Today in Supreme Court History: August 9, 1974

8/9/1974: President Richard Nixon resigns from office, President Gerald Ford takes oath of office.

Comments

[Dan Schiavetta]

"the name 'Nixon' will give off a funny smell for the next 300 years . . . no President of the United States has ever been so vulnerable to criminal prosecution, so menaced by the threat of indictment and trial, crouched in the dock of a federal courtroom, and so obviously headed for prison that only the sudden grant of a pardon from the man he appointed to succeed him could prevent his final humiliation."

Hunter S. Thompson

[Darth Chocolate]

Not to mention that bastard created untold destruction by starting the EPA

[Sarcastr0]

Don't be silly. There are lots of examples now and in the past around the world of needlessly unregulated pollution causing trouble to both humans and the environment.

You can argue the wisdom of some decisions (but honestly the countervailing science there is generally agenda-driven nonsense on the level of the smoking lobby). But you seem to think there's no more to life than GDP growth.

[Moderation4ever]

Good points. The fact that many people ignore is that the regulations would be here even if the EPA had not been formed. The responsibility likely would have been assigned to another agency, maybe Interior, who would likely have created similar rules. Air quality and water quality are much improved and that is the result of regulation. There is no reason to think it would not have happened without some government action.

[Darth Chocolate]

How many lives have been ruined by banning DDT to kill mosquitos?

How about the overreach in defining CO2 as a pollutant?

It's ridiculous on it's face. But there were good intentions.

And we all know the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

[Sarcastr0]

How many comments have been ruined by confirmation bias and breezy counterfactuals?

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

All of yours, for starters.

[Krychek_2]

Dude, I'm old enough to remember when there was no EPA. You could barely breathe in some of the cities. Buildings were covered in soot. Lakes were unswimmable.

I don't agree with every decision the EPA has made, but it's pure nonsense that it's made our lives worse.

[Dan Schiavetta]

"And we all know the road to hell is paved with good intentions."

And the road that's paved with bad intentions -- where does that lead to exactly?

[Á àß äẞç ãþÇđ âÞ¢Đæ ǎB€Ðëf ảhf]

Socialism.

[David Nieporent]

Utica.

[apedad]

". . . untold destruction by starting the EPA."

As opposed to the told destruction prior to the EPA?

[Jimmy the Dane]

I've never really given much credence to the "high fructose corn syrup" justification to why people just look plain unhealthy these days (although I do avoid refined sugars myself largely), but I can't help but notice that people in the 60's, 70's, and 80's just look a whole heck of a better than they do today. Always chalked it up to low res images and the scarcity of video/photographs from the era, but maybe there is something to the fact that our modern diet is just all processed garbage.

[Sarcastr0]

Convenience. Food is a lot more convenient now. 3 meals a day are no longer the usual for the middle class.

Also, smoking.

[Jimmy the Dane]

Nicotine does do a semi-decent job of keeping off the weight. Was never much of a smoker, but my friends were as was the fashion up until the 2000's. And, anecdotally I would say all gained around 10-15 pounds when they quit.

Portions are also much larger today. I can go to any chain restaurant and divide any meal into a least two (if not three these days), but some people eat that amount as just part of their daily intake. I really don't know how you can eat a pound of hamburger, a pile of fries, and then get more fires to top it off while still having room....