Crazyworld

In in the interest of full disclosure, yes, I am a reporter. Been one for nearly a decade now.

So I was pretty shocked while watching an online stream of the lastest so-called "media availability" held by embattled Gov. Mark Sanford today in Conway -- not far, incidentally, from where House Republicans are spending the weekend at a retreat where impeachment is almost certainly going to be a topic.

After speaking about transparency and openness, Sanford didn't take any questions. In fact, he blatantly told a reporter for The State newspaper, "I don't work for you."

It's hard to put personal feelings aside on this one. But I'll try.

Last I checked, reporters paid taxes and most, if not all, register to vote. They tend to take their civic responsibilities seriously.

Last I checked, many reporters were more informed about the processes of government than the average man on the street and, sometimes, even elected officials.

Last I checked, elected officials should look at EVERY reporter -- from the smallest weekly to the largest daily -- as virtually thousands of people rolled into one. People as in taxpayers, constituents, residents. It's a bit of advice I got from an editor at the first weekly I worked at after college. The Internet only exponentially increases a news organization's reach.

Last I checked, millions of people still rely on news organizations to not only report information, but to do so in the larger context of how that information is presented. (Sanford complained that The State reported on his current conflict, and not as much on the records his staff pulled on past administrations and even sitting lawmakers.)

Last I checked, newspapers still employee people in this state, pay taxes of their own and have to deal with travel budgets. Many of those travel budgets are shrinking or in some cases being eliminated -- and they are wasted when media outlets send reporters all over the state for press conferences in which the person speaking refuses to answer any questions.

Last I checked, Elected Office 101 taught elected officials never to pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrell. Or, today, has access to unlimited space online. Why? They'll never get the last word. Ever.

And, last I checked, every reporter is keenly aware that it's not always obvious ethical or other infractions that must be avoided -- it's the appearance of impropriety that can cost a someone his/her credibility.

Perhaps, governor, that last part is the most important lesson of all.

Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis stood in front of a verbal firing squad for more than 90 minutes tonight, trying to keep a lid on the fear and anger in the room enough to have a rational discussion about health care.

But in the end, things bubbled over.

I filed my story from the Upstate Family Resource Center in Boiling Springs well over an hour into the town hall, tweeting before, during and after writing it. I figured I had enough material.

The congressman, after all, already had affirmed his belief in the Second Amendment, not to mention the First, Fourth, Tenth and maybe another one or two. He’d reminded everyone that he was a Republican, not a Libertarian. He had tried to convince them he wasn’t pushing a secret plan to force everyone to get vaccinated against the swine flu. He said he didn’t believe health care was a right, but that a Judeo-Christian nation would see to it that people who needed emergency treatment got it. He talked about the need for everyone to have health insurance, because “free riders,” as they are called, cause medical costs to go up for the rest of us. He criticized the current health care bill for not specifically including language that would prohibit taxpayer-funded abortions, and put forth the belief that a public option would drive private providers out of the market. He had, after all, a 16-point list of reasons why he was against the very health care bill that much of the fervent crowd had come to voice their opposition to.

He even said, when asked, that he would opt out of the health insurance program he has by virtue of his office and “join the rest of us” if the current legislation passes.

But he wouldn’t sign an undated letter of resignation to be submitted in case he didn’t. That certainly raised some eyebrows: “Why not?”

So, after I hit my send button, a woman stands up and starts saying repeatedly that she’s afraid of President Obama. Inglis asks her why she’s afraid. And that’s when it started.

“He has too much power!”

“What do you mean, why?”

“Go home, Bob!”

It’s kind of a blur here. Inglis told people to turn off Glenn Beck. He told them to turn off the fear-mongering.

Thankfully, Inglis called me later tonight, on his way home from the “after party” where he met with a dozen or so local Republican precinct chairmen. Just to make sure, I asked him if he used the specific term “fear-mongering.”

“Probably,” Inglis said. “That’s what he does. That’s what Glenn Beck is all about. And Lou Dobbs. I’ve had the misfortune of listening to those shows a couple of times.”

