Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

Bark louder, little dog.

75% of people clapping liked the show!

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Democracy is not a spectator sport.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Dear legacy media: you are not here to influence outcomes and policies you find desirable.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

The lights are all blinking red.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

You are here: Home / Books / Nixonland / Sunday Evening Open Thread

Sunday Evening Open Thread

by | 97 Comments

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Thanks to all who participated down-thread. Next Sunday is some big noisy quasi-religious observance for sports fans, I’m told, so how about we schedule the discussion of NIXONLAND, chapter 3, “The Stench”, for Monday evening, Feb 7, at 9pm EST? Or is that too early / too late / the wrong day?

Incidentally, I was a bit surprised that more of you ‘lurkers’ didn’t comment on the book… rest assured, we would be thrilled to hear what you have to say, new blood is alway welcome!

Reading assignments aside, what are y’all doing this evening?

Reader Interactions

97Comments

  2. 2.

    Damned at Random

    Great – by Monday evening I will no longer be distracted by the Stiller’s awesome victory

  3. 3.

    Morbo

    I’m told the Royal Rumble is tonight for those concerned with the male-oriented version of soap opera.

  4. 4.

    Ellie

    I’m a quasi-lurker but would love to have to participated. However, I’ve had the week from hell, and didn’t finish my homework or even get out of my office today before class. I’ll be here next week though. Monday or whenever is fine with me. BTW, thanks for doing this and finally getting me to start reading the book!

  7. 7.

    JGabriel

    Anne Laurie:

    Next Sunday is some big noisy quasi-religious observance for sports fans …

    I don’t know how they take seriously an event that sounds like some sort of urinal disinfectant cake. “Super Bowl! For that FRESH Scent! It’s Suuuuper!”

    .

  8. 8.

    Turgidson

    I’m mostly a lurker, and had planned on rereading and participating, but realized today when I went to get the book and start catching up that I gave my copy to a friend who now lives 2 time zones away.

    Will check the library for a copy…and might just rebuy it on Kindle. No guarantee that I’ll actually have anything useful to say, though.

    The conversation was good fun to follow though.

  9. 9.

    lamh32

    I’ve been at work all day, got off at 3:30pm.

    right now, I’m watching a “Martin” mini-marathon on TVONE.

    After the mini-marathon is over, I’m not sure what I’m gonna watch.

  11. 11.

    JPL

    I lurked because I had not read the book. I refuse to buy another book until I finish the stack of unread books on my shelf. Like others it was fun to read the comments especially the ones about the checker speech. I remember Pat’s coat but did not know all the background surrounding it.

  12. 12.

    Turgidson

    @MikeJ:

    Indeed. I got a Kindle for my wife for Christmas this year, and have kinda-sorta adopted it as my own. Wish I had gotten one much sooner. It’s so bloody convenient. Makes my train commute 10x more enjoyable too (she has to drive to work at the moment, giving me the opening I needed to appropriate the Kindle for myself). Far easier on the eyes as a reader than the ipad, too.

  14. 14.

    Chuck Butcher

    I didn’t want to step on the book club because I haven’t read the book and probably won’t because I have no desire to re-live that period. In my HS Jr year (69) I did a semester report on HUAC and the SSC and along with the Voorhis campaign that really ought to tell you all about RMN. I had the luck to have full access to the Antioch College library which had the full hearings of both. It wasn’t quite a book but it had a shit ton of pages.

    I still feel like throwing up remembering that shit.

  15. 15.

    CJ

    I lurk, but I already read Nixonland a year or so ago. Great, great book. I’m keeping up with the discussion.

  16. 16.

    General Stuck

    Haven’t read Nixonland either, but in fact will be ordering it tomorrow as used paperback. If it wasn’t 14 bucks via kindle, I would buy it that way. I like reading from a large monitor, but not for that coinage.

