senators and congressmen willing to go to all lengths to investigate, with a third stage fizzle; and instead of achieving prosecutorial orbit fall back to earth sabotaged by long time incumbents : “Waco birds”. Since when can a bureaucrat come to a Congressional hearing and state, “No emails – you will never see them – all destroyed,” without immediate impeachment proceedings – he does after all run the IRS! If one is prone to look and believe the worse, then it appears the IRS has grown more powerful than the Congress, Senate and President wielding its’ power of punishing the people to keep all in line and all quiet, and does it in an openly smug arrogant way never before seen. Well they think they have all the power, but the repeal or the 16th Amendment, passage of the 28th Amendment – a national sales tax – with the subsequent destruction of the most abhorrent bureaucracy to the Constitution.
Hey, the fourth or fifth time is a charm. This is the most difficult, unwieldy, unforgiving, lousiest place to post a comment! Seems to believe “prosecutorial” is not a word. Will not seamlessly integrate a Word document (Thank God I saved into Word – or I would have nothing!). Hey guys (Administrator) if you make it this difficult people will stop participating! You got to pick it up, it has to be as smooth and seamless as Facebook, Twitter, Google+. It is what I call the “Amazon effect,” if you are not matching, or beating the experience you have already lost your customers as they have moved on.
Like.