#Arizona Daily Star

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

David Fitzsimmons, Arizona Daily Star

* * * * *

Across Florida, spontaneous demonstrations against Ron DeSantis' gutting of public education. This summer, Iris Mogul – a junior at a Miami high school – found out that she wouldn’t be able to take an AP African American history course that she had planned for the coming semester because it had been blocked by the state’s department of education.

“As presented, the content of this course is inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value,” the department said in a statement. “It felt so far away when I first heard about all of this,” says Mogul, who only had a passing knowledge of book challenges and changes to school curriculum previously. “But that is really when it hit me – when it started to affect me directly.”

Now, Mogul is prominent among the growing number of students and parents in Miami-Dade county and across Florida who are speaking out in opposition to book challenges, the capture of Florida school boards by conservative activists and this summer’s latest policy changes, which includes the expansion of DeSantis’s Parental Rights in Education Act.

[‘Reading is resistance’: students and parents take on DeSantis’s book bans]

[kenneturner]

Songs With The Word 'Tucson' In Them

Yesterday the Arizona Daily Star published an article titled “31 songs that have the word ‘Tucson’ in them.” Of course, it go my attention so I read the article figuring that one of my favorite singer-songwriters would be included in the 31 songs, Tom Russell, who penned The Ballad of Edward Abbey — he was not. I guess the list was not intended to be comprehensive. It was in the town of Tucson…

[angiebowiearchive]

The Arizona Daily Star (1997)

[reportwire]

NHL preview: Rankings from 1 to 32 and what to know about every team

NHL preview: Rankings from 1 to 32 and what to know about every team

After a wild offseason that included multiple superstars joining or leaving the Calgary Flames, opening night of the 2022-23 NHL season is fast approaching. ESPN will be your home for hockey, including a doubleheader Tuesday night, with Tampa Bay Lightning–New York Rangers at 7:30 ET, followed by Vegas Golden Knights–Los Angeles Kings at 10 ET. We mentioned the Flames, but every team made changes…

[rippleberries]

Your Weyounsday treat: One of the first articles about Jeffrey Combs published.

Arizona Daily Star Sun [Tucson, AZ], 29 April, 1979, pp. 1, 4

Did they have to give the article that title? (ಥ﹏ಥ)

[BEGIN ARTICLE TRANSCRIPT]

The Arizona Daily Star TUCSON, SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 1979 Sunday Loneliness comes with actor's role

At 24 and looking as if he still drips with innocence, young is a word that can be freely used to describe Jeffrey Combs. He is young, looks young, and is in the young years of his professional life.

Also, he had an early and, given his calling, perhaps prophetic brush with a person of that name.

"My parents had a car accident when I was about a year old and we had to go into a hospital," explained Combs over lunch. "Loretta Young was in the same hospi- tal and had requested that a nurse bring a baby to her every morning to hold. So, while I was there, a nurse would come to my mother in the morning to take me up to her room and Young would feed me."

Youthful naiveté is what Combs' character in the Arizona Theatre Company production of "The Show-Off" is all about. In the play, which has its last performance tonight at 7 in the Tucson Community Center Little Theatre, Combs plays the youngest son of the family, a con- stantly preoccupied fellow who trips over his tongue and shoelaces and brings home the bacon with a formula.

This has been Combs' first season with ATC and he says "The Show-Off" has been his favorite play. Tucson audiences have also seen him as the narrator/nephew in "A Christmas Carol," as Valere in "Tartuffe" and as Diego in "The Royal Hunt of the Sun." But it's the current George Kelly comedy that places as the favorite, partially because it feels so familiar.

"The whole feeling of the show is so human, so close in a way to my own life that I didn't have to reach that far to get the feeling." Combs, the fifth of seven children, knows what a tightknit family is like.

"My own family ties are very, very close and I miss the times of being together with them. It's hard to be in such a nomadic kind of work I always want to see them.

"At times, being an actor can be one of the most rewarding things in the world. And at other times it can be very lonely."

Combs is the youngest member of the ATC resident company and he has experienced both the rewards and the loneliness this season. He says that it's part and parcel of the career he's chosen, and that it will be tempered as he grows older and gets more professional experience in the process. But he's impatient and knows it.

"One of the disadvantages of working in Tucson is the isolation. The sheer locale of the city being geographically where it is.

"I am an impatient person. There are people that I love, to whom I've had to say 'see you later.' They ask 'why?' and I have to say I'm going to Tucson to this theater. And that I might not be the same person when I get back, just as they might not be the same."

