The title of today’s blog comes from the following quote by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.

For many, including Late Show host Stephen Colbert, the end of our latest “national nightmare” can not come quickly enough.  During his live broadcast following Tuesday night’s “State of the Trump” address, Colbert shared a screen shot from CNN’s coverage leading up to the speech which included the tag line, “Trump Leaves White House Soon.”  To which Colbert begged CNN, “Don’t Tease!”

Colbert merely echoed what many members of the resistance are asking.  I have received numerous queries from blog readers asking, “Why is it taking so long for anything to happen? When are they going to hold hearings on the Russian connection?”  My response, “PATIENCE!”

Removal of a president (whether legitimately elected or not) from office is something that should not be taken lightly.  Particularly now, when the country is already deeply divided.  Forcing Trump to vacate the oval office before there is bi-partisan agreement that “enough is enough” would have serious consequences.  Remember, when Trump believed he would lose the election, some of his followers were ready to take up arms.  Whereas we are calling for resistance, some Trumpsters were calling for revolution.  Yes, there will always be those who will stand by their “glorious leader” (as he is called by the neo-Nazi on-line newsletter The Daily Stormer) regardless of the charges or the evidence.  Mainstream American has been disparaged often during the past two-years, but it is mainstream Americans who, when in agreement, make things happen.

It’s not like we haven’t been through this before.  So let me share what I believe are the parallels between the current situation and what was happening in 1972-74.  The Watergate timeline began with the break-in at the Democratic headquarters on June 17, 1972.  But this “third-rate crime” which brought down President Richard Nixon was only one instance of what became known as the Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP) campaign of dirty tricks. The equivalent in the current saga is the February 9, 2017 disclosure of national security adviser Michael Flynn’s meeting with the Russian ambassador in December 2016.  It is just one instance of inappropriate and perhaps illegal interaction between the Trump entourage and Russian officials.  But as we now know as a result of last night’s report then-Senator, Trump surrogate and now Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions lied during his confirmation hearing about contact with Russians. This proves Flynn’s actions were not isolated events.

The June 23, 1972 Nixon recording, which became known as “the smoking gun,” included a conversation between Nixon and H. R. Haldeman during which the President orders the FBI to drop its Watergate investigation.  Although there is no recording (yet?), we do know that White House chief of staff Reince Priebus encouraged U.S. intelligence agencies to discredit reports by CNN and the New York Times concerning contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials (Source: USA Today, February 23, 2017). They rightfully refused to do so.

On August 30, 1972, Nixon reported to the nation that White House counsel John Dean had conducted a thorough investigation into Watergate and found there was no involvement by the president or his immediate staff.  If there is one thing we have learned about Donald Trump, he is willing to throw anyone and everyone under the bus to defend his actions.  In this case, the White House enlisted members of Congress including the chairmen of the House and Senate intelligence committees (Senator Richard Burr of NC and Representative Devin Nunes of CA) to counter the CNN and New York Times reports.  Right on cue, Nunes met with reporters on February 27, 2017, telling them, “As of right now, I don’t have any evidence of any phone calls.”  Note, this statement is not even based on a less than thorough review. It was made prior to the committee asking for or examining ANY evidence.

It was not until November 22, 1972 that the mainstream media picked up the Watergate story when CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite devoted 15 minutes of that evening’s broadcast to the scandal.  In contrast, both CNN and MSNBC have produced specials which outline the issues and questions which need to be answered.  UPDATE:  The MSNBC special was interrupted by the breaking news of the Washington Post report of Sessions’ meeting with the Russian ambassador.  Karma is truly a bitch.

So, my impatient readers,  it took five months and five days for Watergate to permeate the national consciousness (break-in to Cronkite broadcast).  We are at the same point in the Trump/Russia timeline after only 22 days (Flynn disclosure to today).  And I am confident there is a another FBI Agent W. Mark Felt aka Deep Throat who will risk his/her career to make sure the story is told and another Barry Goldwater who was the one to tell Nixon he needed to resign or Republicans would vote for impeachment and conviction if required to do so.  And the next Woodward and Bernstein who will keep digging until they uncover the whole truth. But they must be sure.  And that takes time.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP