Johnny Cash and Richard Nixon

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Yes, it was on quite a few occasions that Johnny Cash met up with Richard Nixon. The session captured on this tape recording is from July of 1972. The meeting was picked up the the hidden microphone system planted in the White House Oval Office and several other places around the Executive Building. In fact, the same taping system, as you might suspect, that later led Mr. Nixon to leaving office.

The Super8mm footage of Johnny Cash playing comes from the Richard Nixon Library. The footage was all taken by members of the White House staff and later impounded as evidence during Watergate. You can see much more of the footage and the story behind it in the excellent film, Our Nixon.

Inglorious Silly Basterds

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Since I first posted the teaser and press release for The Silly Bastard Next to the Bed, the story has taken a strange turn. While Googling the term "Silly Bastard", I happened across this web page (click for larger image).

web page still
web page still

It seems that the news director from KSFR in Sante Fe station was claiming to be the Silly Bastard of the JFK phone call.

Which was odd, since I'd just interviewed the REAL Silly Bastard, and verified with him (and my own eyes) that it was him in the photo in the Washington Post.

Interestingly enough, KSFR added that image to the article only a couple of weeks after I called them out on Twitter. If you click on the article thumbnail on their web page, you'll see that it's just blurry enough so that you can't read any of the details, or even figure out where the paper it was clipped from was published.

That's ok. We figured it out.

Click on the image to the left there to read the whole article from The Lowell Sun of July 25, 1963.

It's kind of interesting how the actual "Silly Bastard" didn't know about the controversy or phone call, while the "Second Silly Bastard" was trying to promote himself - even though he knew it was wrong.

I've confirmed with the original "Silly Bastard" that the "Second Silly Bastard" was, in fact, his assistant at Otis Air Force Base. The picture at the top of the article is the "Second Silly Bastard" photographed by the original "Silly Bastard."

Right place. Wrong Silly Bastard.

Some more film to help explain this. Enjoy.