OPINION: Is Everybody Doing It?

A national motto seems to 'have changed from E Pluribus Unum to Omnes Idem Faciunt—Everybody's Doing It. The President himself has helped propagate that notion. In his TV speech on Watergate two weeks ago, he assured the nation that "both our great parties have been guilty of such tactics ... the campaign excesses have occurred on all sides." Last week Vice President Agnew concurred. This is not the first time that governments have been linked to scandals, from Teapot Dome on down, said Agnew.

In a strange way, Nixon and Agnew were thus...