    I was in the Army during the time almost exactly aligned with the Watergate break in and Nixon’s resignation. And remember getting off duty and crawling inside a bottle of Tequilla, watching the hearings. My only trip to DC was with my father, and one night we stood outside the WH iron gate and chatted what must be going through Nixons mind, and that he must be feeling very alone about then. This during the winter of late 1973. I was agnostic mostly about the dude and politics in general, but my wingnut pappy loved him some Tricky Dick, but later admitted he was a crook.

  17. 17.

    2liberal

    i grew up in new england and now live near PHX. my Nba teams are the suns and the celts. I had a hard time rooting for the celtics today after seeing garnett punch Channing Frye in the nabs. He should have been suspended for 10 games for that shit.

  18. 18.

    demkat620

    I would have commented but I have been roped into a game of “Just Dance” for the Wii by my devil spawn.

    Why did I have kids?

  21. 21.

    Comrade Mary

    Miraculously, I was able to request a hold from my library last week and actually picked up my copy on Friday, but have had no time to read it yet, apart from a wee excerpt I got for my iPhone ebook reader. If this week is less insane, I have hopes of starting and catching up.

    (Man, I used to read SO many books. Now it’s a struggle to finish anything in print that isn’t pretty light reading. Oh, for the days when I devoured Infinite Jest and all its footnotes. Twice.)

  24. 24.

    Jim, Once

    @Turgidson:

    Ah, just get another one. We now have five in our nuclear and extended family (plus iPads), and are swapping books like crazy. We have over three hundred among us by now.

    What am I doing? Keeping an eye on this: “Riot Police Guard Against Anti-Billionaire Protesters in Rancho Mirage” (at http://www.crooksandliars.com). It makes me feel good to see this … wish I could be there.

  27. 27.

    drkrick

    I’m one of those who remember the Nixon era quite well enough, thanks. My grandfather leaned pretty Republican but he voted against him as few as five times only because he didn’t live in California.

    What I am reading is Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for the first time. A hell of a lot of internet traditions, quotes, screen names and blog titles make more sense to me now than they did a few days ago.

  29. 29.

    Starfish

    I find reading about politics in anything longer than blog length to be boring, depressing, or annoying.

  32. 32.

    MattR

    @handy: Last year or two. Even though you lose players from the Super Bowl teams, I like it too. And I am kinda guessing that the players like it too. Better to finish the season two weeks earlier, especially for players on non-playoff teams who used to have a six week layoff before the Pro Bowl

  34. 34.

    handy

    @Jim, Once:

    Funny I didn’t see any coverage of this in the local LA news. I guess protests only mean something when they’re “for* oligarchy.

  35. 35.

    drew42

    I was a bit surprised that more of you ‘lurkers’ didn’t comment on the book…

    Every time — every, single time — I write something online, I either completely mistype it (not just a typo, but actually mistype so badly that it messes up the meaning) and don’t realize it until later, or someone misinterprets what I wrote.

    Either way, I lose sleep over it. So I just don’t, unless I’ve been drinking. Which makes matters worse.

    God bless those of you who can write freely, and without regrest…

  36. 36.

    stuckinred

    “The concept of an all-star game would not be revived until 1951, when the newly rechristened Pro Bowl played at various venues before being held at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii for 30 consecutive seasons from 1980 to 2009. The 2010 Pro Bowl was played at Sun Life Stadium, the home stadium of the Miami Dolphins and host site of Super Bowl XLIV, on January 31, the first time ever that the Pro Bowl was held before the championship game, with the conference teams not including players from the teams that will be playing in the Super Bowl.”

  37. 37.

    MattR

    @drew42: Unfortunately, my sarcasm does not have an off button so I can’t help but say “I don’t understand what your comment means” :)

  40. 40.

    Yutsano

    Formulating a recipe for pork enchiladas, rewriting my brother’s chicken enchilada recipe so it doesn’t involve that damn cream of chicken soup, and pretending there’s a football game on that I really don’t care very much about. Oh and debating how to cook that hunk of salmon sitting in my fridge. Otherwise I pretty much got nothin’.