The Beck comment was the last straw for what was left of the 350-plus people who had come to the town hall – the seventh of 12 Inglis is hosting.

Afterward, there was some discussion among the Democrats and less extreme Republicans -- I used the word “moderate” on Twitter, but not everyone agrees with that label -- that they felt too intimidated to speak up tonight.

Inglis said his staff members got a similar sentiment, as several people came up to talk one-on-one with someone from the congressman’s office on their way out.

The atmosphere of fear at the town hall was markedly different than the one on the street, Inglis said. He went door-to-door in a nearby neighborhood before the town hall. (He often does that.) He said that gives him “a more standard distribution of people.”

He tried to explain the difference between being fearful and being aware of problem in order to try to fix it. He said the fearful crowd was predominantly rooted in the Libertarian and Constitutional parties.

“The conservative Republicans there realize that the Constitution is stronger than any president. We have every reason to have faith in the institutions that hold the country together,” Inglis said.

“But when fear takes over and people start thinking the Constitution is not strong enough to meet the challenge of a president they don’t like, you end up with some fairly hysterical reactions.”

Since we were on the subject, I asked him more about Beck.

“I don’t listen often to Glenn Beck, but when I have, I’ve come away just so disappointed with the negativity… the ‘We’ve just gone to pot as a country,’ and ‘All is lost’ and ‘There is no hope.’ It’s not consistent with the America that I know. The America I know was founded by people who took tiny boats across a big ocean, and pushed west in tiny wagons, and landed on the moon. That’s the America I heard on the streets of Boiling Springs.”

He continued: “The America that Glenn Beck seems to see is a place where we all should be fearful, thinking that our best days are behind us. It sure does sell soap, but it sure does a disservice to America.”

Now, given that I’m a journalist, I have an interest in the way the media works and how people perceive it. Lord knows, I can’t tell you how many times people have come up to me to let me know what a liberal rag I work for – despite the fact that many people who actually read our paper’s editorial page call it one of, if not the most conservative in South Carolina. And that’s saying something. So maybe this was giving Inglis a soapbox, but I wanted to hear it.

“If Walter Cronkite said something like Glenn Beck said recently on the air, about the president being a racist, Cronkite would’ve been fired on the spot,” Inglis said. “But I guess the executives of these cable news shows are more enamored with the profits that come from selling this negative message than they are with undermining the faith of people in this wonderful constitutional republic.”

He continued: “There is every reason to oppose President Obama’s health care package. It’s the wrong prescription. It needs to be stopped. But that doesn’t mean we need to abandon hope in America, and say the end is near, and people are going to force us to have immunizations. There’s no reason to go to that extreme.”

I should point out that Inglis is facing a crowded slate of challengers in next year’s Republican primary. If any of those candidates want to call and talk about FOX, MSNBC, CNN, talk radio or even good old-fashioned newspapers, they have my number.

Anyway, Inglis made a couple of final points in our conversation. It was getting late, and I was missing The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. ;)

“This is a constitutional republic that can withstand any president I disagree with,” Inglis said. “It withstood Bill Clinton. And if you were a George Bush-hater, it withstood George Bush. And it will withstand Barack Obama. And that’s just because there’s such confidence in the Constitution and the framers, who set up such an incredible system of checks and balances. …It’s inspiring to me to think about that.”

“What you saw tonight was people who had been convinced of this negativism, and are detaching from the communities and institutions that hold us together,” Inglis told me. “And I believe in the importance of strong institutions. I’m not an anarchist. And I’m not a Libertarian. I believe in a strong, smart federal government that is able to meet challenges like 9/11, and figure out how to correct its mistakes from Katrina…”

He lost his signal. (He was, after all, on Highway 11.) He called back and we wrapped up.

“I hope to convince people that there’s every reason to be optimistic, and there is a way forward. And I hope to help position the Republican Party as the party that presents a message that America can fall in love with, rather than a message that would drive fear in order to win votes."

