SUFFERING SCANDALS: WATERGATE & MY TAKE ON THE CURRENT GOVERNMENT’S CRITICAL FAILS

Article published by

Raul H Rodriguez Jr

Advocate for Healthy Employment and HR Principals

Start Date: 5/7/2023

Author’s Note:

Before official publishing, all material and research used in this business article were warranted and approved by a pair of secondary editors. This paper is made to run a background check on how many modern political scandals are always making the same mistakes that overstepped Richard Nixon’s welcome. I see patterns that are fueled by inaction and prideful greed, that could’ve been ignored to avoid the fallout that came around. The old African proverb "The axe forgets, but the tree remembers," will be a theme with this one. Please enjoy.

LinkedIn Site ID: linkedin.com/in/raul-rodriguez-jr-448807146

Abstract

???????????Wardrobe malfunctions, blunders, and pitfalls getting high remarks on the evening tabloids; the humiliation and shame that can discredit all that was done. This zone of entertainment has its fans and critics, but the scandal will always be absolute in getting attention; especially if it goes all the way to the top. Scandals in the government circle are causing a dangerous rash of distrust to rise along with the popularity of the story. I feel with the recent troubles with the Biden administration and Donald Trump’s accusations of sexual assault coming around involving E. Jean Carroll, are signs of things falling apart in governmental control. While reporting these findings is beneficial, it would be wise to do it the smart way. This paper will explore scandals in full as a medium for communication, thanks to the quintessential scandal that comes to mind. Let’s look back on the Watergate Crisis and forward to the current times. Is there a connection that shows how this could all play out and if so, can we find the end to these betrayals of face in the white house????

Keywords: Woodward and Bernstein, Watergate, US politics, Democratic National Committee, Washington, Presidents, Richard M. Nixon, Scandal, Embarrassing, Pentagon Papers.

SUFFERING SCANDALS: WATERGATE & MY TAKE ON THE GOVERNMENT’S CRITICAL FAIL LIST.

Intro:

???????????We have all been there before, a place that invokes laughter in both good and bad ways. An event that scars us with a lesson in humility and that would difficult to forget at times. When lies and conjecture are revealed, we must face the problematic force of embarrassment that alters us among all our peers. Sure, it can be a great bunch of laughs and a worthy moment to learn lessons; but boy does it hurt. No one wants to feel shame and admonishment, our species values control in our lives to be finite; as in without the need to make major overhauls. That goes double for those discussed throughout this paper as if humiliated; they got much more to lose than pride and peak homeostasis. Our own governing body of the United States seems to be recently haunted by a series of embarrassment after the embarrassment in the past two years, all coming together into a very unfavorable event that could end careers; a scandal worthy of front-page news ??

???????????Is it just me or does the past presidencies of Joe Biden and Donald Trump feel like drinking spiked punch? Something feels off with the standard status quo after the first taste, but as we continue to ignore signs of danger; the blackout begins and we lose control before we take notice. For example, the Biden administration talks big on promises to help the country’s recovery effort from COVID-19, but the focus on primary healthcare caused the supply train crisis to be missed. This incident resulted in an infant formula shortage that started in May, due to a sudden recall that caused issues with the collection of approved products (resulting in the following signs to the top right being a common sight this year). Biden’s lack of foresight also allowed Senator Ted Cruz to blame him over those San Antonio migrant deaths last year. Trump is no exception with the recent lawsuit over a sexual assault against E. Jean Carroll (news image below) being given the guilty verdict and who else recalls those classified and national defense documents that got “mishandled”.

???????????These incidents resulted in the United States doing a double take inside-out, with people frowning on the presidents for their lack of understanding of a minor crisis that soon became a hassle. This isn’t the first time the highest authority in the country has shamed itself with the bad press that lacks major victories to remove it. The biggest of these fouls is rearing its head again, as we might be looking into a repeat of Watergate. You know, the day President Richard Nixon was accused of getting involved with a burglary of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Washington, D.C., Watergate Office Building. ?The event was a front of national security that highlights the danger of corrupt centrifuge within the political parties, which many believe and discredited Nixon immediately. I’m talking about impeachment, humiliation, memes, and rumors of being a self-serving greedy hack since childhood; Nixon’s name was ruined for good. How did it all play out and if the turns of events seem to be repeating themselves with Donald and Joe; how can we stop them before their actions start homing in on the next president?

Watergate detailed:

???????????The usual method in this is to look at the past to see the future, so how did the events of Watergate play out? Many give off their interpretations but see a set of events that look like a series of red flags that can come back to haunt us. Namely, in order of sequence and month; four events come to mind when seeing Watergate:

1.????The actual break-in: On June 17, 1972, police arrested five men trying to steal documents from the democracy party headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington (image left side); weeks before the start of summer election season. One of those men, James McCord Jr., was the committee’s security chief heading the job of getting Nixon reelected. The cops, despite handing in the robbery equipment as evidence; were bought off when warned that the investigation can cause a fatal loss of trust in the American Government (which it will).