  41. 41.

    Paris

    @Mark S.:

    That RedState piece deserves some type of award. Its where I found the Telegraph link I mentioned in the comment just before yours. Who knew that labor unions support other labor unions? Shocking!

  42. 42.

    handy

    Once the Super Bowl is over, as far as sports, my mind quickly shuts off football and goes to the NBA and Spring Training. So I’m actually enjoying watching this Pro Bowl despite Rocks-For-Brains Terry Bradshaw on color (sorry Stiller fan but yeah the guy’s kind of missing a lot up there).

  47. 47.

    MikeJ

    @Yutsano: Do you have an alder plank? That’ll solve the salmon problem. What kind is it? I’ve been sooo disappointed with what we’ve got around right now. I can’t wait for Copper season. Mmmm.

    For chicken enchiladas I use the America’s Test Kitchen recipe. They cook the chicken in the sauce as they make it. Works really well.

    The concept of creamy soup in it sickens me.

  50. 50.

    liberty60

    I am riding back from a protest rally against the Koch Bros at the “secret” billionaire strategy retreat in Rancho Mirage.
    Had a great turnout and even drew Andrew Breitbart, who was rollerblading around taunting the crowd- no hoping to create a little drama. We laughed him off and derided him as a drama queen.
    No DFHs would take the bait I guess!

  53. 53.

    Yutsano

    @MikeJ: Just a hunk of sockeye. Not the best of the season but I’m not bitching. Salmon is like sex: even when it’s bad it’s still pretty good.

    I get where my brother was going with this, as he uses pre-cooked chicken as a time saver. That’s all well and good. He also uses sour cream instead of crema but that’s just a purity fight. It’s the damn cream of chicken soup in the sauce that has me gagging. I KNOW I can do better than that. Plus he doesn’t use oregano, which is a crime, because a little dried oregano on top of his makes them just magical. I’m still working on things though.

  57. 57.

    BruceFromOhio

    @Stooleo:

    The 63-year-old grandfather is charged with one count of a false report or threat of terrorism and one count of possession of bombs with unlawful intent …

    Is there a lawful intent for possession of a bomb by some drunken asshole? And how many of these have to be successful before the other assholes ‘fess up?

  58. 58.

    Anne Laurie

    @drew42:

    God bless those of you who can write freely, and without regrest…

    Serious answer: It takes practice. I spent a lot of hours between the ages of about 20 and 40 doing a paper-based proto-version of blogging, back-and-forth commenting on various round-robin ‘amateur press association’ fanzines. And there are still people I corresponded with in those days who turn purple when my name is mentioned, because I had a real gift for saying exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time to the wrong person — with flair!

    By the time I discovered online political blogging, some 10 years after I’d drifted away from s/f apahacking, I’d gotten enough practice at proofreading my own work — and at reading my comments with an eye to how other people would interpret them — that most of my smartarse new online insults were at least intentional.

    The good thing about online “apahacking” is that you don’t have to wait a month or two or more before correcting an error or adding your thoughts to a discussion. The not-so-good thing is… well, let’s be truthful: In those days, giving me more time to think stuff over wouldn’t have made me any more considerate of other peoples’ feelings, probably.

  60. 60.

    Violet

    Just got back from my massage. She did a good job on my hip. Hurt like hell at times, but I’m way more loosened up than before I went in.

  61. 61.

    Martha

    @stuckinred: Actually, it’s a recipe I use for “feathers” as my mother in law used to call chicken. And it’s borrowed from Rick Bayless and his many great cookbooks, shows, and restaurants in Chicago. Roast the tomatillos with cloves of garlic, add peppers to taste and salt, and puree. Pour it in a skillet and cook it for a few minutes to concentrate the flavors. Then I add chopped white onion and cilantro, but I know many leave that out. You can doctor the sauce to your taste. I mix some of the sauce with meat (or veggies) and some queso blanco or jack cheese and roll into tortillas. Then cover with remaining sauce and cheese. Voila, verde enchiladas.

