Richard Nixon Rants for 10 Minutes about Homosexuality

The episode...

R1 Nixon is one of my favorite people to study about in history.

This man that grew up with nothing. He went to college on a scholarship, then Duke law school, worked at a top law firm, became a congressman, senator, then Vice President to one of the most admired men in America. After all that, he marginally lost the presidency in 1960 to a Kennedy, a family he hated. He ran for governor of California and lost against a Brown, another liberal elite.

In 1968, he silently sat back and let the Democrats destroy themselves in the election (Johnson, Humphrey, Kennedy, McGovern, and McCarthy). Then throw in George Wallace from Alabama.

When he won, he was a great president. His foreign policy was ingenious. At the same time, the economy was suffering, his loyal dogs (Haldeman and Ehrlichman) were too aggressive, and the media hated him.

You have a paranoid man of incredible genius and talent who surrounded himself with bad advisors. Nixon outsmarted himself and got caught.

He is King Lear.

[quote]In 1968, he silently sat back and let the Democrats destroy themselves in the election ... When he won, he was a great president. His foreign policy was ingenious.

He won because he and Kissinger negotiated with North Vietnam behind Johnson's back (and against a few Federal laws) and torpedoed Johnson's attempt to end the war. His foreign policy ultimately involved multiple war crimes.

Your version of history is a bit off.

R2 - Dick Nixon was a horrible man … even if Watergate never happened.

He was smart - but up until 20 years ago, that wasn’t unusual for presidents.

COCKSUCKERS

He loved to cuddle.

"When he won, he was a great president."

nope

^ Google : HYPOCRISY

Do you mean : REPUBLICANS?

Methinks the Lady Dick doth protest too much.

Nixon knew a "magnificently handsome" man when he saw one.

Bebe Rebozo was as gay as the day is long, they didn't just vacation together, Rebozo owned a house right next to Nixon's in Miami.

R8 I'd take Nixon over any of the current Republicans.

Nixon, Kissinger, Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Dean, Mitchell, Colson, Haig, Schlesinger, and Agnew were super smart men. I honestly believe they would have never been caught if they actually tried.

The Republicans now no where near the Nixon Administration intelligence.

It’s such an interesting recording but none of the comments are engaging with the substance, yet.

Pretty clear he hated us. He also thought that societies would turn gay if a kid weren’t kept on public gayness, and that they’d deteriorate, like the Roman Empire. At some point he says it’s not a moral issue for him, but obviously he hated us.

When Nixon was elected, one of the programs he wished strongly to implement was UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE.

He had seen firsthand as a boy how a sick family member (one of Nixon's brothers) caused serious financial hurt to his family. Nixon knew from personal experience how important universal healthcare was.

The person who prevented the success of Nixon's plan was TEDDY KENNEDY. That fucker.

Nixon was a deeply flawed man. But very smart and as far as healthcare goes, he was absolutely right.

So, when any American looks at the disastrous impact on our fellow citizens of financial catastrophe because of medical costs, remember who tried to remove that burden.

And remember which fucker stopped him

‘I don’t even want to shake hands with anyone from San Francisco’

Nixon and his men did something stupid (they didn't need the oppo, they were ahead in the polls and there was no reason to think Nixon wouldn't win reelection) and they were sloppy about it, so let's not pretend like they were only caught because they just got lazy.

Complete lie, r14.

Several versions of universal healthcare were introduced in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was Ted Kennedy's in 1970 that went to committee in 1971, it was known as the bipartisan Kennedy-Griffiths bill, and Nixon then introduced his own MORE LIMITED version of healthcare to counter Kennedy-Griffiths.

Ultimately, nothing got done in Nixon's first term because of two Southern Democrats on Ways & Means, they didn't like either Republicans or modern Democrats and they wouldn't support either proposal.

In Nixon's second term, Kennedy worked with one of those Southern Democrats to try to get universal healthcare, and they basically took Nixon's 1971 plan and added a little to it, but the public didn't want it, so that effort died, too.

