V-Gram 21

June 14, 1996

Looking for Woodward and Bernstein

I just heard President Clinton's press secretary explain to the nation that invasion by the White House of confidential FBI files is nothing more than "a nuisance generated by the President's political opponents." Might there be a parallel between this statement and some early suggestions that "Watergate was merely a third-rate burglary"? If so, the consequences could be serious.

There is a sizable religious sect in this country whose core beliefs rest on a series of original sins. Among these are Vietnam, Iran-Contra, and insensitive Americans tolerating even the existence of Nixon and Reagan. Nothing, but nothing on that list exceeds the significance of Watergate as proof that Republicans, conservatives, and others deemed contemptible by network news anchors, ought to be consigned to the scrap heap of history. Now the shoe is on the other foot.

Yet, upon reflection, we might have to concede that Watergate and Filegate are different. Breaking into a campaign office in the dead of night is the method of amateurs. We now have pros, who have studied how to marshal the state apparatus. Upon reflection, the press secretary is right. Our current executive merely offered us another demonstration of the many ways to exercise the power of government. For them, the outraged anguish of the governed is but a passing nuisance.