Trump toilet talk evokes memories of the secretary who erased some of the Watergate tapes

SNEED: Rose Mary Woods’ brother was a Cook County politician who used to regale reporters with stories from the White House when his sister became an asterisk of Watergate history.

SHARE Trump toilet talk evokes memories of the secretary who erased some of the Watergate tapes
Sunshine_Week_FBI.JPG

In this 1973 file photo, Rose Mary Woods, President Richard Nixon’s secretary at her White House desk, demonstrates the “Rose Mary Stretch” which could have resulted in the erasure of part of the Watergate tapes.

Sun-Times file photo

Oh, the Trump of it all!

A new chapter was added to the Book of Trump last week.

It showcased a toilet in Trump’s White House residence staffers claimed was persistently clogged with torn printed paper … which may have been U.S. archival material destroyed illegally.

The big question?

Was it a purposeful flush of sensitive/top secret documents?

Or stuff and nonsense.

Ah, toilet talk.

It seems no matter what wild west behavior Donald Trump exhibits, popularity polls continue to collapse for President Joe Biden.

No matter.

The Trump toilet evidence is gone forever, flushed into oblivion and out of reach of scoops, snoops and prosecutors … even if Trump cries foul!

So let’s spin the Chicago dial back 50 years for a repeat of history.

Back in 1972, Rose Mary Woods, President Richard Nixon’s devoted secretary — and the sister of Joe Woods, the Republican Cook County sheriff from 1966-70 — “mysteriously” erased 18.5 minutes of White House tapes she was transcribing for prosecutors probing the Watergate imbroglio.

She claimed it was an honest mistake.

But it was gone forever!

But not forgotten.

Her brother, who was also a commissioner, had regaled us with powerhouse stories about Rose Mary from his office at the old Chicago Civic Center. But he stopped coming by our press room when his sister began her trek to become an asterisk of Watergate history.

We will never know what was in those missing Watergate tapes.

Deep throat warnings?

Feud fodder?

Top secret stuff?

Likewise, we will never know what got pitched into Trump’s private privy.

Perhaps the elusive “love letters” Trump claims he received from Korean strongman Kim Jung Un?

So while the nation fixates on the dearth of chicken wings for their Super Bowl tables Sunday and what incendiary stuff may have flushed by the former president, I have come to one steadfast conclusion.

No old love letters of mine will get flushed down my loo!

peninsula.jpg

The Sky Rink at the Peninsula hotel.

Provided/Peninsula

A special Valentine…

Hotel, style.

Top tip: The skating terrace known as the Sky Rink at the Peninsula hotel, which closes Feb. 20, had become a top lure for wedding proposals last year … accompanied by snowflake lights and hedgerows for guests hiding with champagne toasts and host boasts.

“Families have a new way to celebrate pre-wedding,” said the Peninsula’s Susan Ellefson, who noted the rink — which opened nine years ago — has now grown into a top proposal center.

“It’s started as an attraction for hotel visitors, businessmen, etc. ... and as well for two Chicago firemen who showed up in their work gear to check it all out,” she said.

It’s now been taken advantage of by “all types.”

“The rink is on a synthetic surface for the real thing; a way to glide safely amidst the magic of a wedding proposal and music and lights,” she said.

So here’s the kicker: Last December, USA Today named the Peninsula Hotel “The Most Romantic Hotel” in Chicago.

And last week, U.S. News & World Report named them the “#1 Hotel” in the U.S.

“Valentine’s Day may be just around the corner, but it’s everywhere around here right now,” said Ellefson.

A world of misery…

Is Chicago finally asking …

What is the point that breaks us?

What is the point that makes us?

What will finally push us over the line?

Another child killed by the gun?

Another baby killed by an errant bullet in the backseat of a car?

The visual grief of another family attempting to pick up irreplaceable pieces?

The marauders of the Miracle Mile shutting down the city’s economic machine?

Sections of the city trapped consistently by poverty, violence and drug addiction?

The targeted shooting last week of a 15-year old student by a teenager wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet?

The stunning revelation of Chicago cops using handcuffs belonging to the badly wounded partner of slain police officer Ella French when arresting a woman who destroyed a memorial to her?

Sneedlings…

Saturday birthdays: Actor Arsenio Hall, 66; Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Russell, 88; Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, 57; actor Josh Brolin, 54, and actress Christina Ricci, 42. Sunday birthdays: actress Mena Suvari, 43; NFL legend Randy Moss, 45; actress Kelly Hu, 54, and TV host Jerry Springer, 78.

The Latest
When daughter offers her parents a dream vacation and free care for their child, her mother requests additional babysitting to extend the trip.
The ruling Tuesday in favor of Rudisill, who’s now an FBI agent, also could help other long-serving vets tap college educational benefits for themselves and their families that they earned under more than one version of the GI Bill.
The company, known for its ice cream stores and milk packaged in glass bottles, had recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The center will be open Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Richard J. Daley Academy, 5024 S. Wolcott Ave.
Streaming drama illustrates the victim’s anguish but also tries to explain the origins of her attackers’ violent ways.