Before Washington and media were one
During Nixon's administration, a band of five men were arrested for burglary for breaking into and attempting to bug the Democratic Party's national headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington. The plot just became cloudy from there.
What were they doing there? Who sent them? Did it go as high up as the Oval Office? These questions were all asked, but no one seemed to know the answers. The president and his administration certainly rejected the idea of any involvement.
With no real evidence other than theory and hearsay, any involvement on behalf of the White House seemed to be unlikely. That is, until two young reporters from the Washington Post dug so deep that they began to fear for their own safety. Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward were hungry to make a name for themselves and uncover the truth, and once that truth came out, it connected the five men from Miami to President Nixon while uncovering many unsavory acts and Pentagon Papers that showed much manipulation revolving around the Vietnam War.
It took two upstarts with a hunger for the truth to cause the downfall and resignation of the President of the United States. Truth is truth, and should be held up as such for all, regardless of position or status. While President Gerald Ford later pardoned his predecessor, Nixon was still vanquished by the charges and left his office in shame.
But could that happen today? My answer is no.
First, in the early ‘70s, Democrats and Republicans were a pretty different animal. The two were at opposite ends of the social and geopolitical spectrums, but over the last four decades, have morphed into one big gray. Today, while Democrats still preach peace and social reform and the Republicans call for less intrusion, a free marketplace and a strong military presence around the world, the two parties may as well just become one large conglomerate, as they are seemingly cut from the same cloth.
While political campaigns stress all the hot talking points, it is just rhetoric to gain the power of the White House, which has unfortunately become akin to our own little dictatorship, with Executive Orders being issued on a whim to circumvent the equilibrium of the three branches of our government. The two parties continue to rattle sabers at each other, but nothing ever changes. They all seem to have one common goal in mind - make the government as large, as needed and as powerful as possible.
In short, since September 11, 2001, our liberties have been disappearing and the role of Washington in our lives has been increasing daily. But nobody seems to care, because we are watching our big screen TVs and don't want to think about such trivial things as freedom and truth. But our elected officials haven't done a whole lot lately in the best interests of their constituents.
And don't believe what you hear on your boob tube daily as those talking heads spew out propaganda. Whether you're a MSNBC fan or a believer in the "fair and balanced" angle coming from Fox News, understand this - there is nothing fair or balanced coming from any source you see on major networks or read in the headlines of the large national newspapers.
Both our elected officials and "reporters" in the media have forgotten the reason they are where they are.
There is no Woodward and Bernstein lurking anywhere in major media outlets. There are no investigative reporters who might dig up the truth. These types have long been blacklisted or threatened into oblivion by the huge media machine that has become nothing more than some ugly Western replica of the old Soviet Union's TASS news agency, which was famous for passing along the government's propaganda. Reporters no longer report the news, they twist it with a venomous editorial spin and bring it to our living rooms.
The only reporters hungry for real truth these days only exist on the Internet, which is itself living on borrowed time. Major stories come to light and are revealed by these people, but the mainstreamers bury the stories or don't report on them at all, they just continue to be a direct line from government press offices to the people. Even these Internet reports likely will soon be history, as currently there is a movement by government to control what happens online... then, we will be completely in the dark.
But the sins of this government have been way beyond what transpired in Nixon's administration, or even Clinton's for that matter. Were you aware that our friends in Washington recently passed into law that the Federal Government can detain you indefinitely without cause, just because you are deemed a possible "enemy of the state." I bet you didn't see that on cable. Look it up, just Google "National Defense Authorization Act."
Basically, just like President George W. Bush said soon after 9-11, "If you're not with us, then you're against us." Really? So don't speak out against the government, because you might be deemed an enemy and hauled away... where's the Constitutionality in that? And things are much worse today than in 2001.
I wonder what Charles "Chuck" Colson thought about this development. He went from a cold-hearted individual to a Christian who developed a prison ministry to help those incarcerated. Colson was a living example of the great things that happen when we are transformed by the truth and power of Jesus Christ in our lives.
Unfortunately, the direction in which we are headed as a nation cannot be diverted without this power and the awakening of the people of this once great nation - a nation that used to be based on the truth of God, but now is based on the desires of men.
Published: April 25, 2012