  62. 62.

    Cat Lady

    Seriously, I started reading the comments to the Nixonland thread, and I get a visceral reaction. I watched all but a few minutes of the Watergate hearings as they happened and they validated to the core of my teenaged idealist being my certainty of Nixon’s criminality, culpability and failure of character. THAT was bipartisanship in service of the American ideal. Fuck David Broder with AsianngrrlMN’s rustiest pointiest garden tools. I just can’t go back over all of that ground again, because I will never ever understand why we have to relearn why this fucking bullshit is happening again, which I remember like it was all yesterday. The people who need to read that book will never read it anyway. UGH.

    Can we read Joseph Campbell’s The Power of Myth for our next assignment? kthxbai.

  63. 63.

    Yutsano

    @stuckinred: Exactly. Especially if I can formulate a decent work around that. Which is the task for the day.

    And BHF is gonna kill me. I’m simmering the pork as we speak, not measuring, and not taking notes. Drives her nuts when I have to go back through my work. House is smelling amazing though.

  64. 64.

    WoodyNYC

    Aw, I missed it. Pulled the back muscles a bit shoveling the car out from it’s plow-packed spot here in Brooklyn; I laid down with a heating pad and fell asleep. But the comments were all great! One thing they brought to mind is that now resentment is so ingrained that it is displayed by those with fur coats, not just cloth ones.

  65. 65.

    Jim, Once

    @liberty60:
    I Heart you. As I said above, so wish I could have been there. Probably better for Andy B. that I wasn’t. I wondered about his presence – C&L didn’t make that clear at all.

  69. 69.

    liberty60

    @omnes omnibus
    Yeah, he really sets off my gaydar, but out of respect for my LGBT friends I didn’t an issue of it- but I won’t be surprised if he turns out to have a handsome young baggage handler on staff.

  70. 70.

    joe from Lowell

    @Yutsano: Nice easy salmon recipe:

    Heat your oven to 350.

    Heat a cast-iron skillet up on your stovetop on high.

    Rub both sides of the fillet with whatever spices you like.

    Sear one side.

    Flip, and put the pan, with the salmon still sizzling, right into the hot oven.

    Mmmmm….

  71. 71.

    Yutsano

    @joe from Lowell: That’s an idea, although I still have to skin the filet yet. I’m mulling options at this point, no final decision made yet.

    And yes I’m one of those humans who hates salmon skin. Sue me. :)

  72. 72.

    lamh34

    hi, i’m lamh34 and I’m a sista who loves Doris Day movies? I’m watching one now on Turner Classic Movies. It’s called “With Six You Get Eggroll”

    With Six You Get EggRoll

    Most intresting thing about the movie is the houseparty at the beginning, damn near EVERYONE is smoking, or sitting next to someone who’s smoking, or talking to someonw who’s blowing smoke in their face as they talk. Is it any wonder that some may of these older actors died from smoke related cancers?

  73. 73.

    HRA

    The best enchiladas were those made by good friend’s Mexican grandmother. The problem is I agreed to have her teach me and her granddaughter how to make them. Easy! Nope It took hours to make them. After that experience I just waited for her to send me some.

    Cannot imagine fairly critiqueing anything written about Nixon.

  74. 74.

    MikeJ

    @Yutsano: Salmon skin comes off easily after you grill skin side down. Easier and less wasted meat than pre cook skinning.

    ETA: Also works in a hot pan, not just a grill.

  79. 79.

    lamh32

    2 quick facts about “With Six You Get Egg Roll” the Doris Day movie I’m watching.

    George Carlin was in it, and Barbara Hershey played the daughter of Doris’ love interest.

    And what was the last movie I saw with Barbara Hershey??? She played Natalie Portman’s mom in Black Swan…very interesting…

  81. 81.