UPDATE (1:46 a.m.): While I was writing this, at least one video clip from the night surfaced. The audio is difficult to decipher, but the crowd's reaction speaks volumes. It sounds like Inglis says "Turn that silly thing off." I'm going on memory at this point, but this was after the "I'm afraid of Obama!" woman and after the congressman brought Glenn Beck into the mix. There were a few people recording, so maybe the whole bit will show up. If so, send me the link (jason.spencer@shj.com) and I'll post it here.

UPDATE (11:09 a.m.): Just found a longer video on Twitter (thanks to @innovator82 for providing the link) from the town hall. Now, keep in mind that this video has been spliced together by someone who obviously wants "Anybody But Bob" to hold this seat. But within the first minute, you can clearly hear Inglis' original comments about Beck -- and the reaction . You can also hear more of the woman who is afraid of Obama. Keep watching to hear some of the audience questions (taken at the beginning of the meeting) and Inglis' answers (from the end of it).

U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis is facing a fierce crowd tonight at a health care town hall in Boiling Springs. After several rounds of questions, he's going over the reasons he opposes the current health care bill. Couldn't find a link, so here's the 16 reasons his press office sent out earlier today.

What's below is straight from the press release.

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Reasons Rep. Bob Inglis opposes H.R. 3200

          o Inclusion of a public option competing with private insurers- lead to single payer system which will destroy choice and innovation, ultimately will ration by waiting
          o Taxpayer funded abortions could be provided – no exclusion language
          o Adds tax in a recession on individuals and small businesses
          o Job killer – Makes job creation more costly, rather than reducing cost
          o Does not address medical liability reform
          o Grows government
          o Creation of Insurance Exchange focuses on minimum benefits and mandates without incentive for innovation or specialization
          o No incentive for quality outcomes
          o Current private employer-offered plans will be driven into exchange program within five years
          o Public plan option will reimburse providers at Medicare-style negotiated rates which could be below private insurer rates- causing a major cost shift and undercut private insurers.
          o Adds entitlement program that will hamper recovery and add to the $32 trillion obligation of Medicare
          o Government mandate is the only way to control costs
          o Insufficient individual responsibility or choice
          o Insufficient reforms of Medicare and Medicaid
          o Expands Medicaid rather than transition those individuals to the private insurance to have ability to choose their own health plan
          o Inadequate incentive for healthy behaviors, prevention, and wellness from a patient and provider standpoint

In all the hub-bub that followed Gov. Mark Sanford's admission that he had an Argentine mistress, that he lied to his staff, that he actually saw her more times than he originally admitted, that some of his closest allies and Republican Party leaders have been urging him to resign... there was a promise.

That promise: His public schedule would be released in the future. It's been a busy month and, perhaps to the governor's surprise, other things have been going on. But I seem to remember hearing that timeless word in politics, that such a move would aid in "transparency" and help the governor build back trust.

While the likelihood of that happening is debatable, here goes the governor's schedule as released to the media today. Read below the press release for more on this.

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STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
MARK SANFORD, GOVERNOR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:   Joel Sawyer - 803-734-2100 - jsawyer@gov.sc.gov

Gov. Sanford's Public Schedule - Mon., July 13 - Fri., July 17, 2009

Columbia, S.C. - July 13, 2009 - No public events are currently scheduled for this week, but we will advise individually for any event added. Gov. Sanford will be working in Columbia for the week, with intermittent trips to Sullivan's Island.

Meetings and briefings Gov. Sanford will take part in this week include:

- Meeting with staff and First Steps Director Susan DeVenny regarding the potential transfer of the Baby Net program from DHEC to First Steps

- Meeting with new Emergency Management Division Director Ricky Platt, who was named recently to succeed retiring director Ron Osborne

- Briefing by Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom regarding the work of the Stimulus Oversight Task Force

- Briefing by Board of Economic Advisors Chairman John Rainey regarding revenue forecasts in advance of the following week's BEA meeting

- Receive a revenue update from state Department of Revenue Director Ray Stevens

- Receive an economic development briefing from Secretary of Commerce Joe Taylor and Deputy Secretary for New Investment Jack Ellenberg

- Briefing by Department of Social Services Director Kathleen Hayes regarding the upcoming release of an LAC audit of DSS.

