I know how they feel, those Democrats who keep parroting the company line in support of President Clinton. I can empathize with them because I did the same thing with Nixon. I did my first campaign work as a Nixon volunteer in 1960. I held key positions in Nixon's 1968 and 1972 campaigns. I knew him as a strong leader and "right" on the issues. I even served in his administration for a while. I knew and respected Attorney General John Mitchell and I could never imagine him guilty of a crime, and I knew many of those bright, young, CREEP guys who went to jail because they believed the denials and supported their boss.
For two years I disbelieved what I heard from the news media about the Watergate investigation. I thought it was merely partisan bickering, as we now see on cable channels every night. In the 1972-1974 era, I, like so many of my colleagues, assumed the media had joined sides with the Democrats and that their reports were falsely presented. Nixon was too smart. He wouldn't do what they charged he had done.
But then the judicial system came into play. Courts at the highest level engaged. Judges from Democrat and GOP backgrounds started ruling against Nixon as they are now ruling against Clinton. The slide became more slippery. Even so, it was still hard to believe that our president would do such things. My late friend, Congressman Earl Landgrebe, said he didn't care about the facts, he was supporting Nixon. Eventually, many Republicans followed Senator Howard Baker's lead and began to think more broadly, pondering whether their denials might harm future reputations?
Some, such as Congressman Landgrebe then, or Henry Waxman now, can ignore the facts and support the insupportable, but our personal lives go on after administrations change. Reputation is important. So, having been through it, my advice for the innocent Clinton supporters who continue to espouse the daily spin from the White House is that they should give it up and protect their own reputations. It's difficult, but it's what the honorable among us must finally do when our trust is betrayed.
Gordon K. Durnil
Author of: IS AMERICA BEYOND REFORM?
Sligo Press
Tel: 541-317-9402
e-mail: sligo2@empnet.com
Web: http://www.sligopress.com
Gordon Durnil served as the United States Chairman of The International Joint Commission in the Bush Administration, as a member of the Executive Committee of the Republican National Committee during the 8 Reagan years, and as Indiana Republican State Chairman (1981-1989). He is an attorney and the author of two books, IS AMERICA BEYOND REFORM? (Sligo Press) and THE MAKING OF A CONSERVATIVE ENVIRONMENTALIST (Indiana University Press).
