If you type “Watergate scandal” into your browser, you will
quickly find that the infamous event that eventually led to the resignation of
the 37th president of the United States, Richard Nixon, occurred on
June 17th, 1972, which was Barry’s 21st birthday.
Somewhat less memorable are the events that occurred just a year earlier,
beginning on June 13th, 1971, when the New York Times first
published portions of the “Pentagon Papers,” an immense classified report that
chronicled America’s involvement in Southeast Asia from World War II to 1968. The
Times had received these documents from Daniel Ellsberg, a former marine who lost
faith in the Vietnam War effort while working for the government. A judged
ordered The Times to cease publication after Attorney General John Mitchell
accused the paper of violating the Espionage Act. Shortly after this decision,
the Washington Post, under the leadership of publisher Katharine Graham who had
just inherited the position from her late husband, and editor Ben Bradlee, decided
to pick up the story and continue publishing.
The new movie, “The Post” chronicles those fateful weeks in
1971, with Tom Hanks as Ben Bradlee and Meryl Streep as Katharine Graham. Back
in those days I was not an especially avid reader of the New York Times, but
Barry was, having read it since junior high school in New York City where it
was distributed to interested students at a minimal cost (he remembers 4¢). I do not remember paying much
attention to any of this until we were married on July 1st of 1973
during the United States Senate Watergate Hearings.
I believe the movie was a fairly accurate portrayal of the
story, but I will leave that assessment to those who are far more knowledgeable
of the details than am I. What I will say is that it was really well done and
expertly written and performed, and a great lesson in an important part of
American history. Barry, my in-house Watergate guru, really enjoyed this movie.
Easy as it may be to write about Watergate and Richard Nixon, events that occurred over 40 years ago, it is quite a bit more difficult to write about current events. I have tried very hard to stay out of politics on this blog, and I promise not to get started on the tax reform bill. But I am attaching two recent pieces that I happened to see on-line. The first is about how our perspective on what is “normal” may be shifting in the current political climate. And the second imagines an event which will never happen, namely, our president apologizing for what many undoubtedly consider inappropriate behavior, particularly towards women.
How Trump makes extreme
things look normal
We Imagined What a Donald
Trump Apology Would Sound Like
I am writing this as Maya is on her way to New York, escorted by her other grandparents who spent the weekend in Sharon, to spend her week with us, the one she missed last summer following my bladder cancer diagnosis. We have many fun activities planned which I will share over the coming days.
For those of you who are observing holidays this week, enjoy!
Love,
Rebecca
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