-###-

----------

Now, you wouldn't have found this information out by looking at the governor's Web site, as the press release section hasn't been updated in weeks.

But, really, does this go far enough in detailing the governor's schedule?

When I first heard of this, I thought we'd see something more along the lines of a daily itinerary... you know, something with much more useful information. (BECAUSE INFORMATION IS REALLY THE KEY TO TRANSPARENCY.)

I thought we'd see a day-by-day breakdown, specific meetings with specific times, the occasional redacted items that pertained to personal business or things like economic development. Personally, I feel those things should be made public, too, but I'm just one small voice. I also thought travel details would be included -- by car, by plane, whatever.

To me, this isn't transparent. It's translucent at best. (I know I've used that line before somewhere, but -- hey -- it fits.)

But what do you think? Is this enough? Are you comfortable knowing Sanford will receive a handful of briefings this week? Are we in the media too obsessed with this poor man's personal life and need to get one of our own? Let me know. Feedback and (constructive) criticism is always appreciated.

Less than an hour after the State Law Enforcement Division announced that Gov. Mark Sanford did nothing criminal during his tryst with an Argentine woman, S.C. Republican Party Chairwoman Karen Floyd released the following statement:

“I have confidence in the findings of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.  But the fact remains that there is clearly a growing view that the time may have come for Governor Sanford  to remove himself and his family from the limelight, so that he can devote his efforts full-time to repairing the damage in his personal life.”

Also, during (or immediately before) the SLED press conference, news surfaced that the embattled governor would be spending the Fourth of July weekend with his wife and her family in Florida.

One note on Floyd, who runs the Spartanburg-based Palladian Group. Her public relations firm had a contract with Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer -- who would take the reigns of the state if Sanford were to resign, be impeached or be forcibly removed by a select group of constitutional officers.

Palladian Group Chief Operating Officer Angel Cox said in a recent interview that the firm ended its contract with Bauer on Feb. 9 (a few days before Floyd announced her intention to seek state party chairmanship). The two payments from Bauer's campaign to the Palladian Group since then -- about $4,850 on Feb. 13 and $1,500 on March 19 -- were for past services, Cox said.

Bauer's camp has also made payments to the Campaign Connection LLC, according to his first quarter disclosure statements. Floyd said the Campaign Connection was run by people who did freelance work for her in the past and have since struck out on their own.

The Palladian Group is located at 113 W. Main St., Spartanburg. The Campaign Connection is at 115 W. Main St.

This statement just landed in my inbox from S.C. Sen. David Thomas regarding embattled Gov. Mark Sanford:

“With all of the information that has come to light in the past few days, particularly the truth which differed from his original news conference, I believe he should resign. If it is proven that he misused state money to conduct the affair, he should be impeached.”

It should be pointed out that the impeachment process would start in the House, but you get the drift. There is a growing number of state senators calling for Sanford's resignation.

But Thomas is one of several Republicans challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis -- and Inglis' take on the Sanford affair is quite different.

Inglis also faces four other Republicans: 7th Circuit Solicitor Trey Gowdy, Wofford College professor Christina Jeffrey, Duke Sandwich Co. owner Andrew Smart and Air Force veteran Jim Lee. No Democrat candidates have formally announced for the seat yet.

I can't find a link to it, so I'm just copying and pasting the e-mail that was just sent out.

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Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell issued the following statement today:
 
"The Governor’s personal failings have become widely known in the last week.  Those personal failings are his alone and we should allow him and his family to deal with them privately.  However, the Governor has offered up details about his indiscretions very publicly and they have been widely reported. Those admissions and the reaction of the public have raised in my mind whether the Governor can effectively lead the state in the days, weeks, and months to come.  The Governor does not need to be a paragon of virtue, but the people need to know that he is trustworthy and he is committed to serving them.

The Governor has admitted he lied to his staff in order to travel out of the country.  In doing that, he left the state with no leadership for five days and with no ability to handle an emergency if one arose.

