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Mass Anger Ousts Nixon: Kicked Out

By VVAW

Nixon's gone--kicked out of office. The man who replaced American troops with American tax dollars in Vietnam, who lied about "peace with honor" (which is neither "honorable" nor "peaceful") has been forced into retirement behind the stonewalls of his tax financed California fortress. Nixon was an enemy of the people. We should celebrate his departure.

Nixon was ousted for 2 reasons: the first being that there was mass pressure for him to get out of office in the form of the anger and struggle of the people of this country; and the second, because the people who run this country--the huge corporate business interests--saw the growing unity among the American people, and saw that Nixon could no longer serve in the best interests of business.

The crisis facing imperialism today is real. Imperialism works for one motive: profit and power. It uses whatever forms of exploitation will make profit and power the greatest. But around the world people are saying no. Countries like Vietnam are fighting for liberation so that their raw materials and labor power can be used for the good of the people of their country, not for the profit of a foreign investor. In the US, workers are refusing to be exploited further and demanding their rights; there are strikes ever everywhere. In short, profits are getting hard to come by--that is the crisis of imperialism.

It's like a pack of wolves, all hungry, but with only one bone among them. If there are few wolves the bone provides better pickings. It works just the same way with the corporate powers; so they're turning on each other. There are splits between the various factions, which are only natural when imperialism decays and profits lessen. The wolves have to feed on each other.

These splits showed up clearly during the impeachment proceedings. All the articles of impeachment were aimed at Nixon's crimes against his cronies, never at his crimes against the American people or the people of the world. Was there an impeachment article about the vicious cutbacks of funds for welfare programs? For not paying taxes? Was there an article about the criminal bombing of the civilian population of North Vietnam? Or Cambodia? Of course not.

But Nixon's crimes against the people who collaborated with him in running this country were all laid out. Watergate and the coverer--a crime against the Democratic party. Refusal to honor subpoenas from various government bodies--a crime against the privileged group. Even the debate over the illegal bombing of Cambodia did not center on the crimes against the Cambodian people, but on the fact that this bombing was kept secret from other members of the US government. Nixon's obvious contempt for the people of this country, proved time and time again by his Watergate speeches (how dumb does he think we are, anyhow?) was never mentioned.

The corporate owners of the country are used to the kind of in-fighting which goes on in and around the White House and the halls of Congress. Only when the people began to surge forward did they feel it necessary to take action against Nixon and his gang. Unity among the people was on the rise; people were seeing that the government did not act in the interests of the majority of the people. Unity among the people, in opposition to a government of big business, is a real threat. So Nixon was ousted. There could not be a trial of Nixon on the basis of his crimes against the people, because big business, the military, and Congress were all partners in those crimes.

Just what does Nixon's resignation mean? Despite pious pronouncements of the new president, it doesn't mean that inflation is over. Life isn't going to get better for the millions of unemployed, or poor, or working people. A change in faces in the White House can't make theses changes happen, particularly when one of these "new faces" belongs to Nelson Rockefeller whose family has been historically one of the most vicious enemies of the American workers.

It does not mean, as many commentators have put forth, that "the system works." It works great for the 1% who, like Rockefeller, own the major corporations and all of the foreign and domestic capital stock in the country, but getting rid of one crook doesn't make the system work in the interests of the people of the country.

It does not mean that the people around the world who are victims of American imperialism will have it any better. Billions of dollars will still pour into the corrupt structures which dictators such as Pak Jung Hee in South Korea, of Thieu in South Vietnam or Lon Nol in Cambodia use to prop up their shaky regimes. American business interests in those places and elsewhere around the world will continue to work for their own profits, and exploitation of the world's people by the Rockefeller's of this country will continue.

For those who had any doubt about the replacement of Nixon means, look at the nomination of Nelson Rockefeller. The family which has for years exploited the world's people and resources, and murdered workers here at home now has its favorite son as vice-president nominee. Rockefeller-owned interests, such as the Chase Manhattan Bank, or Standard Oil have now made their connection with the US government blatantly obvious. The nominee who personally ordered the massacre at Attica makes clear the fact that there will be no change in the government.

What Nixon's resignation does mean is that the people of this country have a real power when we unite. That Nixon was forced out of office shows that the country's real rulers and owners are scared of growing unity. That they felt it necessary to try to co-opt the growing movement for universal unconditional amnesty again demonstrates that they feel threatened. The expanding peoples movement will keep on growing and unifying; the threat to the new faces in Washington will be even greater than the threat which finally Kicked Nixon Out!

UNITY-STRUGGLE-VICTORY