This article focuses on Peter Rodino one of the most respected members of the Italian American Community, from within and without. Rodino is most remembered for his stellar Chairmanship of the House Committee investigating Watergate leading to Pres. Nixon's Impeachment.

That leads me to take a comment on Presidential Impeachments, before we get to the more important topic of Peter Rodino.

Nixon was Impeached because he lied about his knowledge of a "Dirty Tricks" Burglary Squad to install a "bug" in Democratic Headquarters. But Nixon was only impeached, because Recordings were discovered to contradict statements he made in Public, but Not under Oath, or in a Judicial proceeding.

Clinton wasn't Impeached regarding WhiteWater, for lying under oath to a legislative Committee, because Susan McDougall "stonewalled" for him (spent 2 years in jail, because she wouldn't testify to the truth). Clinton was narrowly not Impeached for lying in a Judicial proceeding regarding Paula Jones about Monica Lewinsky.

One can have honest differences as to whether Justice was done in either case.

But what about BIG LIES, that takes the US into WAR,
with all the Lack of Morality, the Incredible Suffering, and Wasting of Resources.

Like Lyndon Johnson fabricating the Gulf of Tonkin "incident" that took us into the Viet Nam War, OR George W. Bush fabricating WMD, and Iraq-Al Queda Alliance, that took us into the Iraq quagmire.

So much Big concern about Little Lies, and so Little concern about Big Lies.????

The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy did so well with Nixon, why is it fumbling so badly with Bush?

Thanks to Bert Vorchheimer

A NEMESIS OF NIXON TAKES A LOOK BACK

Watergate hearings and watershed legislation defined Peter Rodino's 40 years in the House.

The Philadelphia Inquirer
By Donna De La Cruz
Associated Press
Mon, Jun. 28, 2004

WEST ORANGE, N.J. - Tucked away on a shelf in Peter Rodino's living room are two yellowing booklets on the impeachment hearings of Richard Nixon.

"Every once in a while I go through them," said Rodino, who was chairman of the House Judiciary Committee when it investigated the Watergate scandal.

He doesn't have to. As the 30th anniversary of Nixon's resignation of the presidency approaches, the 95-year-old West Orange resident can recall verbatim the events of that time.

"People today just don't know what happened, and they should," said
Rodino, a Democrat who represented New Jersey in the House for 40 years.

Although Rodino said being Judiciary Committee chairman during that time was what he would be remembered for, he considers his work on civil rights and immigration his legacy in Congress. Today, some of the bills he sponsored in those areas are hailed as landmark pieces of legislation.

In a wide-ranging interview at his home, Rodino reflected on his accomplishments in his trademark humble and humorous manner. He did imitations of Yogi Berra and the late Tip O'Neill, the former House speaker, and said he had come close to going to Hollywood to work as a songwriter.

Instead, the boy who grew up in Newark in a heavily Italian American neighborhood chose politics and was elected in 1948 to represent his old stomping grounds. He became chairman of the Judiciary Committee in 1973, just months before Watergate rocked the nation.

Rodino said that before the investigation, he had hoped that Nixon was innocent.

"I did not want to be the one who was going to undo the presidency," he said. "I knew that this was going to be a tremendously difficult, if not overwhelming, kind of operation. And I looked at the presidency as something to be respected."

Rodino recalled July 27, 1974, after the committee had voted on the three articles of impeachment. Reporters and others swarmed him for comment, but he brushed them aside and went into a room to call his wife, Marianna.

"I called her and said, 'Ann, I guess you saw, you heard.' And I couldn't finish. I just burst into tears. I went hoarse, and that was it."

U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D., Md.), a young member of the House Judiciary Committee at the time, called Rodino a "marvelous person."

"He came through with such strength and distinction for the country at a critical time," Sarbanes said. "He exercised extraordinary leadership throughout the whole impeachment proceedings."

Rodino said he had seen Nixon only one more time after the Aug. 8, 1974, resignation. It was shortly after Watergate, and Rodino was flying from Newark to Washington and was told that the seat usually reserved for him was not available.

"I was putting my stuff in the bin, and I saw someone come in, and I recognized the back of his head, and it was Nixon," Rodino recalled. "I thought, 'My God, he's taken my seat!' And I said to someone later that I guess he wanted to take revenge by taking my seat, since I had taken his."

While Rodino is well-known for his role in the Watergate hearings, few people know that in 1954, he was instrumental in shepherding through the House a bill that would add the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance. Rodino was one of the bill's cosponsors.

This month, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower court's decision that the religious reference made the pledge unconstitutional in public schools. But the high court made its decision on technical grounds, ruling that the man who had brought the case on behalf of his 10-year-old daughter could not legally represent her because he did not have full custody of her. The outcome does not prevent a future court challenge over the same issue.

Although the justices sidestepped the issue, Rodino said, they did uphold the constitutionality of the pledge.

"The question is going to be whether or not the Supreme Court will decide to uproot what is firmly embedded in the minds of most Americans," he said.

Rodino said he was always against legalizing prayer in schools, because it would violate the Constitution's establishment clause. But he said he still supported adding the words "under God" to pledge.

"In that time, we were a nation who was vying with a nation like Russia, which was referred to as anti-God, a godless communism," he said. "There was a huge human cry on the part of many who felt that invoking in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag a concept that had been in the mind of so many."

Rodino has his fingerprints on other major pieces of legislation, including the Simpson-Rodino Bill, which granted amnesty to millions of illegal aliens when President Ronald Reagan signed it 1986.

Rodino said he had pushed for the bill because many of his constituents were hardworking immigrants who wanted a better life here.

Most were Hispanic, and "they would show up at the immigration office and say, 'We want to be Los Rodinos,' " he said. "There's plenty of Los Rodinos around because of that bill."

Rodino said he was also proud of his work on civil rights, having helped draft the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal.

"I was a kid born in Newark's Little Italy. I knew what discrimination was all about," said Rodino, still clearly bitter over years of bigotry he endured. "I played a part in civil rights. That is an area that I cherished greatly, and I thank God for the opportunity that I had to serve and to do a little bit of good."

Rodino labored fairly anonymously in the House until Watergate thrust him into the spotlight. In 1976, Jimmy Carter considered him as a vice presidential candidate. Rodino recalled that he had gotten that news from his friend O'Neill (D., Mass.), a House colleague.

Rodino was at a New Jersey restaurant with his wife when his mother-in-law called, saying O'Neill wanted to talk to him. Rodino called O'Neill, who said he had just received a poll that showed that he was the most popular of seven possible vice presidential candidates.

"I told Tippy, 'Look, I have bad eyesight, and I might wind up in the hospital, and I'll be a liability to the party instead,' " Rodino said.

And in his imitation of O'Neill, a blustery figure, Rodino rasped: "And Tippy said to me, 'Pete, goddamn it, eyes or no eyes, you've got to be the vice president!' "

Rodino declined anyway.

Rodino spends much of his time in his beloved New Jersey with his second wife, Joy. His home is devoid of political remembrances. His tabletops and shelves are filled with family pictures.

He is an emeritus professor at Seton Hall Law School, where his papers are archived. And he teaches seminars from time to time. But he does not regret leaving the House in 1989 for the private sector.

"I had served my time and a purpose," he said.

Philadelphia Inquirer | 06/28/2004 | A nemesis of Nixon takes a look back
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