The moral standards in the United States are truly astonishing.
Once, the Watergate scandal directly led to the resignation of President Nixon at the time.
Now, U.S. Vice President Vance has openly stated that if the Watergate scandal happened today, it would likely only last 12 hours before fading away—hardly enough to bring down a president.
The implications of this statement are enormous.
He isn’t saying the Watergate scandal wasn’t serious; rather, he’s highlighting that in today’s America, political scandals of such magnitude have become so commonplace that they no longer shock anyone.
In other words, it's not that presidents are cleaner now—but that the public’s moral threshold has been lowered.
In the past, lying, covering up facts, and interfering with investigations by a president were events capable of shaking the entire nation.
But what about now?
Legal battles, hush money, and political controversies keep unfolding one after another. The media debates for a few days, the attention fades, and life goes on as usual.
The most terrifying thing is not the scandals themselves—but that when scandals pile up over time, they eventually become routine.
If a society continuously dilutes its most basic political responsibilities, tolerating lies today, it may soon accept abuse of power tomorrow, and eventually come to regard law-breaking as trivial.
Vance’s remarks, rather than serving as an attempt to rehabilitate Nixon, inadvertently expose the most awkward reality of American politics.
In the past, the U.S. always proudly proclaimed “democracy,” “rule of law,” and “values” on every occasion.
Now, even they admit: under current circumstances, the Watergate scandal might not survive even half a day.
Has the presidency improved? Or has society become increasingly tolerant of political figures?
The answer, perhaps, is already written right in Vance’s words.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1869223093451978/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.