Now, after his latest admissions, we must wonder has the Governor come completely clean.  Each time the press uncovers a new issue or the Governor volunteers new details, both he and our state are embarrassed.
 
The Governor is to the citizens of this state, the people of the United States, and those around the world the face of our state government.  For people who seek to bring new business or expand existing business in South Carolina, he represents South Carolina.  He can either be a great asset or a tremendous liability.

Neither I nor my colleagues in the General Assembly can require that the Governor resign.  That decision is his alone.    I do believe, however, that the Governor has lost the support of the people that is needed to govern.  Therefore, I would ask the Governor to look in his heart and decide whether with his family situation and the public uproar over what he has done and said locally and nationally whether he can lead our state for the remainder of his term.
 
This is not about Mark Sanford the person.  This must be about the government of South Carolina and making sure it operates effectively for the next 18 months.  He needs to decide immediately if he is an asset or a liability for our state.
 
I would beseech the Governor to do the right thing for himself, his family and our state.  I believe he knows what the right thing to do is and I hope that he will do what is right."

If you saw the wire story we ran in today's paper about embattled S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford, you may have noticed quotes from a few local fellows inserted in. What started out as a localized story (with me helping out master reporter Bob Dalton) quickly turned into an, "OK, this AP story is just too good." So, they took what I had and I was off to work on other things.

But because very few people seem to be defending Sanford these days - and fewer every time he bares his soul in an emotional press conference or interview, it seems - I felt I should post all of U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis' comments on the matter. Inglis makes a case that I think would resonate with some people in this state, particularly the Upstate. My interview with him reminded me of some of the comments a few political experts made a few years ago about the Christian/faith community's ability to forgive. At the time, we were talking about then-presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, but the underlying concept is the same, or at least similar, I think.

Anyway, from the interview...

On Tuesday's breaking news:

“I don’t think these additional meetings with the woman in Argentina, nor the contacts with additional women, change the essential nature of the problem, and that is that Mark has admitted to this infidelity, and now is having to deal with the consequences of that. …And I hope and pray he’s seeking reconciliation with his wife.”

On Sanford's ability to govern while dealing with a personal crisis:

“I don’t think that’s a problem. We are all coping in our private lives with personal issues. That would be like saying Sarah Palin shouldn’t be governor of Alaska because she has a special-needs child. Gov. Palin is coping with a special-needs child. That’s a lot to put on somebody. That’s a lot to put on a marriage. And yet she’s effectively serving as governor of Alaska.”

On whether Sanford can still be effective:

“Mark can be a more effective governor now than he’s ever been. Because now, he may have found the humility that could cause him to be able to see other people’s points of view better. He’s been so certain that it must be his way of restructuring, and his way of dealing with the stimulus, and his way of balancing the budget, that he may now be able to see other people’s perspectives. Because of the humility borne of this humiliation. So, in a strange sort of way, I think it could make the next 18 months the best of his tenure.”

Inglis then talked about the three years following his failed Senate run in 1998, a time he spent “complaining to God.” Through that, he said, he saw his own need for grace, and the need to extend grace to other people.

“That will make you different. And that’s what may happen for Mark Sanford. Everybody sees his need for grace. That may enable him to extend grace to other people. That works on a high spiritual plane, but also works in your daily dealings in politics.”

On the Republican brand:

“This is a great opportunity to lose the rot of self-righteousness — just cut it loose — and say we are not morally superior to the next guy. We are all sinners just like the next guy, in need of grace. Because the whole world sees us as completely not morally superior to anybody.”

Just got a copy of a fundraising letter sent out by the new chairwoman of the S.C. Republican Party, Karen Floyd.

A couple of parts caught my eye.

On the nomination of Sonia Sotomayer:

"Just four months into his term, President Obama has show his allegiance to the Far Left by nominating one of their own, a little-known federal judge named Sonia Sotomayer, to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"It's not that she's unqualified, although she is.

"It's not that she's a blatantly politically correct choice, although she is.