2.????“Deep throat” entering the picture: Reporters feeling that Nixon’s reelection was too soon to be just a miracle, started to get curious about rumors of a cover-up. Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward of the Washington Post were the most noticeable that jumped on the story. They got groundbreaking tips on the Watergate scandal thanks to FBI official Mark Felt (image of "Deep Throat" himself above), who when undercover to share. The man felt as if there was a pattern that no one focusing on, and stated that the break-in wasn’t the only misstep in the republican party.

3.????A letter: Physical beatings of the political opposition members, stealing their memos, wiretapping their homes, breaking into offices of their doctors. In March 1973, the guilt of seeing evidence of these actions caused James McCord Jr (image left side) to come clean. The judge released a letter written by McCord in which he said White House officials had pressured the defendants to plead guilty for their “independent operation”. These words cause Nixon and his aides (notably McCord’s boss John Mitchell) to be suspected of obstruction of justice by planning to use the CIA to stop the FBI’s investigation.

4.????The “Saturday Night Massacre” Firings: The burglary trial had ended, and the fallout over the scandal was just beginning. The Senate voted to create a special investigative committee to look into Watergate with a direct security order for damage control. On July 13, 1973, a White House aide told the committee boss Archibald Cox, that Nixon had taped all his conversations in The Oval Office. A battle ensued over the release of tapes that were recorded after the break-in. During this, Nixon fired three cabinet numbers to remove Cox from the investigation, but canning lead only damaged his standing harder. On July 24, 1974, the US Supreme Court had enough waiting and ordered the White House to hand over recordings of those conversations. ??

The result was Nixon getting an official pink slip, an article of impeachment accusing him of withholding the audio for an 18-minute conversation with the CIA shortly after the heist. Poor Richard resigned and gave his apology for the mess. “One thing I can see now is that I was wrong in not acting more decisively and more forthrightly in dealing with Watergate”. However, not everyone around the world saw that as a sincere truth within the scandal. Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong called Watergate "the result of too much freedom of political expression in the U.S”, criticizing Nixon for failing to see the danger of the country’s isolationism during his term. Then England’s Prime Minister Edward Heath was angry that he was taped without knowing how to talk with Richard. Iran and Kenya saw it all as a terrible idea that weaken America’s focus, forcing fixes that would prevent the country from providing aid to others. That is my fear with the recent issues with Trump and Biden, a humiliation in the eyes of both allies and enemies. What of the case of similar events coming back to stir a new scandal? Sadly, that may be true with a similar voting crisis. ??

Welcoming and rebuttal:

???????????The 2020 Voting Crisis and Biden–Ukraine conspiracy are examples of the major three issues of Watergate, coming back to bite us in the butt. Number one is the mishandling and care disregard for information between parties. It seems that any time the people of the White House give critical information regarding diplomatic contact and/or financial data, something goes missing every time. For example, said Biden-Ukraine conspiracy is a series of false allegations that Joe Biden, while he was vice president of the United States before, engaged in corrupt activities relating to the employment of his son, Hunter Biden, by the Ukrainian gas company Burisma. The conspiracy theory alleges that then-Vice President Biden withheld loan guarantees to pressure Ukraine into firing a prosecutor to prevent a corruption investigation into Burisma and to protect his son. Despite the need to keep this on the hush, President Trump decided to use the info to discredit Biden in the 2020 election. Stealing is still stealing to the general media and this little stunt hurt both of their careers, as it seems the two wouldn’t show any morals to win (summary of the conspiracy above).

???????????A machine must have all the parts working as a coherent unit for everything to work out, if just one is missing; the chain of progress is halted. Information in a government section is about the same, and keeping secrets for personal advantage is a good way to get a scandalous label of being petty. Underestimation is also a cruel and insidious maker of humiliation and panic among the upper class, highlighting a lacking sense of knowledge in office. Underestimation of just how far the republican party would go to get him a second term cost Richard Nixon the chance for any terms. The same issue would pound Biden in the White House as he misread the real dangers of COVID-19 and the Taliban-led Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Many counties have credited his oversight as big mistakes for being too complicated to reason with. The withdrawal of United States troops was heavily panned by allies within the states and by friends outside. Even old friends like former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair (top left) condemned the US withdrawal. "The abandonment of Afghanistan and its people is tragic, dangerous, unnecessary, not in their interests and not in ours. Biden is stuck in obedience to an imbecilic political slogan about ending the wars. The world is now uncertain of where the West stands because it is so obvious that the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan in this way was driven not by grand strategy but by politics."

