On your mark . . . Get set . . . Zoom!

Eight easy tips for successfully “Zooming” into our Book Festival

Before you settle back onto your couch, here are a few hints to ensure that you enjoy each Book Festival event to the fullest.

1. Come as you are! No need to dress up. When you enter, your video and microphone will be off.

2. Closed captioning will be available to allow all members of our community to enjoy the Book Festival events.

3. A week before the event, you will receive an email reminder about the event. Please make sure the event is on your calendar. If you find that you will be unable to attend, please email Reneé at rbialek@jewishnaples.org to let her know.

4. Two hours before the event, you will receive an email with the Zoom link. Either flag the email or copy the Zoom link into your calendar for easy access when you need it. (The link is unique to you. Please do not forward it or you may risk being locked out of the event.)

5. Sign in by clicking on the link. (If you prefer, you can also join by entering the Webinar ID number and password.)

6. Before the event begins, you will have the option of using the “Chat” feature to send a greeting to the other attendees. Chat will be turned off when the author is introduced.

7. If you have a question or comment for the author, type it into the Q&A section on your screen. Questions will generally be read after the author’s presentation, but you can type in your question at any time.

8. Please Zoom into the event 5 minutes early so that you are all set when the program begins. If you experience a problem signing in, please email Reneé at rbialek@jewishnaples.org.

Now, sit back, relax and enjoy the event!

A woman’s perspective on a critical episode in U.S. history

Don’t miss the Book Festival event on Tuesday, Jan. 19, when Jill Wine-Banks relates how she navigated the crossroads between the Watergate Scandal and the Women’s Movement

For a preview of what’s to come, read this review by Gayle Dorio, Jewish Book Festival Committee Member.

The Watergate Girl: My Fight for Truth and Justice Against a Criminal President gives fascinating details about a period of time in 1972 when the president embraced conspiracy theories, thought the media was out to get him, and believed he was above the law. The author reminds us of the adage: “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Barely 30 years old at the time, she was the only female prosecutor assigned to the Watergate case.

Richard Nixon was highly regarded. His ratings were excellent. In fact, he won reelection in 1972 with 49 states voting for him — a landslide victory! Three major television networks covered the news, and all reported the same facts. No social media existed, also no pseudo-news shows slanting their reports to favor one political party. Newspapers and journalists were respected and considered the fourth branch of government. Their job was to make sure the public was kept aware of happenings, both good and bad. Shining a light on government was thought helpful, keeping politicians honest and government functioning above board.

We were watching “The Waltons,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” and “Gunsmoke” on television and “The Godfather” won Best Picture in that year’s Academy Awards ceremonies. The Women’s Movement saw women able to get their own credit cards, sit on juries and own their own homes. Even as some constraints were eased, women still fought to be treated with respect.

Remember our fashion style in the 1970s? The author was known by the press as the “mini-skirted lawyer.” No one ever commented on the appearance of the male attorneys. She was forced to stand up for herself when demeaning comments were made by other lawyers and judges.

Did you know that the Watergate break-in was the second break-in? Yes, back then, if you wanted to get dirt on your opponent, you weren’t able to hack into a computer. Instead, you broke into the opponent’s office and planted listening devices (bugs). The first break-in was in May 1972 to plant the bugs. Because one didn’t work, five men broke in one month later to replace the defective bug. This time, they were caught. Payoffs were different then too. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash were in their possession, along with bugging devices and rolls of film.

The White House denied involvement. Proof showed that in early January 1972, G. Gordon Liddy, a member of the Committee to Re-elect the President (creep) (you can’t make this up!) received approval from Attorney General John Mitchell for an extensive plan to spy on the Democratic Party. We read about the inner workings of the prosecution, how the President stonewalled and refused to cooperate. We are taken inside the courtroom, into the attorneys’ strategies, and feel as if we are right there, reliving every moment.

Refusing to cooperate with a subpoena isn’t tolerated. Stonewalling isn’t tolerated. The President, who has an approval rating at this point in the 90% range and won reelection in a landslide, becomes enraged that he is being questioned. Republicans are unsure what to do. They find out, thanks to media investigations, that there are tapes — secret recordings that President Nixon has been accumulating to preserve his place in history, recordings that he wishes will be ensconced in a presidential library in the future. Republicans state that only if and when they hear in the President’s own words some culpability, will they do something.

We are treated to the 18½-minute gap and who gets blamed for the missing portion. We learn there are other tapes that suddenly aren’t available. We see a President, sure that he will weather this storm, arrogantly denying that he is a crook.

Finally, when the evidence is clear that the President wanted dirt on his opponent and would allow anything and anyone to break the law, when it is clear that he runs a corrupt administration, the Republican senators demand that he resign. They gather around him and tell him he will be impeached and removed from office. It is better to resign.

Wine-Banks leaves us with this cautionary tale, urging us to stop the current threat that puts in peril the fundamental principles upon which our nation was founded.

She ends with “America survived Watergate because our institutions were strong at their core. Our leaders spoke to one another across the political divide and felt a responsibility to preserve democracy.”

Jill Wine-Banks

Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, 10:30 a.m.

The Watergate Girl: My Fight for Truth and Justice Against a Criminal President

Sponsors: Women’s Cultural Alliance and Senior Housing Solutions

Jill Wine-Banks is currently an MSNBC Legal Analyst, appearing regularly on primetime and daytime shows. She began her career as the first woman to serve as an organized crime prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice and was selected as one of the three Assistant Watergate Special Prosecutors. She was the first woman to hold numerous other high-profile legal positions, including U.S. General Counsel of the Army, Deputy Attorney General of the state of Illinois, and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the American Bar Association, the largest professional association in America.