CommentsVIEW FROM HERE-By painstakingly outlining the architecture of the Ukraine scheme, the impeachment managers successfully described how Trump put self-interest ahead of the nation's priorities.
If anyone denies he did something illegal after hearing the case against him, they were not paying attention (roughly 13 million people tuned in on TV to the first public impeachment hearing on Wednesday, drawing fewer viewers than other recent testimonies by figures like former FBI Director James Comey) or they simply don't care to know the truth.
There was one statement, however, that I thought was severely misguided. It was made by Representative Jerry Nadler, who said, “No president has ever used his office to compel a foreign nation to help him cheat in our elections. . . Trump engaged in an unprecedented “stonewalling” of the inquiry that “puts even President Nixon to shame.”
What an outrageous thing to say in front of the Senate and national audience. These types of comparisons to Richard Nixon are not only historically inaccurate, they are also extremely counterproductive. Yes, Trump is a compulsive liar and malignant narcissist. Yes, Trump has violated his oath of office and abused his power as POTUS. But to compare what he has done to the actions of Richard Nixon is absurd.
Take for example the secret bombing of Cambodia, which is arguably one of the evilest actions undertaken by a 20th century politician. From March 1969 to May 1970, President Nixon carried out a secret bombing campaign against the sovereign nation of Cambodia, using B-52 heavy bombers to "carpet bomb" areas of the country where there were suspected resupply lines for Viet Cong troops.
Operation Menu, as it was called, was followed by another secret bombing campaign which would continue until 1973. These operations were so clandestine that it bypassed the normal chain of command of even the Air Force, let alone the Congress and American people. In fact, after the Cambodian government issued official complaints over 100 times on the floor of the United Nations, Nixon personally ordered his administration to deny any intrusion into their airspace. (In May 1969, the New York Times reported that someone from high up in the Nixon administration had confirmed the use of B-52s, a leak which caused Nixon to order J. Edgar Hoover to illegally wiretap the suspected source.)
This is merely one egregious example of Nixon's lawlessness; it followed a long and undistinguished pattern going back to the beginning of his career. Over the span of decades, Nixon was involved with smear campaigns, slush funds, money laundering, collusion, and, most notably, the infamous Watergate break in. These were not allegations. These crimes happened and historians now have the facts to understand how. If Gerald Ford had not given Nixon a pardon, many of these illegal activities would no doubt have been uncovered; but with the possibility of a trial jettisoned by Ford’s pardon, the public directed its attention to other matters.
Still, those who value the lessons of history remember the consequences of Nixon's high crimes and misdemeanors. They know that he caused the death of thousands of civilians in Cambodia and needlessly prolonged the tragedy of Vietnam. They know he destroyed the careers of his enemies and used American tax money to launch and fund criminal enterprises. They know he single handily eroded the public trust in the White House, leaving behind a legacy that did immeasurable damage to American democracy. Not only should Nixon have been impeached and removed from office, he should have been arrested and convicted of war crimes.
So for Jerry Nadler to insinuate that Trump puts Nixon to shame is a politically calculated misreading of history. After considering all of Trump's shenanigans (and there are many) none of them, as far as the public has seen thus far, comes close to what Nixon did. Trump may be a charlatan, but he is not a sociopath. Trump may have authored an illegal effort to pressure the Ukraine into interfering in an American election, but he did not orchestrate a secret and illegal war on another country. To make such a comparison not only whitewashes the reputation of President Nixon, it does little to hold Trump accountable for his misdeeds.
In other words, rather than compare Donald Trump to the worst that this country has produced, Nadler should have compared him to the best. He should have focused his demonstration on how Trump's actions match up to the nobility and dignity of Washington, Lincoln, FDR, and Kennedy. The impeachment managers touched on this, but they could have gone much further. For it means almost nothing to say that what Trump did was worse than Nixon. Not only is that charge fictitious, it signals a frantic race to the bottom that hardly elevates the conversation. The nation deserves better.
(George Cassidy Payne is a social worker and adjunct instructor of philosophy. He has degrees in history from St. John Fisher College, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, and Emory University.) Photo credit: Photo: Santa Monica Daily Press Prepped for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
