"Those were the days"

It certainly feels like our politics have become more polarized and ugly lately. But I have this almost automatic cynicism that kicks in whenever there is an assumption about the "good old days" when things were better. Then along comes something like this to confirm that cynicism. Its the transcript from one of the Nixon tapes...just a little chat in the Oval Office between criminal conspriators about the TV show "All in the Family."

Nixon: CBS came on with a movie. They had two magnificent handsome guys, and a stupid old fellow in it. They were glorifying homosexuality!

Ehrlichman: Was that a panel, sir?

Nixon: Hell no, it was a movie!

Haldeman: No, that’s a regular show, it’s on every week. And usually it’s just set in the guy’s home. It’s usually just that guy, who’s a hardhat.

Nixon: That’s right, he’s a hard hat.

Ehrlichman: And he always just looks like a slob.

Nixon: Looks like Jackie Gleason.

Haldeman: And then he has this hippie son-in-law. And, uh, usually the general trend of it is to downgrade him, and upgrade…

Nixon: Upgrade the hippie son-in-law.

Haldeman: Make the square hardhat to be bad.

Ehrlichman: What’s it called, I’ve never seen it.

Nixon: Archie is the guy’s name.

Ehrlichman: Now that’s real family entertainment, isn’t it?

Nixon: The point that I make is that goddamit, I do not think that you glorify, on public television, homosexuality! You ever see what happened, you know what happened to the Greeks? Homosexuality destroyed them. Aristotle was a homo, we all know that. So was Socrates.

Ehrlichman: But he never had the influence that television has.

Nixon: The last six Roman emperors were fags. You see, homosexuality, immorality in general, these are the enemies of strong societies. That’s why the communists and the left-wingers are pushing it. They’re trying to destroy us.

Yep, that's a former POTUS sounding exactly like a current tea bagger.  I'll take a pass on those that want to opine that "those were the days."



Thus has it ever been ;-)