But, Combs says philosophically, the phases of life are like that. And he knows that he has been free in making the choices, even though they still hurt at times.

"There was no question in my mind whether I wanted to come here or not - certainly I felt the sacrifices were worth it. And I would like to come back here next year."

But he would also like to have the chance to experi- ment with his own ideas, collaborating with others in improvisational structures, using his own material to cre- ate worlds, rather than someone else's.

"The chances to do those things would be the only reservations I would have about coming back. It's not that I wouldn't want to-Sandy (Rosenthal) is one of the most energetic spirits of the theater. He loves it more than anybody I've ever seen. But I have this itching and my focuses and desires may go in a direction that might not be appropriate here."

Combs says that the idea of an ensemble resident company is not new to him; in some ways, it's the system he knows best from his work with the Pacific Conservatory Theatre of the Performing Arts and the Old Globe Theatre.

"I've pretty much been nurtured, pushed in the en- semble direction all along. I haven't really gone out and jobbed into a company for a short period of time, or been put in the position that the prime directive is to 'get the show up by 8 p.m. Tuesday." But he's found that he's grown in the season he's spent with ATC.

"I've synthesized some of the things I've learned relearned them through experience. I feel really relaxed in this company. Not in the sense that I'm so confident that what I'm doing is good, so I can relax, but in the sense that I can make a mistake and not feel like I've really let someone down. I can learn from the situation.

"And I've learned a sense of what the professional world is like, what the good side is like. Take someone like Bob Ellenstein. He doesn't have to be here - the only reason he is is that he's dedicated, that the experiences here will make him a better actor. He could just as easily be making 15 times more money somewhere else, doing things that were not as enriching to him."

Combs says he is unhappy with a portion of his abili- ties, particularily when he senses he's acting out of techni- cal proficiency rather than a more emotionally-based ground. There needs to be a balance, and he says that his season with ATC has given him the opportunity to work on that weakness.

And he says he waivers between the acting world and his own desires for domesticity. On the other hand, he's exactly where he wants to be.

"I love what I'm doing. The commitment is so drastic that it can be frightening, at times. The more renown you get, the more value placed upon you as an artist, the more freedom you have and the more choices you can make. But, being a young actor, you can't have all those freedoms yet.

"One needs to have some sort of perspective from other things. It's just that I want so badly to be in this business and to do the things I want to do. Maybe it's an obnoxious thing for someone only 24 years old to say, but I don't want to be a victim. I'd rather be the perpetrator, if you will." [END ARTICLE TRANSCRIPT]

[BEGIN PHOTO CAPTION TRANSCRIPT] Combs says that he has felt lonely at times this season, away from his family, friends and home base in California. At the same time, this year has been one of growth with the sort of challenges any actor needs, particularily in the formative, initial years of a professional career.

Now finishing his first sea- son with the Arizona Theatre Company, Jeffrey Combs hopes that it won't be his last. But the 24-year-old actor also wants to scratch the itch he has to do some of his own work in a collaborative, improvisational situation.

Photo by Tim Fuller [END PHOTO CAPTION TRANSCRIPT]

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

The Strange Disappearance of Kenny Veach

The Mojave Desert, located in the southwestern United States, is a brutal and unforgiving landscape.

Sprawling over parts of four states; California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah, the area is so vast that entire European countries like Ireland and Iceland could fit comfortably within its boundaries.

The “high desert” is prone to extreme temperatures and arid conditions. In November of 2014, an American hiker named Kenny Veach had a strange encounter with a mysterious cave in the Sheep Mountain area, just north of Las Vegas.

Once, he posted: “I hike over mountain top after mountain top and sleep on peaks under the stars . . . Sometimes I have to scale giant cliffs to get myself out of a jam, but I always make it back.”

He was proud of the fact that there was only one time that he had to be rescued on one of his adventures, and that was when he injured his leg at the top of a mountain.

Tired of the daily Monday-through-Friday grind, Kenny wanted to be his own boss, be in charge of his own life, and have the free time to immerse himself in his desert explorations.

So, he quit his day job and decided to be an inventor. He started a YouTube channel, documenting his creations and his forays into the desert.

It was in June of 2014, using the name Snakebitmcgee, Kenny left a comment in response to a YouTube video that read: That ain’t nothing. I am a long-distance hiker. One time, during one of my hikes out by Nellis Air Force Base, I found a hidden cave.

