Watergate 40

Today is the 40th anniversary of the Watergate break-in, which took place on June 17, 1972. Below is a piece I wrote on that subject in 2010, mimimally re-edited today for punctuation, style, and grammar: Did it start with WATERGATE? No, not the age-old political dirty tricks. Rather, the monumental, "fashionable" apathy. Were millions so shocked, so scandalized by Nixon's minor malfeasance - which ended up nailing him - they simply dropped out of meaningful politics? I'm talking about Tricky Dick's minor crimes, as he was actually caught and forced to resign on account of a second-rate break-in at Democratic National Committee Headquarters; not for the massive war crimes committed in SE Asia. But the real focus of my inquiry concerns the American Public. I'll always remember being ten years old and visiting my best friend's house in the Summer of 1973. Nancy, Peter's mom, was glued to the telescreen, enthralled with the Watergate Hearings. I was naturally bored on the one hand, being ten years old, and quite unable to fathom why Ms. ____ was so obsessed with such nonsense. On the other hand, I was fascinated, intrigued with the intrigue. Of course, the United States had experienced political scandal before. Teapot Dome in the 1920's. Bobby Baker's misdeeds during the LBJ years. Nixon's 1952 "Checkers" imbroglio. But never before had so many Americans paid so much attention to cloak-and-dagger antics emanating from the White House. So how do we explain the subsequent humongous level of depoliticization in the aftermath of the "Plumbers'" shenanigans? In May 1960, Eisenhower had already been caught red-handed in a major diplomatic LIE, when he falsely denied Francis Gary Powers had been shot down during a U-2 spying mission over the USSR. Faith in the supposed truthfulness of Presidents certainly took a hit; but the early-'60s populace generally didn't seem to wallow, as a result, in complete indifference. But following Watergate, it became "cool" to not give a shit. "Cool," when I was in Middle School in 1975, was showing off your Converse All Stars and running around the Gym to the tune of "Pickin' Up The Pieces" by the Average White Band. Don't get me wrong - Great Song! It was evidently quite cool to make it known to everyone you'd seen the latest "Tony Orlando And Dawn" episode on ABC. Of course, I'm talking about kids here, but I'll wager many of those mental children who were absolutely THRILLED by "The Towering Inferno" were over 18 years of age. CONVERSELY (heh heh) it became equally "uncool" to care about things that actually mattered; eyes were interminably rolled to high heaven if you so much as mentioned any actual, grown-up ISSUE. By the time I entered High School in 1977, the fashionable boredom was so thick you could cut it with a switchblade. Example: We had Madison's Chief of Police visit the class one day. I expected someone to challenge him, to call him a goddamn fascist pig, SOMETHING. Instead, the entire class, girls and boys alike, sat there for 60 minutes like a bunch of granite statues. Myself as well: I wouldn't have been caught dead being curious and "uncool." Now more than ever, I realize scarcely anyone gives a shit, so I'll STFU and have a nice day. P.S: What did Nixon/Walker know and when did he know it? http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Wars_of_Watergate.html?id=k2U9w6RVpowC