WI: Colson firebombs the Brookings Institute

We need to a WI revolving around the white collar G. Gordon Liddy, Charlie Colson. Who, BTW, GWB awarded with the PRESIDENTIAL CITIZENS MEDAL. I know, I know, everybody deserves a second chance and he turned around (depending on your definition) in prison, but still...


Basically Colson wanted to firebomb the Brookings Institute and steal papers while the fires raged on. I don't think Haldeman and Company would approve of this, but Colson wasn't the type of guy who "checked in" with him, so its entirely plausible he'll just go along with it anyway. I will quote usertron2020:

"The "firebombing" of the Brookings Institute was a fever dream of Chuck Colson's, meant solely as a means to effect a burglary. Lucky for Nixon the man Colson tapped for the job was an ex-cop who knew full well how insane the idea was (sneak in by following the fire-fighters!?), and called John Dean to plead that Dean pull the plug, which he did. The level of security at the Brookings Institute was perfect, and IRL you don't get to find Hollywood-like holes in security involving guard dogs, TV cameras, barbed wire fences, alarms, and regular foot patrols. Not without people on the inside, which the Nixonites could never hope to get in a liberal bastion like Brookings."

Let's say they picked someone who wasn't an ex-cop and somehow manage to do this against all the odds. Maybe Colson finds a plane or something and gets Liddy to drop some bombs or crash it in there... What happens?

EDIT:

This might be flirting with ASB because

a) The security of the Brookings Institution and the incompetence of the plan.

b) If ANYBODY in the administration other than perhaps Liddy and friends finds out about this, they will immediately try to squash it. Chaz is going to have to avoid getting murdered by HR Haldeman in particular.

But, that being said, it's not fully ASB, so...

This would make Watergate look like a kitten fight.

sciscisciortino said:

This would make Watergate look like a kitten fight.

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Will Nixon be going down over this? I don't think he was even aware of the firebombing incident being proposed, but this will hurt him. "Good evening my fellow Americans. My Special Counsel was insane and had hidden it from me..."

There will be an uproar. Assuming that it's discovered.

Shameless bump.

Absolutely he would go down over this. Distancing from it isn't going to work if your hatchetmen are loose cannons.

May convince him to throw his people under the bus at least.

Where did you find that Colson wanted to firebomb the Brookings Institute?

Realpolitik said:

Will Nixon be going down over this? I don't think he was even aware of the firebombing incident being proposed, but this will hurt him. "Good evening my fellow Americans. My Special Counsel was insane and had hidden it from me..."

There will be an uproar. Assuming that it's discovered.

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I'm not sure Gerry Ford could get away with pardoning him if the list of charges includes one of his staffers committing politically-motivated arson.

Given how incredibly unlikely it would be for something like that to work what do you think would be the fallout of Colson attempting to firebomb the Brookings Institute, managing to actually get the bomb off, but then gets busted by security while attempting to steal documents?

If he does this, Satan could run against Richard Nixon in 1972 (assuming the Institute firebombing occurred before the presidential election) and win.

This makes Watergate look like a schoolyard brawl.

Unknown said:

If he does this, Satan could run against Richard Nixon in 1972 (assuming the Institute firebombing occurred before the presidential election) and win.

This makes Watergate look like a schoolyard brawl.

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Yeah, when was this? This could be an *excellent* scenario for a McGovern win, albeit while hugely inflaming political tensions in the country.

Edit: 1971? Oh god.

I mean if it happens/gets out that early the firestorm is going to be absolutely colossal. How is the RNC going to react? How fast are the resignations and impeachment going to roll? No matter how divided the Democrats are they're going to win big time here.

Back in the day, Colson was a real fruitcake and I am sure Nixon would obviously fire him or throw him to the lions. In fact, when first hearing of the Watergate break-in, Haldeman for a moment thought Colson was one of the burglars!

Back in the day, Colson was a real fruitcake and I am sure Nixon would obviously fire him or throw him to the lions. In fact, when first hearing of the Watergate break-in, Haldeman for a moment thought Colson was one of the burglars!

arrowiv said:

Back in the day, Colson was a real fruitcake and I am sure Nixon would obviously fire him or throw him to the lions. In fact, when first hearing of the Watergate break-in, Haldeman for a moment thought Colson was one of the burglars!

