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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “This autobiography of G. Gordon Liddy is one of the best, and probably most authoritative printed works to come out of the Watergate Scandal from the Nixon administration. |
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“This autobiography of G. Gordon Liddy is one of the best, and probably most authoritative printed works to come out of the Watergate Scandal from the Nixon administration.
Robert Federline wrote this review Monday, December 24, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
If you are not a conspiracy theorist before you read this book, you will almost certainly be one by the time you finish. For those who remember Watergate, instead of learning about it in a history class in school, G. Gordon Liddy was the man who would not talk. He finally does talk, in this book, only because, in his own words, the statutes of limitations have expired on anything he chose to reveal. When you are finished, you can't help but wonder, however, that there may be more that is still concealed. There is, after all, no statute of limitations on murder.
Mr. Liddy takes you through the course of his childhood, in explanation of his unusual personality. His loyalty is commendable and without peer. His judgment, however, is questionable.
One cannot fault his logic and logistical planning. He is an extremely highly skilled tactician. He made good use of his training in the military and the old-school FBI. Liddy's failing is in his lack of a moral anchor. How this came to be is also recounted in this book. Liddy does not see this as a failing, but rather as his personal freedom from fears which held him back. He stood up to his fears in a methodical fashion and faced them until he conquered them. He finally arrived at a place in his life where the only thing he felt he needed to conquer was God, so he simply stopped believing in him.
From the time that Liddy stopped believing in God, he became his own moral guide, which is to say, he had none. In some ways, this is the story of St. Christopher, in reverse. St. Christopher (whose original name was Reprobus - from which we get the term "reprobate") had one desire - to serve the most powerful man in the world. He kept searching for a higher power, until he finally discovered God and served him, thus becoming the Christ Bearer.
Liddy's desire is much the same, except he was also very interested in serving Liddy. He did not discover the power of God, because he could neither contain nor control it, and therefore, chose to deny it. In Liddy's world, the only thing to be served is power, and there is no question of right and wrong. If Hitler had men with Liddy's intelligence and single-mindedness and drive, he might not have lost the war.
While G. Gordon Liddy may have some good, and even admirable, qualities, without the moral base, his is not a life to be imitated. He went to prison because he deserved to. He saved others from going to prison who probably deserved to. He did not really learn from that experience, however, because he never developed a proper understanding of right and wrong.
While no one can afford to make an enemy of a man like G. Gordon Liddy, it is a dangerous thing to have a man like him as a friend.
All-in-all, it is better to have a moral base and moral compass than amoral power.”
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