The entrance to the cave was shaped like a perfect capital M. I always enter every cave I find, but as I began to enter this particular cave, my whole body began to vibrate.

The closer I got to the cave entrance, the worse the vibrating became. Suddenly, I became very scared and high-tailed it out of there. That was one of the strangest things that ever happened to me. 

Unbeknownst to Kenny and the rest of the world, that comment would have tragic consequences.

Kenny’s comment on that video sparked a flurry of requests for him to prove his claim.

Since he hadn’t documented the first trip to what would become known as “the M cave”, he needed to go back to the area to locate it and, this time, document what he found.

On his second search for the cave, he went armed with a 9-millimeter handgun and a video camera. 

He documented some wildlife and found a whole horde of pine nuts that he gleefully ate on camera. He stood next to an abandoned mine shaft and rather sheepishly declared that he was unable to find the cave on his second hike.

Much to Kenny’s dismay, that video was met with criticism. Many thought he had made the whole thing up, and the public demanded proof of his claim of a mysterious cave with supernatural properties.

Viewers actively encouraged, and some even dared Kenny to go back out to the mountain range a third time. 

However, one comment on his video, which has since been deleted, read, “No! Do not go back there. If you find that cave entrance, don’t go in, you won’t get out.”

Whether that comment was made by somebody teasing Kenny or whether it was a serious warning by somebody who was personally familiar with the cave is unknown.

Regarding the M cave, Kenny said, “I solo hike across mountain tops that most people wouldn’t dare go. I have been in more caves than I can count. I play with rattlesnakes for fun. But this one particular cave was beyond anything I had ever encountered.”

Hoping to put the naysayers in their place, Kenny hiked out to the territory a third time.

On the 10th of November 2014, Kenny once again made his way to the Sheep Mountain area, which is close to the U.S. Air Force installation called Area 51, known for its speculated connection to UFOs and secret government experiments.

It’s located near Groom Lake and is within the Nevada Test and Training Range. As late as 2012, the U.S. government denied the existence of Area 51, and it is still closed to the public.

Both ground and aerial searches were conducted, but no sign of Kenny could be found.

Dave Cummings from Red Rock Search & Rescue reported finding Kenny’s cell phone next to an abandoned vertical mine shaft, where he filmed part of the M cave video.

Specially trained individuals were called in to conduct a search of the mine. Unfortunately, aside from his vehicle and his cell phone, no trace of Kenny was ever found.

[creature-wizard]

How a New Age conspiracy theorist dishonestly cited a CIA file as "evidence" of starseeds and alien contact

So I recently came upon a video claiming that the CIA knows all about starseeds. The creator of this video cited a document found in the Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room.

The document this man cited was titled "Star People Visit Earth To Spread Peace Message." So I went to the website and looked it up. (You can read it for yourself here.)

Opening up the document, we can see what it is for ourselves: a newspaper article clipped from the May 2, 1983 issue of Arizona Daily Wildcat. The article is reporting on claims made by a couple of New Agers, Michael and Aurora El-Legion. Literally everything this article says about aliens and star people came from these two people who gave a presentation at the University of Arizona. Everything they're quoted as claiming in this article was all pretty standard fare among New Agers at the time.

For anyone who isn't aware, the CIA collects information on all kinds of things that might be of interest. It doesn't mean that these things are necessarily real, just that they think it's worth looking into. The only thing this document proves is that someone working for the CIA cut an article out of a newspaper and filed it away.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Arizona Daily Star:

Environmental groups are going to court to block the U.S. Forest Service from constructing new roads in Chiricahua National Forest, citing danger to endangered jaguars.

The lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Tucson contends the agency failed to comply with various laws in approving construction of 2.6 miles of new segments in the Environmental Management Area of the forest southeast of Tucson.

The issue is about more than that segment, however. It would open or reopen 20 miles of roads within the area to “disruptive motorized access,” said attorney Adriane Hofmeyr.

That’s unacceptable, she wrote, because it would affect 11 federally listed species and potentially, one designated critical habitat.

Hofmeyr said the area is also home to — and central to the survival of — one of the last known wild jaguars in the United States, an animal that was given the same Sombra, meaning shadow, by students at Paulo Freiere Freedom School in Tucson. She also said it is the home to threatened Mexican spotted owls.

That was not properly considered when the agency gave its go-ahead last year, she contends. Hofmeyr represents five environmental groups that are suing, including the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity.