What you said is just completely wrong. I guess you think people aren't going to look this stuff up.

Well Agnew was kind of a moron r12, but in general your list is correct. But also a reminder that smart is not really enough. All were caught up in the stupid fantasy that we just HAD to win Vietnam for stupid reasons that never made any sense from start to finish. All about toughness and showing strength and all kinds of shit that doesn't actually matter as it turns out. Also of course a mindless, stupid toughness at home. Gotta show those negroes (not the word they'd use of course). Gotta show those hippies. Gotta show those homos. Gotta show everybody. All kind of stupid and trivial and unnecessary as it turned out.

R17 " but the public didn't want it"

My sides.😂😂😂

R3, yes he did do that, proving he was incredibly brilliant, with horrible morals. R12, I agree except for Agnew. He was not smart. The rest were pretty brilliant and ended up outsmarting themselves.

As a 70+ native of San Francisco who grew up surrounded by gays, including next door neighbors, teachers, shop keepers, friends (not out), then later co-workers; Nixon's comments reflect the general thinking at the time. At one point he said he didn't have a problem with gays but later in the tape thought they would ruin America if allowed to live openly. Out gayhood was a rare thing in many parts of the country then, Republicans believed if you tolerated anyone beyond white Christians (while supporting Israel), they would get fewer votes without cheating.

I lived in a liberal area where the Drag Queen Halloween Balls were always covered in the newspapers and homosexuality was no secret, we still had known public restroom hangouts, legions still in the closet, and sadly and all too common, gay bashing of isolated individuals who were simply walking down the street or minding their own business.

One of Nixon's achievements was founding the Environmental Protection Agency, when conservatives still appeared to care about the environment. Trump tried to destroy that agency in is blatant lust for profits, environment be damned. Even Nixon had a shred of decency in his twisted thinking, but I'm proud to say I never voted for a Republican, and especially not Nixon or trump.

So much has changed, so much has stayed the same, and so much is very much worse.

R14 that was SUCH a gigantic lie that it didn’t last on the DL for 10 minutes! Good Job 👏🏻 R17 for exposing right wing garbage 🗑

[quote]The person who prevented the success of Nixon's plan was TEDDY KENNEDY.

Before I saw R17's post, I was going to say that my understanding was that it was Nixon who didn't want Kennedy's plan of universal health care and instead would have preferred a health care plan with public option.

BTW didn't Amtrack come about under Nixon's administration?

Nixon WAS A HOMOSEXUAL, a closeted homosexual. That's why he says "I understand it" on the audio, then it went blank. Rosemary Woods must have did the erasure thing on that tape. Not that I think he'd admit anything, but it must have been a sensitive 14 seconds.

Seriously, Nixon was a self made man, he knew history and the job of president, had the experience, and was much more liberal than Republicans are today because of the times. BUT the bottom line, why Nixon self-destructed, was because he was a paranoid, self-loathing homosexual.

[quote]This man that grew up with nothing.

No. His immediate family was not rich. His father's initial business attempt (orchards) went bust; some believe his father's resentment over this contributed to Nixon's bitterness. The subsequent business was a grocery with gas station. The family was smart, thrifty and hard working and made a go of the business. They bought a new car in the early 30s (it's been a while since I read his bio, so I'm not sure if it was 1933). When Nixon gave rides to people, he asked passengers to contribute for gasoline, but poor families were not buying new cars in the early 30s.

[quote]He went to college on a scholarship,

Which had been endowed by his grandfather

[quote]then Duke law school, worked at a top law firm,

No, he was not hired by a top firm. He applied to the FBI and was rejected. He worked for a government agency during the war and was not advancing. He talked to his assembly (he was a Quaker) and was allowed to join the navy. He was not the only Quaker to join the military during WWII. He played poker (which I think Quakers also disapprove of) and won by playing conservatively. He used his poker winnings to start his own firm after the war.

