The summer of 1973, the nation was transfixed on the Watergate hearings, the Congressional investigation into what was once described as a third-rate burglary of the Democratic Party’s headquarters in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C.

This was before cable, let alone the 24 hour news channels. And yet, it is estimated that 85 percent of the country saw at least part of the 319 hours of hearings that were broadcast in place of regular programming simultaneously on ABC, CBS and NBC before the networks took turns showing these hearings. Ultimately, it was the coverup that brought Richard Nixon down and led to his resignation. Many in his administration went to prison, although he did not because Vice President Ford pardoned Nixon once Ford became president.

I thought of Watergate this morning when I saw the headline on the La Crosse Tribune, “More Walker Aids charged: Two accused of illegal fundraising; John Doe investigation continues.” The key words here are “more” and “investigation continues.”

A John Doe is the Wisconsin Version of a grand jury investigation. What the Walker workers are accused of doing as county employees is to use work time to do Walker gubernatorial campaign fundraising activities. Accusations also included Walker’s close associates used personal laptop computers and an unofficial “secret email system” to solicit money for the campaigns of Walker and Brett Davis, who was then running for lieutenant governor. As the Wisconsin State Journal reported, investigators said they kept the system hidden “from all but a close group of Walker’s insiders.”

The attorney for one of those charged, Darlene Wink, said Wink is “clearly adamant that at no time did Scott Walker know that she was doing any of this type of behavior.”

Wink. Wink. I’m sure he didn’t know.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/doe27-6q3v4uj-138159264.html

And Walker also has said he was not aware of the activities of two of his appointees, Tim Russell and Kevin Kavanaugh, who were charged with embezzling from veterans’ groups.  Also, a partner of Russell’s, Brian Pierick, was charged with child enticement because of what was found on his computer during the embezzlement investigation.

As my dad would say, “You lie down with dogs, you come up with fleas.”

There must be a special place in hell for those who wear flag lapel pins, claim to support the troops and then steal from them – those who put their lives on the line for our country.

To have this kind of wanton disregard for law is so ironically outrageous, considering the Republicans worked so hard to get a draconian voter ID law passed when Wisconsin has had only a handful of fraudulent cases. That voter ID law seems innocuous except that those most likely to be unable to have the needed identification are poor, elderly and students – those mostly likely to vote for Democrats.

When I was transferring to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to study journalism, I wrote an essay that I used as a writing sample when I applied to work at the student newspaper, The Daily Cardinal. It began: “I was never given an opportunity to be objective about Richard Nixon. At a very young age, my mother warned me about the dangers I would encounter in life. At the top of her list were eating onions and believe Richard Nixon. Both onions and Mr. Nixon upset her stomach.”

Onions continue to be nonstarters in our family, except for my son (where did I go wrong?) and son in law (where did Maggie go wrong? Actually she didn’t), although if cooked I can handle onions.

My mother disliked Richard Nixon because having lived in San Francisco during World War II, she stayed tuned into what was happening in California. Both my parents were appalled at the red-baiting that Nixon did to get elected to the U.S. Senate in 1950 by accusing Helen Gahagan Douglas of being a communist. It was thought to be the origins of the dirty tricks campaign that Nixon continued into the White House.

In Tricky Dick and the Pink Lady: Richard Nixon vs. Helen Gahagan Douglas, author Greg Mitchell wrote there were suggestions that she was “soft on communism” and they had a publication that was literally a pink sheet that compared her votes with a left-leaning colleague. The San Francisco Gate wrote, “In what Mitchell described as ‘one of the lowest blows of the entire campaign,’ Nixon accused Douglas on the radio of ‘refusing to tell you which side she is on in this conflict” (the Korean War).”

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1998/01/25/RV72971.DTL#ixzz1kflylqwF

My parents were very upset about this, knowing how wrong and unfair that was. This was the era of the blacklists – when even the whisper of having known a Communist could get you unemployed and unable to find another job. Wisconsin Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy was another of the horrific innuendo throwing, character assassins in government who were eager to destroy others for their own benefit.

Scott Walker did some of the same when he came into office and threw flames at public employees, blaming them for any troubles we had in this state.

One of the most endearing lines from the Watergate hearings came from a Republican Senator Howard Baker on the Judiciary Committee: “What did he know and when did he know it?”

The discovery that Nixon knew a lot prior to the hearings for two years led to his being charged in the U.S. Senate with abuse of power. He resigned before a trial would have been held.

It is ironic that one of those Walker employees charged Thursday with named Wink because I would guess Walker winks about what he knows about all this. I suspect he was  much more than he admits to at this point. If nothing else, he is very guilty of hiring people who do illegal things. At the least you have to question his character and judgment.

But perhaps his staff did keep him out of the loop so he could, Wink. Wink. Wink. And say, “I didn’t know anything.”

And he was quoted in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article as having written an email to Timothy Russell an aide ad adviser saying, “We cannot afford another story like this one. No one can give them any reason to do another story. That means no laptops, no websites, no time away during the work day, etc.”

He knew. But when and how much?

I know my parents would be proud of me for fighting back even though the fight for public employee rights is not precisely mine. But I recognize injustice and unfairness, and I know public employees work hard under very difficult circumstances. And I know they gave up pay raises for many years for better healthcare benefits.

Here’s one more homage to Richard Nixon – Walkergate. I’m sure someone has already applied that over used gate to apply to Walker, but if not, let me be the first.

Walker has done so much to destroy our state while giving special advantages to his donors. He has run roughshod over anyone who was not a Republican while claiming to want to bring us together. Those are some of the reasons for the recall, although with these latest findings and more likely to come, maybe we could move toward impeachment, depending upon what is learned through the investigations.

My parents used to say, “Don’t get mad. Write a letter.” And they did that when they felt they were treated badly or when they took issue with a government action. My dad wrote letters to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, while my mom sent indignant letters to companies.

My blog post follows in their footsteps.

That, and registering voters – without asking for their political views. Even if I knew they were Republicans, I still would register them. That is what democracy is all about.