Monday, April 29, 2024

'White House Plumbers' review: A laugh-out-loud spin on the Watergate break-in : NPR

the white house plumbers

We’ve even seen it through the eyes of two teenage girls (the underappreciated 1999 comedy “Dick”). The ultimate political scandal has been an ever-flowing fount of pop culture practically since the moment resigned president Richard Nixon flashed double peace signs and boarded his helicopter out of Washington. HBO's White House Plumbers opens with a disclaimer for where it stands on fact vs. fiction. The five-episode limited series about Watergate, described as "based on a true story" in its opening, doesn't change names to protect the innocent because, as the disclaimer states, "nearly everyone was found guilty." Dismissed by the White House press secretary as a “third-rate burglary,” the break-in set off a chain of events that ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon in August 1974. Ever since, the “gate” suffix has been shorthand for scandal, and Watergate has provided fodder for movies, books, podcasts, commentaries and television.

On the ways Watergate speaks to today's political moment

Proving that fact is sometimes stranger than fiction, White House Plumbers sheds light on the lesser-known series of events that led to one of the greatest political scandals in American history. Liddy’s notorious plot to spy on the Democratic National Committee, which led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation in August 1974, is satirically featured in the new HBO limited series White House Plumbers. Justin Theroux stars as Liddy, and Woody Harrelson plays his co-conspirator E. The real life Liddy and Hunt were part of a special White House unit, informally known as the Plumbers, whose job was to prevent or respond to leaks of classified information.

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The 'White House Plumbers' Team on Making a 'Buddy Tragedy' - Vulture

The 'White House Plumbers' Team on Making a 'Buddy Tragedy'.

Posted: Mon, 08 May 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. More than two dozen journalists in Gaza wrote a letter last week calling on their colleagues in Washington to boycott the dinner altogether. Ralliers cried “Free, free Palestine.” They cheered when at one point someone inside the Washington Hilton — where the dinner has been held for decades — unfurled a Palestinian flag from a top-floor hotel window. "I slept really good, it was actually kind of easy today. Something as simple as that can make a lot of difference," Reece said. "Not being afraid to ask some of the difficult questions. We know that that does not increase or worsen the risk for suicide. It actually can save a life."

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“I don’t believe there was a man there who understood one word of what I sang. G. Gordon Liddy served 52 months in prison for his role in organizing the break-ins at the center of the Watergate scandal in May and June 1972. But instead of dooming the former FBI agent turned political operative to obscurity, the misconduct only seemed to boost Liddy’s star power in the decades that followed. Its attempts to be a jack of all trades sometimes make it a master of none.

Television

Later, on the outs with Nixon's Attorney General John Mitchell, Hunt and Liddy get a chance to redeem themselves. Start from the beginning of the series and watch the first episode of White House Plumbers for free. Watergate masterminds and President Richard Nixon's political operatives E.

Each time a journalist dies or is injured, we lose a fragment of that truth,” CPJ Program Director Carlos Martínez de la Serna said in a statement. Protest organizers said they wanted to bring attention to the high numbers of Palestinian and other Arab journalists killed by Israel’s military since the war began in October. Chants accused U.S. journalists of undercovering the war and misrepresenting it. “Western media we see you, and all the horrors that you hide,” crowds chanted at one point.

the white house plumbers the white house plumbers

Theroux and Mandel spoke to Morning Edition about what drew them to the series and how characters like Liddy paved the way for today's right-wing extremism. LOS ANGELES — On June 17, 1972, five men were arrested while breaking into the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate office building in Washington, D.C. A new HBO “slapstick tragedy” mostly avoids the Oval Office in favor of the men who actually executed the infamous burglary that brought down a president.

They have the wrong tools (“the right tools are in Miami”). The bugs they leave behind turn out to be inoperable. Liddy calls black ops “black bag”, to the hilarity of the CIA stalwarts he is dealing with. Liddy is not a man who enjoys being laughed at, although the schemes he tries to pitch to Dean are frequently absurd.

'White House Plumbers' Recap: Episode 3 - Vulture

'White House Plumbers' Recap: Episode 3.

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One organizer complained that the White House Correspondents’ Association — which represents the hundreds of journalists who cover the president — largely has been silent since the first weeks of the war about the killings of Palestinian journalists. WHCA did not respond to request for comment. With hundreds of protesters rallying against the war in Gaza outside the event and concerns over the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the perils for journalists covering the conflict, the war hung over this year’s event. Reece says even simple questions, like someone asking her how she slept, gives her an opportunity to connect about mental health.

Officer played by Woody Harrelson, and G. Gordon Liddy, the lawyer and former F.B.I. agent played by Justin Theroux. Hunt and Liddy are well-known to historians and Watergate buffs, but they are — compared to a Dean, Haldeman or Mitchell — secondary players in a scandal that toppled a presidency and whose particulars have faded from the popular memory over five decades. The dialogue is rich throughout White House Plumbers, and so are the performances and characters. Harrelson is wonderful — exploding like Ralph Kramden one minute, simmering like Macbeth the next — and the supporting cast is a very deep bench, serving up unexpected treasures every episode.

In the premiere episode, Liddy and Hunt, along with their hired hands, can't get past the locked door they thought would be open. So they break a window, causing more of a scene than they intended. In the same scene where Dorothy's CIA background is discussed, Liddy casually and curiously blares a vinyl record of Hitler's speeches, much to the chagrin of the Hunts who are over for a dinner party. He speaks excitedly about Hitler's views on art as propaganda, having clearly listened to the Fuhrer's words on more than one occasion. A character that perplexed many in Washington, Liddy was said to hold his hand over a candle to demonstrate that he could withstand pain upon meeting new people or confronting those he wanted to intimidate.

In reality, CNN presidential historian Tim Naftali says the first attempt was the one without the right tools. The second failed because they didn't know where Democratic National Convention chairman Larry O'Brien's office was located in the building and bugged an empty conference. A full picture of the series' version of the attempts will play out in upcoming episodes. The series, from Veep director David Mandel, is dealing with a moment in American history so ridiculous, it doesn't have to be fictionalized. Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux play E. Gordon Liddy, respectively, the bumbling and braggadocious conspirators that led the break-in of the Watergate building to secure Richard Nixon a second term in 1972.

The pace is meandering, which is odd, considering there is so much happening, and it doesn’t pick up steam until well into episode two; Watergate non-aficionados may not make it that far. Theroux turns the volume up to 11 as Liddy, while Harrelson has more depth to find, with a more rounded backstory of family strife and money troubles. There are nods to current populist rhetoric, particularly in some of Liddy and Hunt’s more provocative statements. “It’s just you and me against the entire radical left. “Do not lecture me on patriotism, friend.

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