David Broder’s column on Watergate this morning includes quotations from Chuck Colson, who was special counsel to Nixon, and Pat Buchanan, a Nixon speechwriter. Both condemn Mark Felt, who revealed a week ago that he was Deep Throat. Neither condemn Nixon.
This reminds me that America’s historic temptation is right-wing authoritarianism or fascism.
Yes, there was one period, the Depression, when the global collapse of capitalism sent many intelligent folks dangerously leftward. They fell for "scientific socialism," a religion inspired by Karl Marx. This meant blinding themselves to Communism’s immense failure in the Soviet Union as well as its great crimes against humanity. But they remained on the fringes, failing to dominate official Washington, failing to persuade the general public.
On the other hand, American history offers several instances where anti-democratic rightists spoke for either the Establishment or much of the populace. In the 20th century alone, there were three such eras - World War I-Palmer Raid, McCarthyism and Watergate. We are now in a fourth, the 9/11-Patriot Act era.
This current tilt may be the most dangerous to democracy, because the White House, much of the Congress and a significant percentage of the citizenry – in its fear - support secrecy and lawlessness and subversion of the Constitution, thereby threatening the system.
As for the news business, it provided some check to Senator Joseph McCarthy and his fellow travelers. It was late but eventually caught onto the Watergate conspiracy. But these days, where it is not cheerleading, the mainstream press – daily newspapers and TV - has pretty much quit the field.
We are blessed with dissent in monthly magazines and books, it is true, but only a minority of Americans goes to monthlies and books for information.
Worrisome, given our nation's penchant for leaning to the authoritarian right.