???????????Politics, it seems scandals are often started by interior issues like them. It always seems to swing back to a personal agenda, and no one seems to learn. Remembrance isn’t a word of best interest within the political circles, looking back and ignoring problems means sacrificing the chance to move forward. However, that is not the case with the following example which shows the danger of a clouded mind. Former President Donald Trump has been recently indicted by a federal grand jury for hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago Mansion (to the right) long after he left the White House. The issue stems from a dispute Trump had with the bureaucrats at the National Archives and Records Administration. These guys are historians who are tasked with preserving an account of each outgoing president, filing it as a legal record of their term in office and its effects on us. Trump initially refused to turn over the records they requested. When he finally did, it was clear he’d been holding a number of those documents with secret and top-secret classification markings. I guess that he was trying to modify some of the poorest spots in his career via a secondary document that would paint him as pure to the oval office. A good president doesn’t fear his faults nor hides them in a futile attempt to do good, it is better to face the music and welcome lessons from mistakes. If Donald deiced to learn at the face value of learning from his fault, he wouldn’t be indicted on federal criminal charges (“again” counting the investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol as seen below, and that inquiry in Georgia).

When does it end and the conclusion:

The setbacks of forgetfulness, underestimation, and mismanagement are deeply rooted as the cause of Watergate’s infamous reputation. Leaders that have these problems and lack the need to work with them, always let sloth curse their bodies to repeat the same bad tune again & again. Richard Nixon needed time to forgive himself over the years and restore his good name, Trump and Biden; seem to be stuck on a repeat track to escape circumstances out of their control. I know that the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, and the near collapse of the debt ceiling, have the US in a stressed state of affairs. But people in power need to cover all the bases when heading out to fix things. It is a need for those that will not fall into the dangers of a scandal, rising from the ashes of this presidency. The fault is always there, can someone please just accept it? ??

Watergate’s faults should be taken into conservation today to avoid the danger of future scandals. Providing for an ethical, transparent government and combating the corrupting influence of money in politics, are both equal steps in the right direction. Money is a force that pushes the idea of an easy way out of a situation, with the risk being ignored in favor of a reward at the end. The same goes for popularity, which divides many a man and forms the root of scandals anywhere. Transparency and honesty should work to beat the two of them back before problems could arise. Take a loss as is and learn to better yourself if a trial occurs. Hiding from bad days with lies and subterfuge would only make it worse. Also, study and learn to avoid taking things at face value; not every plan suggested is the right one to follow. If the president can admit that he or she has made mistakes in the past and promises to learn from them, they got my vote.

Not everyone is going to avoid scandals though, and they’re people that are fueled by them to make a name for themselves. There’s an easy way to stop those profiting from the suffering of others, ignore them. They’re not the legal authority, not best friends, and certainly not family if they’re only being with you to see the next slip-up. Tabloids, humorists, and jerks only seem to see the celebrity of the runaway and the senate office as a face, waiting for words to mess things up. Watergate had too many people attached, providing only more lies and conjecture to an already stressed government. We need to end things here with heart & mind, so if someone is just laughing at a scandal for kicks, tell them if it is right to post the story. After all, no one wants to be on the front page of the news, because as we have seen; it is more of a curse than a cruise. ???????

Thank you for taking the time to read my article.

Work Cited

Hananel, Sam. Director. et al. “Lessons from Watergate.” Center for American Progress, 12 June 2023, www.americanprogress.org/article/lessons-from-watergate/.

Karimi, Faith. “Watergate Scandal: A Look Back at Crisis That Changed Us Politics | CNN.” CNN Politics, 17 May 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/05/17/politics/watergate-scandal-look-back/index.html.

Calia, Mike, et al. “Trump Indictment Live Updates: Special Counsel Describes Gravity of Alleged Crimes, Experts Call Charges ‘Damning.’” CNBC, 13 June 2023, www.cnbc.com/2023/06/08/trump-indicted-live-updates.html.

Reid, Paula, et al. “Donald Trump Indicted on 7 Counts in Classified Documents Probe | CNN Politics.” CNN Politics, 9 June 2023, www.cnn.com/2023/06/08/politics/trump-indictment-truth-social-classified-documents/index.html.

Campbell, Joseph?W. “Woodward, and Bernstein Didn’t Bring down a President in Watergate – but the Myth That They Did Lives On.” The Conversation, 15 May 2023, www.theconversation.com/woodward-and-bernstein-didnt-bring-down-a-president-in-watergate-but-the-myth-that-they-did-lives-on-183290.

Elving, Ron. “Watergate Committee Hearings May Be Both an Inspiration and a Hard Act to Follow.” NPR, 6 June 2022, www.npr.org/2022/06/06/1103098399/watergate-committee-hearings-may-be-both-an-inspiration-and-a-hard-act-to-follow.

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