    PurpleGirl

    @Anne Laurie: Ah-ha. An S/F APA person. I still participate in a paper APA. We’ve discussed moving on-line but enough members really like the paper format. But oh, some members do use their computers to do fancy formatting and color covers, etc.

  82. 82.

    Mark S.

    @lamh34:

    Looked at the imdb page and a couple things stuck out:

    1. Both Jamie Farr and William Christopher are in this movie. MASH represent!

    2. I had no idea Doris Day is still alive.

  83. 83.

    Anya

    @Mark S.: I don’t understand why do Republicans hate the Muslim Brotherhood, they are basically the equivalent of the Jeebus loving Republican Party, except they take care of the poor and they’re not obsessed with tax cuts.

  84. 84.

    Yutsano

    @Anya: They don’t fear Jeebus, they take care of the poor, and they’re not obsessed with tax cuts. Oh and they’re brown folk. Too.

  85. 85.

    lamh32

    @Mark S.:

    I saw that too. I don’t know how good her “quality of life” is, but it seems she at least, is still breathing above air, so to speak.

    It’s funny, but one of my fav movies scenes ever from one of my fav movies includes a Doris Day song. I even have the song on my IPod.

    It’s called “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps” from Baz Luhrmann’s “Strictly Ballroom”

    I love this movie, and I highly recommend it whenever I can.

    Striclty Ballroom – Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps

  86. 86.

    Anya

    @Yutsano: If they were elected though, in terms of social issues, they will not be any more strict than the conservatives. But they will be more compassionate than the republicans when it comes to economic issues.

  87. 87.

    lamh32

    @lamh32:

    B.T.W. This movie along with “Dance With Me” with Vanessa Williams always makes me wanna learn ballroom dancing whenever I watch it.

    Dirty Dancing never made me wanna learn ballroom it just made me hot for Patrick Swayze…lol.

  88. 88.

    Anne Laurie

    @PurpleGirl:

    I still participate in a paper APA. We’ve discussed moving on-line but enough members really like the paper format.

    Sometimes I miss the “art on paper” part myself. I was there at the cusp of the switch from mimeo-and-ditto-machines to photocopying (which was still expensive & not very accessible, if you didn’t live in a big city or a university town). Veteran phans sometimes complained that us newbies would never appreciate the beauty of hand-drawn multi-color ditto work…

    Of course, I had at least one dear friend who said the best thing about writing on ditto is that the ink would fade into invisibility in as little as ten years. But I’m more of the school of thought that while nothing may ever truly “disappear” on the internet, there is just SO MUCH STUFF that the embarrassing over-personal bits are lost just as effectively!

  92. 92.

    Svensker

    @Yutsano:

    An easy way to cook any fish fillet, but especially good with salmon:

    Chop up one onion and saute until soft in some butter or oil. Add a pinch of tarragon and some lemon juice. Preheat oven to 350. Take a piece of foil and butter or oil one side, place the salmon fillet on the greased side, salt and pepper, then top with the seasoned onion. Seal up the packet real well, place in an ovenproof dish and back about 15 minutes. Fish will be juicy and delicious, cleanup is a snap. Herbs and flavorings can be varied to suit your taste.

  93. 93.

    Chad N Freude

    If anybody is interested (a dubious proposition at best), I am old enough to have been in high school during the HUAC-Checkers era (you kids get off my lawn!) and I was an adult (in age, at least) when Nixon was elected President. I am finding Perlstein’s book absolutely fascinating. I am not reliving the hideousness of the era like the other old farts on this thread, but rather seeing the book as an archeological explanation of how we got to where we are now.

    And, as a teenager, youth, young man, etc., I was Doris Day’s willing slave and saw all of her movies, most of them multiple times.

  97. 97.

    Phoebe

    @JPL: I have also a pile of books to read. But, like a Netflix queue, you can always move someone up the list, and this discussion is a really good reason to do that. Nixonland was on my list already, and when I started reading it [library copy], I was so glad this book club forced me to do that because it’s good good fun. It’s thick, you know, but — more to love!

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