The 30 year anniversary of old Trickie Dick’s resignation got me thinking about this. Politicians and hotshot corporate executives just don’t know how to resign in this country any more. Oh sure you still get some resignations, like Governor what’s-its up in Connecticut who recently threw in the towel, at long last, when there was an angry mob circling his house with torches and clubs. For the most part the art of resigning is practiced more in Europe and in Japan nowadays. People in the USA, in general, just don’t seem to know when to say, “ok, I fucked up, give me an hour to clean out my desk and I’m gone.”
Nixon held on as long as he could, too long no doubt. But let’s remember — guys were dropping like flies all through the Watergate scandal, mostly resigning in disgrace, some in protest. Not like these arrogant, shameless shits you have in DC nowadays, like Rumsfeld, you should have hit the road long ago over the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal.