Is There A Cancer On The Presidency?
Strange how so many conflicts begin at sea. For America, the nineteenth century ended with the sinking of the Battle Ship Maine and the start of the Spanish American War. America entered World War I upon the sinking of the Lusitania. The attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II caused America to join the War. In Viet Nam, it was the North Viet Namese attack on the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin.
In each case, American public opinion was mobilized to oppose a great wrong. Americans have consistently held that those forces which precipitate such wanton acts are evil. Not a word that we like to use very often. But when brute force is used against innocent bystanders, Americans have universally condemned such actions.
As you can see, America has gone to War to defend the rights and privileges of those attacked. The innocent passengers on the Lusitania, the soldiers, and sailors on the USS Maine, the Pacific Fleet, and the USS Maddox were all caught unawares by an enemy who chose to attack without provocation.
These attacks can have far-reaching ramifications, like an ordinary street criminal who lashes out for no apparent reason. Of course, War should always be a last resort. But when an enemy attacks from out of the blue, sometimes we have no alternative but to defend ourselves.
But what if we are the enemy? What if the United States is the power that initiated an unwarranted attack, which could put at risk thousands, if not hundreds, of thousands of innocent people?
Such was the attack that destroyed the Nordstream I and II pipelines, Pipelines that supplied much-needed oil and gas to Europe. The energy that they would use to heat their homes and cook their food. This source of power is now gone leaving many to forage for firewood and other primitive methods of heating. So far, this has been a mild winter, but who’s to say if that will continue? Or that an alternative can be found before the next winter comes?
Writing in a column on the open source website Substack, Pulitzer prize-winning reporter Seymour Hersh presents the unnerving possibility that the perpetrator of this wanton act was our own President and his Administration. It is a shocking allegation, And that’s all it is right now: an allegation. However, it is a thought so dark that I can understand why many will want to turn away and not confront even the possibility of such a thing.
We must not turn away.
We must steel ourselves to pursue the truth, no matter where it might lead. No matter who the offender may be. Our country’s future lies in maintaining the rule of law.
For those of us who were around back then, we remember the extraordinary agony of the Watergate Scandal and the impeachment of Richard Nixon. It was a traumatic event that impacted every aspect of our lives. It was topic number one of every conversation. As a stockbroker back then, the specter of Watergate cast a pall over the financial markets, which seemed to drift lower daily. In a word, it was a depressing time.
But we needed to excise this cancer. Those aren’t my sentiments they are the sentiments of John Dean, then White House Legal Counsel, as he explained the situation to then-President Richard Nixon:
“I think that there’s no doubt about the seriousness of the problem we’ve got. We have a cancer … close to the Presidency that’s growing. It’s growing daily. It’s compounding. It grows geometrically now because it compounds itself.” (Quote John Dean June 17, 1972, White House Tapes.)
Dean then says that the Nixon White House was now open to blackmail. Staff members might have to perjure themselves in order not to divulge the wrong-doings within the Administration.
If Hersh is correct, and the current Administration played any part in destroying the Nordstream Pipelines, these same forces are unleashed again. The President and those involved would be subject to the same kind of blackmail that John Dean was describing back in the 1970s. And to protect the President, various Secretaries and Agencies Chiefs might perjure themselves to avoid disclosing incriminating evidence.
It is a slippery slope that the President finds himself. This scandal won’t be resolved until we find out who destroyed those Pipelines. If innocent of all these allegations, President Biden ought to be the most vocal proponent of a thorough investigation. In that case, a thorough examination would reveal his innocence and the innocence of the Administration.
That would be the best outcome for the country and our people. But to do that requires we all roll up our sleeves and demand an investigation starting now.
Follow me here on Medium for more stories like this.
