This is from Rush Limbaugh's May 16, 2013 program. As a Watergate era kid, I had a dislike of Richard Nixon in 1973-74. We have heard recently how Nixon used the IRS against his enemies, but Limbaugh is saying that he never actually did so. In some ways, Nixon's biggest crime was the stupidity of not destroying the evidence (the tapes) against him.
"Anyway, this Nixon comparison is starting to bug me 'cause it's the wrong comparison. The comparison ought to be to Putin. That's the comparison. What's going on in this country is the same kind of stuff that goes on under Vladimir Putin. It's not Obama-Nixon, it's Obama-Putin. Nixon talked about siccing the IRS on people on one White House tape. Nixon didn't do it. Nixon talked about it. He speculated about it, as though, man, wouldn't it be fun to sic the IRS -- but he never did.
"Nixon did not sic the IRS on McGovern. Nixon's campaign was audited, if you can believe that, which is what he was talking about on the tape. The head of the IRS at the time was a guy named Donald Alexander, and he was hailed as a hero for the rest of his life because he didn't allow the IRS to be used against Nixon's enemies. But can I tell you the honest-to-God truth? There is no proof that Richard Nixon ever tried to get the commissioner of the IRS to do anything, ever, Donald Alexander. There's no proof that Nixon ever sicced the IRS on anybody. He talked about it in a White House tape, and that was unprecedented. Presidents we assume joke and talk about all kinds of things, fantasizing about their power.
"Nixon was taping himself. He was the first one who was heard doing it, but he never did it. You don't think JFK sat around or FDR sat around joking about maybe using the IRS on people, or Clinton or whatever. But the point is, Obama did it. The comparison is Obama-Chavez, Obama-Putin, not Nixon.
"Anyway, this Nixon comparison is starting to bug me 'cause it's the wrong comparison. The comparison ought to be to Putin. That's the comparison. What's going on in this country is the same kind of stuff that goes on under Vladimir Putin. It's not Obama-Nixon, it's Obama-Putin. Nixon talked about siccing the IRS on people on one White House tape. Nixon didn't do it. Nixon talked about it. He speculated about it, as though, man, wouldn't it be fun to sic the IRS -- but he never did.
"Nixon did not sic the IRS on McGovern. Nixon's campaign was audited, if you can believe that, which is what he was talking about on the tape. The head of the IRS at the time was a guy named Donald Alexander, and he was hailed as a hero for the rest of his life because he didn't allow the IRS to be used against Nixon's enemies. But can I tell you the honest-to-God truth? There is no proof that Richard Nixon ever tried to get the commissioner of the IRS to do anything, ever, Donald Alexander. There's no proof that Nixon ever sicced the IRS on anybody. He talked about it in a White House tape, and that was unprecedented. Presidents we assume joke and talk about all kinds of things, fantasizing about their power.
"Nixon was taping himself. He was the first one who was heard doing it, but he never did it. You don't think JFK sat around or FDR sat around joking about maybe using the IRS on people, or Clinton or whatever. But the point is, Obama did it. The comparison is Obama-Chavez, Obama-Putin, not Nixon.
