Nixonland

Just saw this blurb on CNN about the book "Nixonland".

Here's some good quotes:

• "the guy who exploited these tensions to create a new kind of politics that we're still living with now"


• "conservative Americans buffeted on all sides by change, taking refuge in the familiar"


• "The generational divide went so deep as to form a fundamental argument about what was moral and what was immoral"


• "a controlling man who, in trying to stay at least one move ahead of everyone else, ends up consumed by his own power"

Now, if I hadn't said those quotes were about the Nixon era, I'll bet you would have assumed they referred to the Bush regime. The similarities - the secrecy, survailence on Americans, politicization of justice, the whole air of "if the President does it, then it's not a crime", even players like Cheney, Rumsfeld and the behind-the-scenes neocons - are eerie and disturbing. Much like Nixon during his time, Bush has many supporters that so desperately want to believe that he is righteous, they cannot recognize the seriousness and extent of his crimes while they are happening.