"It's that her brand of biased touchy-feely social activism from the bench is exactly wrong, diametrically opposed to the Constitution and precisely what's wrong with the Democrats' love for legislating from the bench.

"That's no the American way, it's not how we do things in South Carolina, and there's a rising chorus of conservative voices..."

Now, this kind of firey political rhetoric would be expected from someone in Floyd's position. Just putting it out there for the sake of discussion.

Also, for some reason I've thought a lot lately about a survey of the North Carolina judicial system several years back. I wrote about it at my last job, at The Free Press in Kinston, N.C. The study found that pretty much everyone who had the court rule in their favor thought the justice system treated them fairly. It also found that those who were ruled against thought the justice system was skewed. What a worthless study.

One more excerpt from Floyd's letter (emphasis hers):

"Now our challnege is to raise the money to deliver our message in a loud and conservative voice, and right now, we lack the money to do that. The cupboard is bare."

Further, she asks people to "throw us a financial lifeline" for $100, $250 or $500. She states she's on a mission to raise $200,000 in the next 100 days.

Can't wait to see the disclosure form.

When Edward Nixon, youngest brother of the late President Richard Nixon, walked into the ballroom yesterday, everyone knew exactly who he was. His facial features bore a strong resemblance to his brother -- and, yes, he has the Nixon nose. He was calm and willing to speak to everyone. He took questions, stayed late to sign books, and generally seemed to have a good time -- giving a hearty thumbs up when posing for pictures, rather than use his brother's more familiar hand gesture. Nixon, 79, sat down with the Herald-Journal for a brief interview before heading to Charleston. He's hitting several South Carolina cities this week promoting his latest book, "The Nixons: A Family Portrait."

HERALD-JOURNAL: What would people find in your book that they maybe wouldn’t find in a history book?

ED NIXON: Eye witness of history. And confirmed by a lot of careful research. It straightens out a few misnomers and misguided statements by a lot of people.

HJ: Like what?

NIXON: No ‘likes.’ No ‘likes.’ If you read history, and are aware of Nixon, then… As media has made people aware, sometimes they need a straight story to straighten it out. Media is a Latin word that means ‘between.’ Agents that work for one medium or another, you can read tea leaves, you can read palms, you can read crystal balls, but sometimes you look at the real scene, and get the word straight.

HJ: You’re going to China next week.

NIXON: Yes, that’s a business trip.

HJ: What’s the purpose of that trip?

NIXON: I’m a free-enterprise promoter in a country that needs a lot more. It’s already got a lot. It’s overtaking us, in fact. We’ve got to wake up. But 35 trips or so I’ve made over there, I’ve seen from the Mao era… and a very, very primitive type of country. It’s expanded now, under the influence of Deng Xiaoping and the offer to allow farmers to sell their surplus produce on the sidewalks. Unheard of. All of the sudden they took off. And from that point forward, the real world is seeing a China that is coming into its own as a first-rate partner in the world. Therefore, it’s time to wake up. Learn some Mandarin, maybe. One of my nephews is over there now, studying in China. And he’s learning a lot about how they do business. And he’s learning a lot, also, about how to show them how we do business, which is really important.

HJ: How do you think the current president is handling the world stage, or foreign policy or diplomacy?

NIXON: Without enough experience. He’s a very smart fellow, He knows the Constitution very well. But he’s — I think, self-admittedly — in need of advice. Who he calls on for advice is extremely important. If he goes only in one direction, I really have concern that we will end up like some countries in Europe that suffered through it… and returned, but they’re still suffering. And I think the Obama Administration… It’s not the Obama Administration. It’s the Congress. They print the money, or authorize the printing of money. So all through the centuries we’ve seen humans try to make gold out of lead. And now we have political alchemists trying to make gold out of paper. And that’s a very dangerous thing. It can’t be done. It can’t be done for long. Or, if we try to follow what happened in France in 1797, they had to end it… with a war. We don’t need that. Let’s avoid it.

HJ: You mentioned your mother today. She’s often portrayed as a very devout woman. How did she shape your life and your family?