Nothing about Nixon is worth listening to, he was a criminal, a bigot, probably mentally ill and yesterdays version of Trump, only Nixon didn't have a criminal GQP standing behind him.

So the Bohemian Grove really is a gay event? Why do two adult straight men spend so much time talking about homosexuality? It's bizarre.

[quote] He also thought that societies would turn gay if a kid weren’t kept on public gayness

Huh?

I totally disagree with that r26, well the first part. Nixon was a shit in many ways but I totally disagree that he was not worth listening to. He was a brilliant politician. But even if you hate him, which is perfectly justified, listening to people you hate, if they are smart and tap into something in the culture, is always worth doing. Only listening to the perfect is not a good strategy, first because there are so few of them and second because they usually can't teach anything other than be perfect.

Shocked to learn Nixon was a wife beater!

Damn the funniest part of all that is right near the end when Nixon says "We're honest." Jesus god, what a fucker.

Didn't he drive Pat to drink?

The association of homosexuality with decadence, and therefore societal weakness and societal collapse, does seem to be an interesting and very deep-rooted paranoia on the right. I think the 'Hillbilly Elegy' guy, running for Senate in Ohio, just proposed giving more votes to people with children. Paranoia connected to national fertility as the foundation of national strength seems equally deep-seated.

[quote] Didn't he drive Pat to drink?

Nah, she took the bus.

True r33, that has always been a thing. And especially the incredibly false and stupid idea that homosexuality brought down the Roman Empire. That has been a stupid fantasy for almost 2000 years and dingbats will probably be repeating it until the end of time. Nixon of course jumps on that in an ignorant way in the tape at OP.

Now Democrats love Nixon and George W. Do fuck off.

Nixon was evil in every way. Kissinger was a straight up war criminal.

Neither cared that millions died because of American foreign policy. Assassinating democratically elected leaders was just a game for them.

In India, Nixon was fine with Pakistan's leaders slaughtering East Pakistanis (Now, Bangladesh), leading to over 5 million refugees flooding India. Why? Nixon refused to intervene because the President of Pakistan was the go-between between the US and China during secret negotiations.

[quote] When Nixon was elected, one of the programs he wished strongly to implement was UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE.

Yes, this is spin Nixon apologists try to hoist on us. Truthfully, Nixon supported an edited form of universal healthcare as a Hail Mary pass to garner popular support.

Nixon didn't give a shit about domestic policy, other than locking up all the hippies and civil rights activists.

That was actually a good thing. Some nice stuff slipped in, like the EPA and the clean water act, and we came close with universal health care. But it was all primarily because Nixon didn't give a shit and was willing to turn that part of the presidency over to others.

Nixon actually makes me wish we could elect a foreign policy president and a domestic policy president, but then I think again and realize they are pretty tangled up together. Still ...

It's odd to ponder that Nixon looks like top president compared to Trump. Also, Nixon, at the time, was thought to be so right-wing. Today, he'd be much too liberal to get their presidential nomination. His administration established the EPA.

Good insights, R21 and R29! Thanks for sharing.

[quote] Some nice stuff slipped in, like the EPA and the clean water act, and we came close with universal health care

All that happened because he had a Democratic Congress to work with.

That is true too r42. And it was a pretty much a permanently Democratic House of Representatives, or seemed so. But I still think Nixon considered anything to do with domestic policy as something to bargain with, rather than anything he actually cared about. And that was better than Reagan, who cared so much and had so many terrible ideas about it.

This whole homosexuality/decadence/fall of the Roman empire belief was very widely held at the time.

very widely held for centuries r44. False, but it makes a good, neat little explanation for people who actually might have to deal with the fact that the Roman Empire (and really the Western half, which is a whole other discussion) fell AFTER it converted to Christianity. Edmund Gibbon blamed Christianity, in part, but we can't have that in God's own country. So why not blame the homos?

