If Music Could Talk

WestwayKid wrote: ↑

08 Feb 2018, 7:44am

Stupid double post. Sorry about that...but hey, double the Singin' John Ashcroft!

JennyB wrote: ↑

08 Feb 2018, 10:52am

WestwayKid wrote: ↑

08 Feb 2018, 7:44am

Stupid double post. Sorry about that...but hey, double the Singin' John Ashcroft!

Ugh. He's from my state. I loved it when he lost the senate race to a dead guy.

WestwayKid wrote: ↑

08 Feb 2018, 11:20am

JennyB wrote: ↑

08 Feb 2018, 10:52am

WestwayKid wrote: ↑

08 Feb 2018, 7:44am

Stupid double post. Sorry about that...but hey, double the Singin' John Ashcroft!

Ugh. He's from my state. I loved it when he lost the senate race to a dead guy.

Ha, ha! I forgot about that one! I'm in Paul Ryan's congressional district if it makes you feel any better. That's a major bummer.

JennyB wrote: ↑

08 Feb 2018, 11:23am

WestwayKid wrote: ↑

08 Feb 2018, 11:20am

JennyB wrote: ↑

08 Feb 2018, 10:52am

WestwayKid wrote: ↑

08 Feb 2018, 7:44am

Stupid double post. Sorry about that...but hey, double the Singin' John Ashcroft!

Ugh. He's from my state. I loved it when he lost the senate race to a dead guy.

Ha, ha! I forgot about that one! I'm in Paul Ryan's congressional district if it makes you feel any better. That's a major bummer.

Yikes. What do you think the chances of that Nehlen guy are of winning?

WestwayKid wrote: ↑

08 Feb 2018, 12:18pm

JennyB wrote: ↑

08 Feb 2018, 11:23am

WestwayKid wrote: ↑

08 Feb 2018, 11:20am

JennyB wrote: ↑

08 Feb 2018, 10:52am

WestwayKid wrote: ↑

08 Feb 2018, 7:44am

Stupid double post. Sorry about that...but hey, double the Singin' John Ashcroft!

Ugh. He's from my state. I loved it when he lost the senate race to a dead guy.

Ha, ha! I forgot about that one! I'm in Paul Ryan's congressional district if it makes you feel any better. That's a major bummer.

Yikes. What do you think the chances of that Nehlen guy are of winning?

I don't think he can beat Ryan. It's such a horribly gerrymandered district: poor, urban Milwaukee and working to upper middle class suburbs and then a handful of wealthy enclaves, but the GOP is very much establishment GOP and Nehlen is too far to the right. They're all country club Republicans (for the most part).

I really like Randy Bryce - who is the Democratic challenger - but I don't think he can knock of Ryan, either. He's really firmly entrenched behind a solid base.

“Most of that information will be routine, however, and of limited value,” [Liddy] continued. “But this operation contains a completely separate unit that will upgrade our intelligence. I have secured an option to lease a pleasure craft that is docked on the canal directly in front of the Fontainebleau Hotel. It is more than sixty feet long, with several staterooms, and expensively decorated in a Chinese motif. It can also be wired for both sight and sound in complete secrecy. Now, my preliminary soundings convince me that many of the prominent Democratic officials, including senators and representatives, are vulnerable to weakness of the flesh, which seems to overcome them at conventions. We can, without much trouble, compromise these officials through the charms of some ladies I have arranged to have living on the boat. This will enable us to extract the kind of information we want. The operation will blend into the general scene of Miami Beach, and the boat can also serve as the storage headquarters for all our communications equipment.”

“It won’t work, Gordon,” I interrupted. This was the Sandwedge “headquarters” nonsense pumped up to Hollywood proportions. It was outright extortion, and it was absurd as well. “How in the world is some whore going to compromise these guys at the convention? They’re not that dumb.”

Gordon shot an irritated look at me to underscore the fact that he was addressing [John] Mitchell. But he was ready with his answer. “John, these are the finest call girls in the country,” he said. “I can tell you from firsthand experience.” This broke the tension, as everyone laughed except Liddy, who waited impatiently. “They are not dumb broads, but girls who can be trained and programmed. I have spoken with the madam in Baltimore, and we have been assured their services at the convention.”

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

08 Feb 2018, 8:41pm

More Watergate hilarity. This is John Dean relating a conversation primarily between him and G. Gordon Liddy about using prostitutes to blackmail Democrats at the 1972 convention. The punchline is in the final paragraph. There was definitely a Keystone Kops aspect to the Nixon White House's skullduggery.

