[gracchi meme] earliest political memories

Via Tiberius Gracchus, originally from Nich Starling or the Thunderdragon, not sure who. Thanks for nothing, lads:

Not coming clean on this one because it will give away my age, which I assure you is between 23 and 73. So have to think of a political memory.

Better not mention the Night of the Long Knives, the Cuban Missile Crisis or Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood Speech, nor the Jubelo, Jubela, and Jubelum re-run on the Triple Underpass at Dealey Plaza, nor even my birthyear Margaret Brighton Bombing - so perhaps Watergate. I made that a major study at one time but it didn't do any good because I never picked Mark Felt, even though all the evidence pointed that way.

So, apart from Mark Felt Lovelace, the one who always intrigued me was the arch hp-hp-hp military nutter G. Gordon Liddy. There was a possibly apocryphal story [surprisingly not denied over here] that Liddy was once talking to his opposite number among the Russkies [or was it the Chinese?] and it was a vital meeting in that both sides were trying to show how hard they were.

Liddy lit a candle or a cigarette lighter, whatever and proceeded to hold his hand over the flame, letting the flesh burn. The Russkie is supposed to have gone away convinced that the Americans were total nutters. Thanks, Gordon.

I lived through the Winter of Discontent of 1979 and clearly remember Stand Down Margaret in 1990 and was over in Australia earlier for the Coup d'Etat in 1975. These were all pretty interesting.

Watergate tools of the trade

I hereby tag Mutley the Dog, Ordovicius, Pub Philosopher, Stan and Steve Green. If any of these have already been tagged, consider yourselves double-tagged, chaps.