Some of the best emperors (Trajan, Hadrian) were homos

Pretty much ALL the Emperors were bisexual at least. Pretty much every Roman drew no distinction between women and boys. Not saying that is some ideal. They really did mean boys, or at least what we would mean minors. But it was just a fact, that the whole Christian thing, especially the whole modern Christian thing, just meant nothing to the ancient Romans. The whole big trauma about pussy only ever was just not a Roman thing, throughout most of the Roman Empire, until some Christians came along and decided to be deeply traumatized by the whole thing.

And of course, the Christians weren't exactly big fans of the pussy either. Sex just sent them into hysterics altogether. Still does.

[quote]So the Bohemian Grove really is a gay event?

The Bohemian grove is not an event, gay or otherwise. Bohemian Grove is a 2500 acre campground, owned by the Bohemian Club in San Francisco. Its a male-only club, with limited membership, and a long waiting list. Members can go to the Grove anytime they want, and while you can take women in, they have to be off the property at sundown. Every member is assigned to a specific encampment, although there is lots of visiting/drinking/eating between camps. Talking about business is strictly prohibited, and everyone is called by their first name, even Presidents, when they're in attendance. While there are a good number of gay members, a large number of the staff are gay. And no, its has nothing to do with Republicans eating babies.

My favorite Nixon "gay" quote is when he was told that J. Edgar (Mary) Hoover had died, he replied, "Jesus Christ! That old cock sucker"

Richard Nixon believed that the great conflict of the 21st Century would be the West vs. Islam. He wasn't too far off.

[quote](Nixon) was a criminal, a bigot, probably mentally ill

More likely drunk. Dick was a big drinker, and in addition loved his wine. The mental part was just a garden variety persecution complex.

How do you know Nixon was gay? I really don't believe it. At most, he was asexual.

EVERYONE knew it, R53.

Many things brought down the Roman Empire, but homosexuality was not one of them.

They talked in great detail about an All in the Family episode as if the type of people in the show were peasants to their superior beings.

Every time I called Bebe a maricon he slugged me.

Homo hiding in plain site.

People always seem to forget that Nixon was right there with McCarthy during the blacklisting of alleged Communists. The man was a fascist. This rehabilitation we do of all our presidents is really odd, and a big part of why we never learn from history.

R20, trying for a back door deal to undermine a political opponent in war negotiations isn't brilliance, it was an old, old tactic that everybody knew. European kings and Asian leaders were doing it in their own countries centuries earlier.

Besides, it was Kissinger's idea, not Nixon's.

I'm not sure why "sometimes smart people are evil and we have to still admire them for being smart" is even being pushed as a valid ethical or moral position, but Dataloungers gonna Datalounge, I guess.

I surmise that during that 14 second beep he said he'd tried the homo sex while he was in the navy "because there were no gals on ships, you know, and we were hard up." What a shithead. That's why he says "I understand it." Listening to his voice brings back the OTHER time we had such a creep in the WH one could barely sleep at night wondering what fuckery he'd get up to. He wasn't all that smart and neither is any other sociopath.

Nixon talking about hot guys is HYSTERICAL. I think he was angling for H.R. to sit on his face!

LOL, R62. You must be right!

R62 I think that was Jeb Magruder’s front row seat to history!

He's discussing women's fashion by the end of it.

I actually felt a bit stung when he started ranting about how ‘this fairy walked in…’

‘Fairy’ is just as bad as any other homophobic slur. It’s a reminder of how straight men used to despise and look down on us (many still do).

His personal lawyer John Dean was quite the looker back then. Just saying.

His assumption that “the son-in-law (Mike Stivic) - apparently goes both ways” (because he has a gay friend) is laughable, but I’m guessing he really believes this.

Nixon had a gay friend, so maybe he was just extrapolating based on personal experience.

President Nixon will not comment on statements made in private when times and attitudes were far different.

Got into a fight with the Dick Nixon Twitter account a few years ago. Whoever runs that account doesn't like it when you point out his lies, even if you charitably call them "errors."

Nixon, Reagan, the Bushes as well, hate 'em like hell, isn't it swell.