There was no immediate response from the Forest Service or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which also is named as a defendant.

According to the lawsuit, the Forest Service stated that the project’s purpose is to provide “permanent, legal, motorized access’’ to John Long Canyon, the North Fork of Pinery Canyon and Horseshoe Canyon. Hofmeyr said that is unnecessary.

“These canyons can be accessed via non-motorized means, providing opportunity for recreation while maintaining the pristine, wild nature of the area and protecting biodiversity and natural resources,’’ she wrote. “The construction of these proposed roads for motorized access and the resulting increase in human use and activity in these remote areas will cause significant harm and disturbance to protect species and their habitat.’’

[coldbrewarts]

Ok Coffee’s got a sentimental rambling 🥹

I cannot stress enough how grateful I am for my mutuals and others on this app.

I’ve been a part of the Tumblr side of TCW and TBB fandoms for a few months now and I have had the best experience with people on here like oh my god.

A few weeks ago I traveled to Kansas with my family to hold my Grandma’s memorial service. I started searching for some clone boy fics because the week was fucking depressing, and I stumbled across @moonlightwarriorqueen, @freesia-writes And @saggitary . When I tell you that those fics carried my mental sanity throughout that trip, I am not joking. The people in this fandom are so nice and I want to cry because I have got stars in my eyes how tf did this happen!!????? How did I, a 19 year old artist in the middle of nowhere Arizona, make friends with some of the my favorite writers on tumblr?!!

Just wanted to say how much I appreciate everyone who has ever interacted with me on here like you are my daily dose of serotonin.

Love you all! ❤️ —Dani

[komohine]

Do you think James and Keith would ever move out of AZ? Like do you think they’d ever travel the world together or are they just staying put?

They go to space!! 😄

I haven’t really thought of if James has any ties back to earth family wise (he has plenty of friends) but I think all he’d really want is to just stay with keith. At least for a while

My canon compliant ending for them is quite sad though. But in a perfect world maybe they’d move somewhere more moderate. Not too cold cause Keith can’t handle the cold (not that James minds when his bodyheat’s used as a source for warmth) but not so hot and dry cause James’ poor nose cant handle any more dryness induced nosebleeds

But i think both of them might want to stay in arizona too. Keith’s father’s grave is there, all of their history is there, and after the earth was threatened in such a way i think they wouldn’t mind staying where their history is. At least there’s a history left to remember.

If they stayed in arizona they’d get a more rural house. Far out enough that light pollution doesn’t affect the night sky, but close enough to the city that its not a hassle to drive there daily for work. They’d play fetch with Kosmo in the big open fields, and take dinner outside on the porch watching the fireflies light up the dark. Like stars in their own right. Life would be nice. It would be peaceful. Nothing bad ever happens to them again.

[fiercynn]

palestinian poets: fargo nissim tbakhi

fargo nissim tbakhi is a queer palestinian performance artist, a taurus, and a cool breeze.

or, for a longer version: fargo nissim tbakhi is a queer palestinian-american performance artist and writer. he is the winner of the ghassan kanafani resistance arts prize, a pushcart and best of the net nominee, and a taurus. he has received fellowships from rhizome dc, visarts, desert nights rising stars, halcyon arts kab, mosaic theater, and RAWI. his writing appears in foglifter, mizna, peach mag, apex magazine, strange horizons, the shallow ends, prolit, and select bags of nomadic grounds coffee. his performance work has been programmed at OUTsider fest, INTER-SECTION solo fest, the rachel corrie foundation’s shuruq festival, the alwun house monster’s ball, mosaic theater, and has been supported by the arizona commission on the arts.

you also learn more about his work by reading his artist statement, which to me is a work of art itself.

IF YOU READ ONLY ONE POEM BY FARBO NISSIM TBAKHI, MAKE IT THIS ONE

"captain's log" was originally published by fiyah literary magazine in the palestine special issue, which was curated, edited, illustrated and comprised entirely of palestinian creators, in december 2021. the collection was edited by guests nadia shammas and summer Farah, and featured cover art by leila aboutaleb.

if you have the means, you can purchase the e-book of the fiyah lit palestine special issue for USD $5.99, the proceeds of which go to medical aid for palestinians.

