Slow Burn

This review is based on Episode 1 which deals with Martha Mitchell. You may think you know who she was and what she did, but if you're like me, you're going to be surprised. They've done a lot of research and dug up a lot of footage, so the whole story is quite unlike anything I thought I knew. Production values could be better, which is the only reason it doesn't get a 10.

I consider myself a Watergate aficionado if there is such a thing. I lived through it all and in retrospect, instead of a grave threat to our constitutional form of government, it was more akin to the Keystone Cops. The series pays way and I mean way too much attention to Martha Mitchell, an almost comedic drunken nut case who happened to gold dig her way into marrying John Mitchell, a decent fellow with a weakness for women and liquid vices. Then there is Mabe, an aging California hippie, who had a political show on public radio and is convinced that Nixon caused E. Howard Hunt's wife's United Airlines flight to crash and kill her so she would not talk. Tin foil hat kind of stuff. On the flip side, a lot of good info on Liddy, Roger Stone, and John Dean. Maybe they should do another series on the way real professionals handled black bag corruption and chicanery: They could call it JFK And The 1960 Election, starring none other than Joseph P Kennedy as the Sevengali who orchestrated it all.

This was tedious from the start. Why in the world do we have aging cheerleaders on screen? Unwatchable.

After watching Slow Burn I realize I knew very little about Watergate! This show has been an exciting education in not only Watergate but politics as well. Unfortunately I'm seeing a lot of Nixon in Trump. This is a must see!

Enjoying this doc, but it completely glosses over, I mean withholds completely, some key historical truths: the u.s. under the Kennedy administration attempted to assassinate Castro several times; Castro was leading a revolution against u.s. imperialism; Cuba under u.s. influence was a playground for the rich ruling elite, at the expense of the Cuban people; the u.s. has interfered in foreign elections, thwarting democracy, many times up to this present time; Castro was not leading during peace time but fighting for the very lives of the Cuban workers; McGovern had support because of his courageous anti-war stance, and that was different from any other candidates for primaries; the u.s. violence against Vietnam escalated under Nixon, and was abominable; and I'm on episode 3 and have yet to see Kissinger, architect of dastardly u.s. war crimes, mentioned. Also re: Mrs. Mitchell, I doubt most people thought being a "southern belle" was "cool" during the black revolution of the 1960's, which was crushed by u.s./ CIA. I mean, gross. But there are great features in this doc that make it otherwise worthwhile.