Letter: Administration brings Nixon, LBJ to mind

Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2005 | 8:12 a.m.

The current Bush administration and the White House seems to be another version of the Nixon years. One only has to remember Nixon's "blacklist" and his attack on Dan Rather compared to the Bush White House attack on Joe Wilson and his wife, the CIA operative.

Going back further, one cannot help noticing the similarity between LBJ's staging of the Gulf of Tonkin incident in order to obtain a resolution from Congress that authorized him to initiate airstrikes on North Vietnam. Those airstrikes opened the door to a war that killed a million Vietnamese and some 58,000 Americans.

What is the difference between the Gulf of Tonkin story and this administration's admonition of the weapons of mass destruction that Saddam Hussein was supposed to have hidden in Iraq? The war in Iraq has killed untold numbers of Iraqis and more than 2,000 Americans. As things stand, we will still be counting for some unknown time to come.

No doubt, history buffs will cite the comparison. We do not have to like it, but at this time in history it seems to be the way of political insiders. It would be refreshing to see an open administration in Washington that would allow free and untethered discussion without fear of retribution. One that allowed comments without fear of "dirty tricks." But, as some people say, "politics are politics" and "all is fair in love and war."

Ray Harbert Las Vegas