JFK during 1960 campaign: "I carry a great deal of responsibility. I'm the only person standing between Nixon and the WH"
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On this super Summer weekend, it is good to reflect on the past.
If you think our current political environment is toxic, the past was little different.
Daniel Schorr died yesterday.
He was a good investigative reporter who spent decades working to "drain the swamp" of Wash.DC.
He was #17 on Richard Nixon's WH "enemies list". The list was a result of RN's fertile paranoiac mindset,and was produced by little trolls in the WH (like Chuck Colson,the Germans, and then troll John Dean).
Paul Newman also made the list.
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
I'm also reading David Bianculli's new book on the Smothers Brothers,"Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'.
The show was on CBS for three years, and was cancelled by CBS suits after three years. The censorship war was rift by the 3rd year,and was centered on anti-Nam war skits and humor used on the show.
There are videos of the 3rd season shows available, and a video,Smothered, that deals with the censorship war.
The show is used in many college classes as an example of good writing and the political toxic atmosphere of the late 1960ies.
The show offered a venue for 1960ies new age talent,writers like Steve Martin, Rob Reiner, Pat Paulson, and Dave Steinberg.
All of these creative writers moved the Smothers Brothers to the political left...perhaps Tom Smothers was always there.
The Johnson WH,CBS suits, and the Cold War intelligence apparatus moved to silence the Smothers Brothers.
And succeeded.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon's_Enemies_List
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