NIXON: My mom was a Quaker lady. The Quakers don’t impose or demand or force anything on anybody. Each individual is responsible for his own being. And what he becomes depends on how his growth pattern, from coming out of a home with strong parents, into schools that teach basic concern for other fellow citizens, or fellow students, and then to grow. And then how we grow depends on what grandparents will tell us about what’s the world made of. Parents don’t have time to tell you all that, but grandparents and teachers do. And once you’ve learned the geography, and the history, and the philosophy, that we’ve grown up with, especially in our own Western culture, that develops into adults who become great leaders.

HJ: You mentioned that strong families are the heart of a great nation. How healthy would you say the American family is today?

NIXON: It’s hard pressed to provide parenting at home when children return home. Child care and things like that, they suffice, but we’ve come in to a point where it seems both parents think they need to work — many probably do — to support the family. And I have questions in my mind, how is it that we have lost that, that thing I enjoyed in the ’30s, through the Depression, when one parent was home all the time? Both parents worked, but that one parent that was home was working, doing laundry, or something else. We don’t want to go back to that, perhaps, but how do we get more parenting at home, through the age of 5 at least, when the kids get into school, and pick up teachers, who get paid to do it? Parents don’t get paid much. Neither do teachers. Not enough, in fact. Because they really are the most important professionals we have. Far more than doctors, lawyers, dentists and so forth.

HJ: Did you see “Frost/Nixon”?

NIXON: I saw the original. And then I took a look at the entertainment. The entertainment is aimed at an audience that wants to be entertained. It’s not so entertaining to family members who know the difference between the real story and what Ron Howard’s put together.

HJ: Do you think history has treated your brother fairly — or will it?

NIXON: It already has. More so, it’s coming around to where we realize now that his knowledge of not only international relations and world affairs, but also domestic policies that he invoked and got started. The only trouble was, he was cut short. Things like the (Environmental Protection Agency), for example. His concern was that, eventually, when you start an organization like that run at the government level, you’re going to have to stay with it and control it from going out of bounds, and shut down industry, which it really has in many cases. Far too extensively. EPA is important. And we need it. But it needs to have more good sense, common sense, applied to how they act.

HJ: You mentioned he was cut short. What was that like for you and your family, watching Watergate unfold and his resignation from office?

NIXON: It was not a comfortable time. All of the family grieved over the turn of events. But when you take a very highly developed, self-disciplined man, I don’t care how much self discipline, and how much self-control he has, if you pick on him long enough, the liberals discovered that they could do it, and they broke him finally. So that’s a tragedy — for the country, not for him. That’s why he’s rising above all that tragedy now.

HJ: When you were talking about creating jobs, you said the government should be fostering entrepreneurs, not expanding government…

NIXON: The government should not be a business. It should be run like a business, but it shouldn’t be a business.

HJ: But how do you translate that to a part of the culture that has, through the past several generations, become accustomed to…

NIXON: In other words, why have we become dependents? A nation of dependents. So, on July 4th we’re going to declare Dependence Day, instead of Independence Day. What happened to our self-reliance? Are the kids learning how to take care of themselves, and to develop things, or be inspired to create something new and build it and sell it? Not enough. Some are. Those will be leaders. Those who will be dependents will just take what the government will give them and be happy, I guess. But it won’t be nice.

HJ: Any parting thoughts?

NIXON: I really have high hopes. I really think the president we have now has given us one freedom. And that is, when you fill out a form that asks for race, all you have to write now is ‘human.’ So, racism goes by the wayside now that we have this president in there. There’s no call for racism anymore. There will be those who try to retain it because they’ve come to depend on it. And make a living at it. But we’re humans. And we’re Americans first. Otherwise, we might as well move to Tasmania. I really feel that we have a great future for us in the country as our president becomes educated with real experience. But right now, he needs people who have experience to advise him on pitfalls that lie ahead if he goes the same direction he seems to be going.

HJ: Thank you. It’s been a pleasure.

NIXON: Good show. Keep them smiling.