Pretty stark when you put it so succinctly, isn’t it?
When Nixon’s impeachment came up for a committee vote, one Republican supported all 3 articles. That one Republican was Larry Hogan. While in law school, he’d been an FBI agent. Here’s what he said about Nixon with tears in his eyes, and to me it has been unforgettable:
The fact is, and the thing that’s so appalling to me is that the President, when this whole idea was suggested to him, didn’t, in righteous indignation, rise up and say,
Get out of here, you’re in the office of the President of the United States. How can you talk about blackmail and bribery and keeping witnesses silent? This is the Presidency of the United States!
and throw them out of his office and pick up the phone and call the Department of Justice and tell them, there’s an obstruction of justice going on, someone’s trying to buy the silence of a witness. [Here Larry pauses.] But my President didn’t do that. [Here his voice breaks.] He sat there and he worked and worked to try to cover this thing up so it wouldn’t come to light. He didn’t have to [find out] because he already knew, and he consistently tried to cover up the evidence and obstruct justice. And as much as it pains me to say it, he should be impeached and removed from office.
Larry was from Boston. I disagreed with him on many things; he was a conservative who had steadfastly supported Nixon. But he died just last year. All who knew him miss him dearly.
[Most of the above is re-posted from elsewhere.]