Slow Burn

If you are interested in US politics, I can recommend a great podcast to listen to. Slow Burn, by Slate.

There have been two seasons so far – one on Watergate and one on Clinton’s impeachment. Each season has eight around one hour episodes. This allows them to get into detail far beyond what most people knew. I thought i knew both scandals well but learnt a lot.

They also get many interviews with first hand participants. With the Clinton season they even got Linda Tripp to talk for several hours. First time in two decades.

Some of the stuff I learnt on Watergate:

• The wife of the Attorney-General was forcibly restrained and sedated to stop her telling a journalist how one of the Watergate burglars was her husband’s driver. She was smeared as crazy when she told people this as no one could believe such wild claims
• Nixon is the one who got Senate staffers suspicious he might have taped conversations because Nixon used the tapes to argue against claims by John Dean, and his statements had so much detail of conversations, the staffers wondered if he had taped them
• The tapes were only confirmed when the former WH Deputy COS was asked directly about them. He had resolved not to volunteer any info on them but to tell the truth if asked directly. Only four people knew of the taping system.
• Nixon doctored some of the transcripts that were released, in an effort to not release the tapes.

The Clinton stuff was more dramatic.

• The description by Juanita Broaddrick of how Clinton maneuvered their meeting to be in her hotel room (he said there were too many journalists around the coffee shop) seemed eerily similar to the Harvey Weinstein allegations.  Also I was unaware that she told someone within hours of the (alleged) rape that it had happened and Clinton (then Arkansas AG) had done it. In the absence of witnesses, that is strong evidence she is being truthful.
• NBC delayed an interview with Broaddrick for weeks, so it wouldn’t air until after the vote in the Senate on convicting Clinton
• Lewinsky was threatened with 27 years jail for perjury to convince her to co-operate. She still tried to warn Clinton though and refused to wear a wire to a meeting with him
• When Clinton first wanted to stand for President in 1988, his COS talked him out of it by giving him a list of women it was rumoured he had slept with. It was not a short list.
• Paula Jones also told two friends with Clinton had done, the day it happened
• Tripp says that she she did betray Monica awfully, she did it to protect her from Clinton. She says Monica was an emotional 15 year old in a 24 year old’s body and Clinton was abusing her and using her for sex, while Monica thought it was true love. She claims (and of course this is self serving) that blowing the whistle was the only way to get it to stop and free Monica
• Tripp’s lawyer was friends with Ann Coulter and the tapes were first listened to at Coulter’s house
• The original Drudge Report story was not reported on by mainstream media until 72 hours after first published
• Clinton recorded a 79% approval rating at one stage during the scandal!
• Clinton argued he didn’t lie about having sexual relations with Lewinsky as that meant contact with an intent to arouse or gratify and she gratified him but he didn’t gratify her. So his argument was she had sexual relations with him but he didn’t have sexual relations with her!
• I’d forgotten how badly many liberals treated Lewinsky. Bill Maher said that she had seduced Clinton and she should apologise to America, not him. Maureen Dowd called her nutty and slutty etc.

Both Nixon and Clinton come out looking worse, after you listen to these. I was unaware how Nixon had even gone to the extent of fabricating transcripts to cover up. And with Clinton I wasn’t aware how credible and chilling the rape accusation was.