OTHER POEMS ONLINE THAT I LOVE BY FARGO NISSIM TBAKHI

PALESTINE IS A FUTURISM: THE DREAM at strange horizons

The Wise American Poet Brings Peace to the Middle East at prolit

Craft Talk at jewish currents

OF at protean

PALESTINE IS A FUTURISM: NEOLOGISMS at bahr // بحر

antigone at the border fence at baest journal

Image of a dabke at the Great March of Return at peach mag

american-Palestinian incantation at poetry daily

On learning Palestine does not exist at the rachel corrie foundation for peace & justice

[stevienicksrarities]

"Lines began forming Friday night for the concert which would last well over six hours and be hailed as one of the best concerts in Arizona history. The event was the ASUA- Arizona Heart Association sponsored concert in the University of Arizona stadium on August 27, 1977. Featured artists were Fleetwood Mac, Kenny Loggins & the Marshall Tucker Band. Arizona opened the show while the 70,000 students, teens, and other onlookers filed into the stadium. Kenny Loggins was next, singing new arrangements of his older songs and several songs from his new album "Celebrate Me Home." The Marshall Tucker Band followed as the final warm up before Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks, the lady of the evening, sang the group's hit singles with poise and perfection."

Arizona Daily Star reviewer said Stevie's vocals & the guitar power of Lindsey stole the show.

[kenneturner]

Sabino Creek Is Dry -- Almost!

Sabino Creek Is Dry — Almost!

This was Sabino Creek on September 14th . . . . . . this was Sabino Creek, October 27th. There was a nice flow after late monsoon rains in September, but as noted in this morning’s Arizona Daily Star, “A brief autumn dry-up of the stream is not uncommon after monsoon rains end. But this year’s rains were sketchy in the canyon, and the forecast shows no promise of moisture to turn the flow on…

[space---girl]

Time to live up to my blogs name

🌕Daily space fact!🌋

Scientist in Arizona were able to take pictures from earth of volcanic activity on Jupiter's moon Lo. Pictures of this resolution have never been taken from an instrument on earth.

Lo is considered the most volcanacally active body in the solar system. This new ability to study Lo from earth will hopefully help astronomers learn more about what causes volcanic activity in celestial bodies, and possibly exoplanet systems around nearby stars!

[newyorkthegoldenage]

Joseph, a five-year-old patient, looks wonderingly at James Stewart in Bellevue Hospital, February 9, 1952. The star performed for children's ward patients as Buttons the clown, the role he played in the film "The Greatest Show on Earth."

Photo: JR for the AP via the Arizona Daily Star

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

March 27, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

MAR 28, 2024

The news that NBC News reconsidered its invitation to former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel to become a paid contributor has buried the recent news about some of the other participants in Trump’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. 

Yesterday a judge in Minnesota ruled in favor of a warehouse owner who sought to evict MyPillow after it failed to pay more than $200,000 in rent. MyPillow chief executive officer Mike Lindell has complained that his company has been “decimated” by his support for Trump. His insistence—without evidence—that the 2020 presidential election was stolen has entangled him in expensive defamation lawsuits filed by voting machine companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic. 

Lindell cannot pay his lawyers and claims to have “lost hundreds of millions of dollars,” but insists he is being persecuted “because you want me to shut up about [the] security of our elections.”

Also yesterday, Trump loyalist Kari Lake, who has pushed the idea that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, ran for Arizona governor in 2022, and is now running for the U.S. Senate, admitted she defamed Maricopa County recorder Stephen Richer and that she acted with actual malice when she claimed he “sabotaged” the 2022 election. The request to admit to defamation came on the day that discovery, the process of sharing information about a case with each side, was to begin, suggesting that she preferred to admit wrongdoing rather than let anyone see what might be in her emails, texts, and recordings.

Arizona journalist Howard Fischer reported in the Arizona Daily Star that in a video statement, Lake said her admission did not mean she agreed she did anything wrong, although that is expressly stipulated in the court papers. She said she conceded because Richer’s lawsuit was keeping her off the campaign trail. “It’s called lawfare: weaponizing the legal system to punish, impoverish and destroy political opponents,’’ Lake said. “We’ve all seen how they’re doing it to President Trump. And here in Arizona, they’re doing the exact same thing to me.’’

One of Lake’s senior advisors said: “Kari Lake maintains she has always been truthful.” 

Also yesterday, a three-member panel of the D.C. Bar’s Board of Professional Responsibility began a disciplinary hearing for former Department of Justice environmental lawyer Jeffrey Clark, who was so key to Trump’s plan to get state legislatures to overturn the results of the 2020 election that Trump tried to make him attorney general.  

