Last week, I re-watched All the President’s Men for the umpty-umpth time. I was deliberately trying to wash the taste of this Administration out of my mind. Former White House Counsel and reformed felon John Dean had been on television a few nights, talking about how Dis Guy’s maladministration was like Nixon’s, and how there was potential for this Russia thing to blow up into another Watergate, but how we weren’t there yet.

Never mind that Acting Attorney General Sally Q Yates was fired for (take your pick) notifying the President of Mike Flynn’s lies to the FBI and/or refusing to defend the indefensible travel ban in court (and being right on both!) Forget the similarity between that and Nixon’s Saturday Night Massacre, firing AGs until he reached Robert Bork (yeah THAT Robert Bork) who then fired the Watergate special prosecutor.

Ignore claims by several people currently infesting this White House of various levels of executive exemption from judiciary or Congressional oversight and how much Nixon stood on Executive Privilege while ignoring subpoenas, misinterpreting compliance with judge’s orders and later claiming that if a President does something, that makes it legal. Not the same thing at all!

Avert your eyes from comparisons between laughable Sean Spicer denials of readily verifiable truths, attacks on the veracity of the New York Times and the Washington Post and how much he sounds like Ron Ziegler, Nixon’s Press Secretary, who pooh-poohed Watergate as a “third rate burglary” and later famously admitted his previous lies had become “inoperative” which, technically, just meant that his lying had stopped working. Sean’s never worked, so, NOT the same.

Wipe from your mind the steady drumbeat of NYT and WaPo articles showing an unraveling White House engaged in all sorts of skeevy skullduggery sourced to leaks in the FBI, the intelligence community, Dat Guy’s campaign staff and the White House itself. Inure yourself to comparisons starting with Deep Throat, and extending through CREEP, the FBI and the CIA and the IRS etc etc. Nothing to see there but coincidence. Mere coincidence.

And, finally, ignore a compulsively secretive, narcissistic, paranoid POTUS obsessed with rooting out leakers and stopping the death by a thousand cuts the leaks foretell. Not at all the personality set that leads to a group of “Plumbers” using background checks as an excuse to suss out and stop the leaks. Oh no, not THIS Administration.

All of the above exists only in your lying eyes, your cheating heart and your evil mind.

Instead, focus on the Articles of Impeachment of Richard M Nixon, as passed by the House Judiciary Committee on July 27, 1974

Article 1, charge 4: interfering or endeavouring to interfere with the conduct of investigations by the Department of Justice of the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the office of Watergate Special Prosecution Force, and Congressional Committees;

Article 2, charge 4: He has failed to take care that the laws were faithfully executed by failing to act when he knew or had reason to know that his close subordinates endeavored to impede and frustrate lawful inquiries by duly constituted executive, judicial and legislative entities concerning the unlawful entry into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee

Clearly, with the latest revelations of contacting the FBI via Reince Priebus to ask them to lie to CNN and the New York Times, Trump has visibly, undeniably stepped into Watergate territory. To cajole the FBI Director and Deputy Director to dispute the misdeeds of campaign and White House staff as relates to their conduct with Russia is a ham-handed way to instruct them as to what the outcome of their investigation OUGHT to be.

The other Nixon crimes listed by the House Judiciary Committee way back in my 12th summer are all still on the table, either possible but unknown at this time, or anticipated to happen if Congress actually gets around to handing out subpoenas on the Russia Connection. In the meantime, enjoy the conclusion of all three of the Nixon impeachment articles, which read as follows, (with a little light editing.)

In all of this, Richard M. Nixon Donald J Trump has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and subversive of constitutional government, to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.

Wherefore, Richard M. Nixon, Donald J. Trump by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office.

Crossposted at juanitajean.com