“Most of that information will be routine, however, and of limited value,” [Liddy] continued. “But this operation contains a completely separate unit that will upgrade our intelligence. I have secured an option to lease a pleasure craft that is docked on the canal directly in front of the Fontainebleau Hotel. It is more than sixty feet long, with several staterooms, and expensively decorated in a Chinese motif. It can also be wired for both sight and sound in complete secrecy. Now, my preliminary soundings convince me that many of the prominent Democratic officials, including senators and representatives, are vulnerable to weakness of the flesh, which seems to overcome them at conventions. We can, without much trouble, compromise these officials through the charms of some ladies I have arranged to have living on the boat. This will enable us to extract the kind of information we want. The operation will blend into the general scene of Miami Beach, and the boat can also serve as the storage headquarters for all our communications equipment.”

“It won’t work, Gordon,” I interrupted. This was the Sandwedge “headquarters” nonsense pumped up to Hollywood proportions. It was outright extortion, and it was absurd as well. “How in the world is some whore going to compromise these guys at the convention? They’re not that dumb.”

Gordon shot an irritated look at me to underscore the fact that he was addressing [John] Mitchell. But he was ready with his answer. “John, these are the finest call girls in the country,” he said. “I can tell you from firsthand experience.” This broke the tension, as everyone laughed except Liddy, who waited impatiently. “They are not dumb broads, but girls who can be trained and programmed. I have spoken with the madam in Baltimore, and we have been assured their services at the convention.”

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

13 Feb 2018, 12:27pm

With my Nixon lecture coming up, and having listened to that Watergate podcast, that truly American monster has been on my mind. One weird thing is that he's, like, the only American who claimed he couldn't recall where he was when he heard JFK was killed. He was actually in Dallas that morning and flew out before the Kennedys flew in. I don't think there's anything sinister about all that, but why would he either (a) lie about not knowing where he was or (b) not come up with a lie so that he doesn't come off as some kind of weirdo?

Kory wrote: ↑

13 Feb 2018, 6:56pm

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

13 Feb 2018, 12:27pm

With my Nixon lecture coming up, and having listened to that Watergate podcast, that truly American monster has been on my mind. One weird thing is that he's, like, the only American who claimed he couldn't recall where he was when he heard JFK was killed. He was actually in Dallas that morning and flew out before the Kennedys flew in. I don't think there's anything sinister about all that, but why would he either (a) lie about not knowing where he was or (b) not come up with a lie so that he doesn't come off as some kind of weirdo?

Because he was riddled with phlebitis?

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

13 Feb 2018, 7:06pm

Kory wrote: ↑

13 Feb 2018, 6:56pm

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

13 Feb 2018, 12:27pm

With my Nixon lecture coming up, and having listened to that Watergate podcast, that truly American monster has been on my mind. One weird thing is that he's, like, the only American who claimed he couldn't recall where he was when he heard JFK was killed. He was actually in Dallas that morning and flew out before the Kennedys flew in. I don't think there's anything sinister about all that, but why would he either (a) lie about not knowing where he was or (b) not come up with a lie so that he doesn't come off as some kind of weirdo?

Because he was riddled with phlebitis?

Less widely known is that he almost died on the operating table a couple months after resigning during surgery for phlebitis. And because his reputation was so tarnished at the time, a fair chunk of the population thought it was a ruse to generate pity. Weird times.

Silent Majority wrote: ↑

13 Feb 2018, 7:14pm

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

13 Feb 2018, 7:06pm

Kory wrote: ↑

13 Feb 2018, 6:56pm

Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑

13 Feb 2018, 12:27pm

With my Nixon lecture coming up, and having listened to that Watergate podcast, that truly American monster has been on my mind. One weird thing is that he's, like, the only American who claimed he couldn't recall where he was when he heard JFK was killed. He was actually in Dallas that morning and flew out before the Kennedys flew in. I don't think there's anything sinister about all that, but why would he either (a) lie about not knowing where he was or (b) not come up with a lie so that he doesn't come off as some kind of weirdo?

Because he was riddled with phlebitis?

Less widely known is that he almost died on the operating table a couple months after resigning during surgery for phlebitis. And because his reputation was so tarnished at the time, a fair chunk of the population thought it was a ruse to generate pity. Weird times.

I can hear him saying
"Ah, the almost dying angle. That's a good angle. But you got to pull it off just right. It's no use going all the way and dying, that's no good at all. What can you do then? No, the trick is to stay alive and reap the benefits."