Clark joins Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who led the media blitz to argue—falsely—that the election had been stolen. Giuliani’s New York and Washington, D.C., law licenses were suspended in June 2021 after a court found that he made “demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers, and the public at large.” He is now facing disbarment. 

Earlier this month, he said on his podcast that he expected to be disbarred because “[t]he Bar Association is going to crucify me no matter what. I will be disbarred in New York. I will be disbarred in Washington. It will have nothing to do with anything I did wrong.”

Today, after a long trial, attorney discipline judge Yvette Roland recommended that John Eastman, the lawyer who came up with the justification for using fake electors to overturn the 2020 presidential election, be disbarred. Eastman will immediately lose his license to practice law. The California Supreme Court will decide whether to disbar Eastman. 

Eastman’s lawyer said it was unfair to take Eastman’s law license because he needs to make money to fight the criminal charges against him in Georgia, where he has been indicted for his part in the effort to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election there. For his part, Eastman maintains he did nothing wrong.

In her recommendation, Judge Roland compared Eastman’s case to that of Donald Segretti, the lawyer whose efforts to guarantee President Richard Nixon’s 1972 reelection included, as Roland’s recommendation noted, distributing letters that made false accusations against Nixon’s rivals (including a forged letter attributing a slur against French-Canadians to Maine senator and candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination Edmund Muskie). At the time, the court noted that Segretti was only 30, thought he was acting for Nixon, and did not act in his capacity as a lawyer. The court also emphasized that Segretti “recognized the wrongfulness of his acts, expressed regret, and cooperated with the investigating agencies.” 

In contrast, Roland wrote, “[t]he scale and egregiousness of Eastman’s unethical actions far surpasses” Segretti’s misconduct. Segretti acted outside his role as an attorney, while “Eastman’s wrongdoing was committed directly in the course and scope of his representation of President Trump and the Trump campaign.” Roland also noted that while Segretti expressed remorse and recognized his wrongdoing, Eastman has shown “an apparent inability to accept responsibility. This lack of remorse and accountability presents a significant risk that Eastman may engage in further unethical conduct, compounding the threat to the public.”  

One by one, those who worked with Trump to overturn the election are being held to account by our legal system. But still, they refuse to admit any wrongdoing. 

In that, they are following Trump.  

Despite Judge Juan Merchan’s gag order, Trump continued today to attack both Merchan and his daughter. On his social media site, Trump posted that Merchan was trying to deprive him of his “First Amendment right to speak out against the Weaponization of Law Enforcement, including the fact that Crooked Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, and their Hacks and Thugs are tracking and following me all across the Country, obsessively trying to persecute me, while everyone knows I have done nothing wrong!” Trump posted in great detail about the judge’s daughter, accusing her of making money by “working to ‘Get Trump,’” based on images shared by an old social media account of hers that had been hacked. 

It was President Nixon who perfected the refusal to admit wrongdoing in the face of overwhelming evidence. Even after tapes recorded in the Oval Office revealed that he had plotted with an aide to block investigations of the break-in at the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate Hotel by invoking national security and Republican Party leaders told him he needed to resign, he refused to admit wrongdoing. Instead, he told the American people he was stepping down because he no longer had enough support in Congress to advance the national interest. He blamed his fall on the press, saying its “leaks and accusations and innuendo” were designed to destroy him.

Gerald R. Ford, the president who replaced Nixon, inadvertently put a rubber stamp on Nixon’s refusal to accept responsibility. Believing it was better for the country to move past the divisions of the Watergate era, Ford issued a preemptive pardon for any crimes the former president might have committed against the United States while in office. Ford maintained that the acceptance of a pardon was an admission of guilt. 

But Ford’s pardon meant Nixon never faced legal accountability for his actions. That escape allowed him to argue that a president is above the law. In a 1977 interview with British journalist David Frost, Nixon told Frost that “when the president does it…that means that it is not illegal,” by definition. 

As Nixon did, Trump has watched those who participated in his schemes pay dearly for their support, but he appears angry and confused at the idea that he himself could be held legally accountable for his behavior.

But without accountability, as Judge Roland noted, there is no incentive to stop dangerous behavior. Josh Dawsey reported last night in the Washington Post that since Trump has taken over the Republican National Committee and purged it of former employees, those interviewing for jobs are being asked if they believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Other questions, Dawsey reported, include “what applicants believe should be done on ‘election integrity’ in 2024.” 

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON