Nixon, the Universal Racist

Published in El Pais
(Spain) on 22 December 2010
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Jim Rudolf. Edited by Gheanna Emelia.
Among the politicians of the twentieth century — who for the so-called justification of creating a state were strong supporters of the cause of Zionism — there were, curiously, great anti-Semites. That was the case with British Foreign Secretary A.J. Balfour, who in 1917 conceived the declaration that bears his name, thus laying the foundation for the future state of Israel.

In the case of U.S. President Richard Milhous Nixon (1968-1974), we already knew of the revelations of the Watergate scandal, with its less than complementary opinions of Jews. But with the publication of 265 hours of recordings of private conversations, recorded months before having to leave office as a felon, the anecdote becomes more like an encyclopedia, at a time when he was extending his fundamental racism around the world. "The Italians [...] don't have their heads screwed on tight." "Virtually every Irish I've known gets mean when he drinks." And regarding when blacks will be useful to the country, "...you're talking in terms of 500 years." This was because "all people have certain traits," which he, as perceptive as he was, read like no one else.

But he saves his harshest comments for Jews, whom he valiantly supported as citizens of Israel against the Arab world. In particular, American Jews are "aggressive and abrasive and obnoxious" [1]. He accused them of being numerous among the deserters who refused to go to war in Vietnam. And when Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir asked him to press Moscow to allow Soviet Jews to emigrate, he said, but always in private, to his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger — also a Jew and of whom he often spoke poorly — that if the Russians send their Jews to the gas chambers, "...it is not an American concern" [2]. Mentioning gas chambers was, however, a presidential metaphor, since such a thing never existed in the Soviet Union.

The revelation of the tapes — there are 400 hours more to be released — is a modest WikiLeaks that is a contribution in its own way, when Nixon remains just a bad memory, to pierce the veil of secrecy with which the greats of the world display a much different face in private than the charitable grace with which they like to appear before the public.

Translator's Notes:

A number of quotes in the El País article do not agree with corresponding English quotes from articles on the Nixon tapes in the Washington Post and the New York Times. The quotes have been modified to correspond with the originals.

[1] President Nixon's statement in English implies that he is referring to all Jews, and not just American Jews.

[2] This statement was made by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.


Nixon, el racista universal

Entre los políticos del siglo XX que, por la llamada razón de Estado, más apoyaron la causa del sionismo, ha habido curiosamente grandes antisemitas. Ese fue el caso de A. J. Balfour, secretario del Foreign Office británico que en 1917 hizo la declaración que lleva su nombre, con la que ponía los cimientos del futuro Estado de Israel.

Del presidente norteamericano Richard Milhous Nixon (1968-1974) ya sabíamos por las revelaciones del escándalo Watergate que tenía opiniones poco edificantes sobre los judíos, pero la publicación de 265 horas de grabaciones de conversaciones privadas, pocos meses antes de que tuviera que dimitir por felón, convierte la anécdota en enciclopedia, al tiempo que extiende su racismo primario al universo mundo. "Los italianos no tienen la cabeza en su sitio"; "cuando beben, los irlandeses son inaguantables"; y los negros de EE UU "tardarán 500 años en ser útiles al país". Y a eso le llamaba "ciertas características de cada pueblo", que él, avispado, interpretaba como nadie.

Pero son los judíos, a los que sostuvo con denuedo como ciudadanos de Israel contra el mundo árabe, los que salen peor parados. En especial, los judíos norteamericanos, que son "agresivos, exigentes e insoportables"; les acusa de ser numerosos entre los desertores que no quisieron ir a la guerra de Vietnam; y cuando la primera ministra israelí Golda Meir le pide que presione a Moscú para que deje emigrar a los judíos soviéticos, le dice, pero siempre en privado, a su secretario de Estado Henry Kissinger -también judío y al que ponía con frecuencia como chupa de dómine- que aunque los rusos llevaran a sus judíos a las cámaras de gas "eso no concernía a la política exterior de Estados Unidos". Lo de las cámaras era, sin embargo, una metáfora presidencial, puesto que en la Unión Soviética nunca existió tal cosa.

La revelación de las cintas -aún quedan 400 horas por dar a conocer- es un modesto Wikileaks que a su manera contribuye, cuando Nixon ya es apenas un malsano recuerdo, a traspasar el velo de secreto con el que los grandes del planeta muestran en la intimidad una cara muy diferente de la benéfica beatitud con la que gustan comparecer ante la opinión.
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