R56, they talked in great detail about an All in the Family episode as if they're regular viewers.

Nixon didn't act on his homosexual impulses except maybe in the Navy during WW2. His love for Bebe Rebozo was most likely unfulfilled. Nixon also had a massive crush on John Kennedy when they were both in the senate, their offices were nearby and they ran into each other frequently - Chris Matthews wrote a book about it, though he didn't state the obvious.

It makes me cringe to hear Nixon talk about "fairies," but this was the prevailing attitude in 1970. If you had audio tape of McGovern or any Kennedy talking about the subject at the time, they'd be laughing and ridiculing gays.

I’ll bet not much has changed in attitudes with Republicans, right wingers, rednecks. We see examples even now with celebrities daBaby, Damon, pastors, athletes.

Since we are talking about the Vietnam decade, can someone who has knowledge share, why did we go into Vietnam? TIA

Nixon's face was Diana Sawyer's place to sit in the Nixon White House.

I'm not sure McGovern would ridicule gays. He was an exceptionally decent person.

R75, watch this video and shut up.

R77, gays were considered deviant and dangerous. Everyone - especially men - ridiculed them. It was expected and perfunctory.

Norman Lear is a buckbreaker.

[quote]False, but it makes a good, neat little explanation for people who actually might have to deal with the fact that the Roman Empire (and really the Western half, which is a whole other discussion) fell AFTER it converted to Christianity.

You got a video about this too r78?

I'm aware of all the bullshit they talked about as the reason for decades r78. I'm old, I lived through all the news casts.

What I'm after is the truth that came out in the last 30 years. If you don't know then don't respond.

[quote]The association of homosexuality with decadence, and therefore societal weakness and societal collapse, does seem to be an interesting and very deep-rooted paranoia on the right.

The right is desperate to preserve the patriarchy, ie the automatic right to power of any domineering white male. It could be argued that that is almost their entire project, indivisible from their project of keeping all the money among themselves. Feminism is just as associated with decadence and societal collapse in their minds as homosexuality, as is the population growth within their country of any non-white race.

Of course, the flipside of that is the imagined right to power of any domineering white male with an automatic.

R81, Ken Burns' documentary gives a lengthy, detailed, year by year analysis of the war. I saw it on PBS. Didn't want to go through the whole thing again (I'm old too), but I was mesmerized.

John Kennedy's best friend was gay.

[R73] RFK on Bayard Rustin: “So you’re down here for that old black fairy’s anti-Kennedy demonstration?

Nice to know Nixon had so much free time to chat (stupidly and inaccurately) about t.v. shows.

Lawdy lawdy - do you reckon, R85, that that was uttered before or after RFK got it on with Nureyev in that phone booth 😄

Yeah, RFK was an absolute shit on the subject, r85. Just ask Gore Vidal. (Not that you can or have to, he was perfectly happy to write about it.)

Maybe not so much JFK, but I agree with r73. Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, pretty much all used the same word about us, and that word wasn't "gay."

Yes that’s the way it was in the 80’s with AIDS when the Republicans en masse were fighting us to the death!

R88, even Joan Crawford freely used the word FAG!

There are several fascinating documentaries on youtube about Nixon. One started with “A man's character is his fate” once said by Greek philosopher Heraclites.

Elliott Richardson once said about him that the petty character flaws he had would have been easy to fix, but those flaws were why he became president. He was driven by hate, revenge, getting even with his enemies.

The irony is that he didn't need all the 'political intelligence' activities - the break in to Daniel Elsberg's psychologist office, the DNC headquarters at the Watergate complex. But these happened because of Nixon's paranoia, his inferiority complex towards liberals.

Richard Nixon = Karma on Parade

The History Channel did an excellent 6-part documentary simply titled "Watergate" that's worth watching. Nixon and his cabinet were such a gang to thugs. Erlichmann and Haldeman were particularly odious. I wasn't even born yet, but watching it made me angry to see how corrupt and criminal these people were.

