THE WAR ON CANCER

This is a history lesson for the legions of millennial blog readers who, when asked about the Nixon presidency, postulate that it occurred sometime just before or after Abe Lincoln was president.*
And digressing for a moment about our best President, Monday March 4 is the anniversary of Lincoln's first inauguration in 1861, and we are certain we can all expect a monograph from the estimable Judge Milton Hirsch on the subject. 

Back to the war on cancer. In the NY Times today, John Dean, counselor for President Nixon writes  about his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee that brought down President Nixon. Dean writes about the similarities between his situation and Michael Cohen's and what Cohen can expect as the years go by. 

Dean famously brought down Nixon when he testified that he had told Nixon that there was a cancer growing on the presidency.  Like Cohen producing the check Trump wrote as president to reimburse 
him for payments to a woman to remain silent about a sleazy assignation, Dean's testimony was backed up by the tape of the conversation which we include for your listening edification. 




But that was not the final straw. The final straw for Nixon came on August 7, 1974  when he was visited by a coterie of Republican leaders - Senator Barry Goldwater, (R-Ariz), Senator Minority Leader Hugh Scott (R-PA) and House Minority leader John Rhodes (R-Ariz) - who told the embattled President  that he had lost support of his party and the country. 

It was the integrity of those men and their placing country over politics that arguably saved our nation and in a Rumpolian sense won the war on cancer. 

Where do we find these men and women today? Senator McCain had the right stuff, but he has passed on. We though Senator Lindsey Graham had the right stuff, but he has become a whimpering sycophant to the power of the presidency. 

You know who has it? You know who needs to step forward and lead? None other than the junior Senator from Utah, Mitt Romney. 
Romney is underrated as a man and politician. He was roundly mocked for stating in a debate with President Obama that Russia was presented our greatest threat on the international front. Romney was right; just ask the Clintons. 
Romney blasted candidate Trump as a liar and a charlatan and he was right again. He has the right stuff and the time is now for him to lead. 

Dean worked for a brilliant politician who was a flawed man who saw enemies and conspiracies everywhere. 
Cohen worked for a flawed man who has no brilliance who believes in nothing other than acquiring and holding power and will promote false conspiracies ("the media is the enemy of the people") to serve his own purposes. 

Nixon opened relations with China and successfully defused a potential third Israeli-Arab war during his Watergate crisis. 
Trump cozied up to a murderous dictator and pandered to Russia and China while alienating our closest allies in England,  France, and Germany.

Our system worked in 1974 because we had politicians of courage and integrity. 
We, and the world are watching to see if our system of government which we champion as the best, can work again. 

The whole world is watching our shame. 

* There was a 107 years between Lincoln's presidency and Nixon's presidency.