Friday, November 27, 2009

Nation & World

Washington Whispers by Paul Bedard

Woodward and Bernstein Swore Off Talking About Nixon Impeachment

March 17, 2009 05:44 PM ET | Paul Bedard, Amanda Ruggeri | Permanent Link | Print

By Amanda Ruggeri, Washington Whispers

Just 10 weeks after the 1972 Watergate break-in, Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward had a feeling that President Nixon was going to be impeached. So says Bernstein, who revealed their suspicions at last night's Newseum screening of All the President's Men. The first big tip-off was a notebook found on one of the burglars with a notation in it: "W House."

But the realization that Attorney General John Mitchell had control of a secret Republican fund to gather information about the Democrats was even bigger. That, Bernstein said, was "when we realized that this was probably going to involve the president of the United States in some kind of horrible way." On the September 1972 day he and Woodward found out, they met at a vending machine off the Post newsroom for coffee. (It was where they met every day, Bernstein said, to "get their ducks in a row" so they could try to convince their editors that the story was as big as they thought it was—something the editors didn't always believe.) As he put in a dime, Bernstein said, "I literally felt this thing go down my back." He turned to Woodward and said, "Oh, my God, this president is going to be impeached." Woodward's reply, Bernstein recalled, was, " 'You're right.' And, he said, 'We can never use that word impeachment in this newsroom, because they'll think we have an agenda.' Even now, talking about it, it sends a chill."

Tags: journalism | media | Richard M. Nixon | Washington Post

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Reader Comments

Where are we headed

I would think that with in the next twelve to twenty-four months this nation will break up in segments of four to six states in various regions. Some will do well, other's will be in big trouble, but this country is through as the leader of the free world, regardless of how it all turns out.

We were asleep at the wheel for the last eight years and no one seems to be shaking anyone to wake them up on this watch. We will be a Continent of extremely rich and extremely poor, but the middle class will have disappeared altogether...that's a sad mark in history.

Nixon

Odd how liberals continue to focus on Nixon whose so called "crimes" are a walk in the park compared to slick willie clinton and hillary. Also, the current President who is lying if his lips are moving. His admin. full of tax cheats and incompetents. This is a man who wants to turn this Country into a socialist third world country. Guess libs think talking about Nixon deflects from those issues.

Who cares about whether they talked about it?

We need to focus on the issues here, not talk about impeachment, particular impeachment from like 40 years ago. Hopefully we can turn this economy around and actually focus on solving the deeper, systemic issues for why we're in this situation. Obviously bad banking's a good place to start, but there are other issues, like global poverty, that have huge economic and geopolitical ramifications.

The Borgen Project (www.borgenproject.org) has some interesting insight into addressing the issues of global poverty, something we can remedy easily and sustainably.

Some interesting figures to ponder:

$30 billion USD: The annual shortfall to end global poverty.

$550 billion USD: The annual US defense budget.

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