Only then, once it was painfully obvious that Nixon was likely guilty of felony obstruction of justice, did the bottom finally drop out of his support from fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate, which rendered his hold on the White House untenable. That's what prompted Sen. Goldwater's visit a few days before the president's resignation.

The national fury over Watergate built to its crescendo due to the scandal itself, and was not driven by concurrent economic considerations of the times. In fact, public opinion had already turned irreparably against Nixon by the summer of 1973, only months after he took the oath of office for the second time, when the Senate's Select Committee convened under Chairman Sam Ervin to investigate the affair.

From a public standpoint, Nixon's political fate was likely sealed once he set in motion the infamous events of October 20, 1973, now known as the "Saturday Night Massacre," coming as it did on the immediate heels of Vice President Spiro Agnew's resignation and no contest plea on unrelated public corruption charges only ten days prior.

The ensuing nationwide public outcry resulting from the principled resignation of Attorney General Elliot Richardson, and subsequent firings of Dep. AG William Ruckelshaus and Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, made impeachment proceedings in the House all but inevitable.

It just took some Senate Republicans like Barry Goldwater longer than most to reach the conclusion that President Nixon absolutely had to go. It was the revelation of the "smoking gun" tape in late July 1974, leaving no doubt that the president had in fact been actively and deeply engaged in a criminal conspiracy from its very beginning, which finally pushed Goldwater, et al., over the edge.

Now, if that tantalizing comment doesn't entice Chancellor Hailstone, Field Marshal Gallstone and Propaganda Minister Pebble to arise from the right-wing netherworld to defend their turf, nothing will. It's just too irresistible to pass up.

Remember Jim, the "left" was neutered in the last election, right now we are for the most part standing on the sidelines with our passionate but relatively powerless Resistance.

Look, Jim, whether you like it or not, it's painfully obvious that these allegations regarding the Trump campaign's possible collusion with the Russians are not going away any time soon.

Rather, the scandal has instead increased in both size and scope, to the point where it's consumed a national security advisor and compromised the Attorney General. This is indeed very serious. There is an awful lot of smoke billowing about, all of which very strongly hints of a major fire.

And at some point, you and other Republicans will ultimately be judged on whether or not you are capable of putting our country's collective national interests before your own personal political desires.

I very strongly suggest that you seriously think about what you're about to say, before you merely double down again.

The only success the Russians may have had was giving Wikileaks some of the nasty stuff the DNC was saying about minorities and each other.