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Haldeman hated Colson, and it was partially thanks to this hatred that Chaz was gone in 1973. Nixon, as I've mentioned before, often gave really crazy orders or said hair-rasing stuff when mad that the staff knew to ignore and shake off (and Haldeman was responsible for deflecting a lot of them or clarifying if Nixon was serious, and explaining the weird system to the newbies), and that Nixon himself expected them to ignore. It was purely a product of frustration. The rule of thumb generally was, according to Kissinger, the frequency and insistence were inversely proportional to how serious Nixon was. Awareness of this is one of the reasons, I suspect, why he kept his face to face interactions to a very small circle normally, to people who were smart enough to know the difference. Things took a turn for the worse when Chaz came along and got Nixon's trust by appealing to the dark side as much as possible("When I say something, Colson gets it done"), who wasn't bright enough to figure that out or just didn't care. He would go in and get "the Old Man" mad intentionally(bringing up stuff he knew would get him ranting, and egging him on), and then carry out whatever order was issued without checking in with Haldeman or waiting for Nixon to calm down and retract said crazy order. Haldeman couldn't control him all the time.

And actually, Nixon DID think that it was a Colson job gone wrong. "The German Mafia" blamed Colson for Watergate.

LHB said:

I'm not sure Gerry Ford could get away with pardoning him if the list of charges includes one of his staffers committing politically-motivated arson.

Given how incredibly unlikely it would be for something like that to work what do you think would be the fallout of Colson attempting to firebomb the Brookings Institute, managing to actually get the bomb off, but then gets busted by security while attempting to steal documents?

Click to expand...

This was before Watergate and Agnew's problems, first off. So, replace Gerry Ford with Spiro Agnew. That alone makes Nixon's impeachment less likely.

Colson himself wouldn't do it, he'd get someone like Liddy to. Can you imagine, if you've seen a picture of Colson, with his voice(so unburglarlike when he described the horrid things he is about to do), him in a burglars mask sneaking... I'm sorry, but I'm bursting into laughter here. However, if LIddy gets caught, it's only a matter of time before its tracked backed to Colson.

The paradox of this is that there would be a scandal and uproar that makes Watergate look quaint, but there is no legal basis to take Nixon or most of his men down if he just throws Colson to the wolves, because this was Colson's crackpot idea, and in order to do it, he'd need to ignore Haldeman and Company. And my guess is since Colson did something this stupid, Nixon would not be in the mood for covering for him. Haldeman and Dean-who stopped this whole crazy business-would not support a coverup anyway, and wouldn't suggest one. Given the massive dislike for Colson spanning much of Nixon's other men, they'd probably suggest the opposite, and Nixon would go for it, no matter whatever soft spot he might have for Chaz. Nixon hated having his foreign policy disrupted, and this was right when he was going to unveil China, as well as the new economic plan.

Bumppity bumppity bump.

When I read the title I thought 'What has S.H.I.E.L.D. got against the Brookings Institue?...'

Nixon has to cover this even more than Watergate IOTL. If he doesn't cover it up then '72 will be a landslide but in the other direction.

It might go something like this:

Nixon: So, that [expletive]er Colson did what?
Haldeman: He had Liddy try to set fire to the Brookings Institute.
Nixon: And why would he do a [expletive] thing like that?
Haldeman: He did it on his own, sir.
Nixon: [What he says is full of expletives]

Bumping this, cuz it's interesting.

Assuming this crackpot scheme happened somehow and the Institute goes up in smoke, and Nixon throws his hatchetmen to the lions and there's no real basis to impeach him...how is the rest of the party going to react? Could Ashbrook and McCloskey get stronger bids?

How's the DNC going to react? This can easily turn attention away from Vietnam and "come home America"...

What will '72 look like?

Could Agnew wind up getting kicked earlier as the entire administration winds up roasting on a grill/under a media and legal microscope?

McGovern carries Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Washington DC, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota and Oregon.