That audio is a perfect example of the banality of evil.

Lucky you r93, you got to live through Stupid Watergate instead. Even more corrupt but where everyone involved is a moron. And of course, even more fun, it ain't over. It's coming back in 2024 for even more stupid and evil.

[quote]The History Channel did an excellent 6-part documentary simply titled "Watergate"

The History Channel SUCKS

Of course this isn't just a rant about gays, it's a rant about the communists at the top of broadcasting. It's interesting to note how far the right-wing in the US seem to go to define themselves against the 'cultural elite' - eg the people at the top of universities, the arts, etc. This element also exists on the European right but hasn't traditionally dominated it, though that may be changing.

R96, it used to not suck.

r96 it's a great documentary from just a few years ago, the players who were still alive were interviewed.

Has Matt Damon spoken about this yet?

Isn't John Mitchell the one President's Men who served the longest jail sentence?

- Martha

^^He only served 18 months, as I recall^^

[quote] Didn't he drive Pat to drink?

No, my homely sister Julie did.

What a cunt!

We are so weird about treason. Everything else we freak out about and can't wait to punish everyone to death. Treason? We suddenly become mellow yellow and start wondering if, really, is anybody truly guilty? Is there real guilt? Is life just a series of choices that we can't really be held accountable for? What is this thing, crime, anyway?

r73 Just stop it.

Nixon himself was a drunk. He ordered a nuclear strike on North Vietnam one night drunk out of his mind. He also beat up Pat when drunk.

The man was a mess, Eisenhower thought he was immature.

"America can't stand pat."

Actually said that on the TV.

That was a prime example of just how ill informed and unintelligent many highly placed and well educated people are to this day. Nixon was a piece of trash as were most of the people in his administration. There's no telling how many "whores" Nixon visited in his lifetime.

It's also a prime example of the old saying "those who yell the loudest about something are usually guilty of the same thing".

Compared to the likes of Jim Jordan, Mike Pence, Ted Cruz, and of course Donald J Trump, Nixon might as well be George Washington or Lincoln.

Why do you say that, R109? He was more like their progenitor.

R105, HA HA HAAAAA!

The Watergate documentary by Charles Ferguson is excellent. What a bunch of fucking lowlife crooks they all were.

I am not a crook.

Agree, R2. Nixon is a fascinating person. Listening to the tapes that were released a few years back is amazing. There was a documentary about him/the tapes on PBS (I think) at the time.

LBJ’s life is intriguing as well.

I don't agree. He was a grifter who got above himself, like Trump. Huge liar who acted like he was an upright person. We don't have universal healthcare and do have the pathetic HMO system thanks to him.

JFK had no issues with gays. His life long bestie was a flaming queen named Lem Billings. When during a WH dinner Tennessee Williams greeted Samuel Barber with a kiss JFK called out "Hey what about me?" When Gore Vidal told JFK that Tennessee said he had a "fine ass" Kennedy replied "how exciting". JFK for obvious reasons was confident in his sexuality. Nixon on the other hand was a closeted incel.

Closet Cases Of A Feather.

...and Nixon was a closeted homosexual.

R85/R88 Gore was a jealous bitch.

R2 is Boris the Nazi Incel projecting halos on to devils again.

The level of delusion is sociopathic.

And r97 is about spreading right-wing Fake News and propaganda under the guise of decrying it.

There are no “communists at the top of broadcasting.” But making this statement engorges r97’s clitoris by 3 mm.

R14 needs to link to proof about that pro-health care and supposed Kennedy B.S.

I’ve never heard anything like it.

R29 is Boris DeFuckwit, the Nazi apologist.

Nothing r29 says is worth listening to, because it’s all lies, Fake News, self-serving delusions.

If Boris r29 believed in “listening to people you hate,” he wouldn’t still repeat the same tired lies and blow jobs for criminal, right-wing psychopaths like Nixon, Trump, Putin and Hitler that he’s been serving for 10 years.

Punch, Block and delete.