I really never knew what Agnew meant when he whined about "nattering nabobs of negativism." Clearly, at the time, he thought he was talking about people like...me. Although if you're the VP for Richard Nixon, do you really think someone like...me...is a nattering nabob of negativism?
Agnew, according to Wikipedia, was a champion of civil rights, and in his term in office in Maryland was a "moderately progressive administration," with all the agenda of a moderately progressive administration. Agnew died in 1996. I wonder if, as a Republican (assuming he wouldn't be dismissed as a RINO), he wouldn't feel awash in nattering nabobs of negativism in his own party today. He couldn't fight his way out of Florida.
And he very much didn't approve of violence: "we have a new breed of self-appointed vigilantes arising -- the counterdemonstrators -- taking the law into their own hands because officials fail to call law enforcement authorities." What would Agnew have thought if the officials themselves actually provoked the counterdemonstrators into becoming self-appointed vigilantes? Had he been Trump's VP on and before 1/6/21, would he have been stern with the soon outgoing president?
Wikipedia also quotes Agnew as having criticized "the hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history" and "supercilious sophisticates." It seems he had a flair for alliteration. But then, it mentions his "slashing invective." Donnie probably doesn't know any of the words Agnew used, but it's certainly true that he, too, is deeply fond of slashing invective, used against anyone, even in his own Party.
But then, in 1972 and 1973, it turned out that an investigation into corruption in Baltimore County uncovered that although Agnew had been receiving illegal kickbacks in the middle 1960s, which were no longer at issue because of the statute of limitations, he was still receiving them as VP. So, you know, tax fraud and corruption, explained away as a, you know, campaign contribution, and rejected as "damned lies." (Agnew had already expressed his opinion about the news media. Very typical hard right views.)
But Agnew was checkmated, and he agreed to a plea bargain in exchange for no incarceration. He had first tried arguing that a sitting VP could not be indicted (how prescient), but that flailing argument didn't get any traction.
So, he ended his career in politics, moved to his summer home in Ocean City, but had to borrow what was then $200K from his friend, Frank Sinatra, because he was drowning in debt. And the Maryland Court of Appeals disbarred him, commenting that he was "morally obtuse." (All that clever alliterative nonsense, and the guy turns out to be an idiot.)
In 1976, he published a novel (hmm), but got himself into some trouble due to references to "Jewish cabals and Zionist lobbies," which the protagonist (Agnew) said had a hold over American media. On a book tour, Agnew addressed this, and reassured that it was true. Although..."Agnew denied any antisemitism or bigotry: 'My contention is that the American news media...favors the Israeli position and does not in a balanced way present the other equities." I can't imagine who could possibly have mistaken that for antisemitism or bigotry.
By 1977, Agnew had made enough money to move to California, pay Sinatra back, but was still whining about having been "bled dry." So, he...reached out to a Saudi Crown Prince for an interest-free loan of $2M, to be deposited in a Swiss bank. (Is this kind of thing genetic among Republicans?) He was going to leave the principal there, and just use the interest. And why did he want the money? To "continue my effort to inform the American people of [Zionists'] control of the media and other influential sectors of American society." No, it wasn't American Communists, or Haitian immigrants eating the pets of residents of Springfield, MO, but still...
In a 1980 memoir he called Go Quietly...Or Else, he continued to proclaim his innocence, but otherwise disappeared from view.
As a postscript regarding the illegal behavior that led him to resign from politics, a Maryland judge ordered him to repay the kickbacks, and interest, which he did. Then, he argued that this repayment should be tax deductible.
And if you think I'm unfairly picking on Agnew for his outrageous behaviors, Wikipedia also says "Some recent historians have seen Agnew as important in the development of the 'New Right,' arguing that he should be honored alongside the acknowledged founding fathers of the movement such as Goldwater and Reagan...Agnew's fall shocked and saddened conservatives, but it did not inhibit the growth of the 'New Right'...Agnew helped recast Republicans as a Party of 'Middle Americans,' and, even in disgrace, reinforced the public's distrust of government"
Finally, the "might have been" offered about Agnew was "It is not a far stretch to imagine that if Agnew had contested corruption charges half as hard as Nixon denied culpability for Watergate -- as Goldwater and several other stalwart conservatives wanted him to -- [or half as hard as Donnie insists he was robbed], today we might be speaking of Agnew-Democrats and Agnewnomics, and deem Agnew the father of modern conservatism."
So I do quote Agnew. And frankly, I agree with him about "nattering nabobs of negativism." I just think he was missing one item: a mirror.
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