# G. Gordon Liddy-Hero or Criminal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 19, 2007, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716 "2007-09-19T05:51:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fireclown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f19dbf/32.png) [@Fireclown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fireclown)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/1 "2007-09-19T05:51:25Z")
I just finished reading his autobiography, “Will”. Obviously he did a ton of questionable and illegal activities, but I must admit I admire the man for standing up for what he believes in, and not taking shit off anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/2 "2007-09-19T05:57:45Z")
Certainly not a hero, and convicted as a criminal- that’s neither here nor there. I’ll add _crazy as a shithouse rat_ [like the one he claimed to have killed and eaten as a child\*). ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/3 "2007-09-19T06:03:54Z")
I won’t go so far as to say “hero” (in fact, I think **Sampiro** has pretty much nailed it), but as far as his memoir is concerned, I’d imagine he’s at least the “protagonist”. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/4 "2007-09-19T06:07:28Z")
Criminal once. Since at least partially redeemed. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/5 "2007-09-19T06:13:59Z")
Definitely a criminal, and I don’t see anything redeeming about what hes done since. ---
**Author:** ![ambushed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@ambushed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ambushed)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/6 "2007-09-19T06:53:19Z")
Yet another conservative media whore who’s a criminal, just like Criminal North, Criminal O’Reilly, and Criminal Limbaugh. It’s not a conviction that makes you a criminal, it’s your actions. I read _Will_, too, and I found it to be a fascinating look at psychopathology. Reminded me a bit of _Mein Kampf_. Nietzsche would _not_ have approved of Liddy’s take on him. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/7 "2007-09-19T07:17:51Z")
Have you heard the rumor that when he was in the federal slam, they called him “Heinrich Honeybuns”? Just wondering if anybody had heard that rumor. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/8 "2007-09-19T07:59:11Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Have you heard the rumor that when he was in the federal slam, they called him “Heinrich Honeybuns”? Just wondering if anybody had heard that rumor. [/QUOTE] I have now 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/9 "2007-09-19T08:30:54Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] Certainly not a hero, and convicted as a criminal- that’s neither here nor there. I’ll add _crazy as a shithouse rat_ [like the one he claimed to have killed and eaten as a child\*). [/QUOTE] Certainly not a hero, and convicted as a criminal- that’s neither here nor there. I’ll add _crazy as a fox_. The man has lived 30 years hence on his rep. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/10 "2007-09-19T08:33:01Z")
Having listened to Egil “Bud” Krogh being interviewed on NPR last week about his new book _Integrity: Good People, Bad Choices, and Life Lessons from the White House_ and how he had a moment where he realized why he had to change his plea to guilty and serve time for his role in the Ellsberg burglary as well as a his description of the behavior of both Liddy and Hunt, I would have to say that Gordo is most certainly a criminal and arguably a sociopath. So, I guess I would come down on the side of no, not a hero in any sense of the word. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/11 "2007-09-19T10:09:26Z")
Can I ask the OP, or anyone else who cares to answer, what actions of Liddy’s might be considered heroic? I’m not being snarky, I truly aren’t aware of any. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/12 "2007-09-19T10:15:20Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] Criminal once. Since at least partially redeemed. [/QUOTE] For what? Starring in Redneck Radio? ---
**Author:** ![Aquila\_Be](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@Aquila\_Be](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquila_Be)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/13 "2007-09-19T10:54:51Z")
Definitely criminal. He always spoke harshly to liberals and bad mouthed them at every opportunity. The clincher was his claim that John Dean wasn’t worth the price of an HB pencil (which Liddy claimed could be plunged into Deans’ brain via an ear passage - nice secret agent stuff). ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/14 "2007-09-19T12:10:32Z")
He also made a “joke” that he used pictures of the Clintons as targets for his pistol range. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/15 "2007-09-19T13:20:49Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] For what? Starring in Redneck Radio? [/QUOTE] _I’m on a redneck radio I’m on a redneck, whoa-oh, radio Radio, radio…_ In reply to the OP, the virtue of standing up for what you believe in depends on what you believe in. Lots of repugnant people, from Hitler to Osama, have stood up for what they believed in. Didn’t make them any more admirable. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/16 "2007-09-19T13:44:19Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] For what? Starring in Redneck Radio? [/QUOTE] No. And note I said partially redeemed. He served his time (which was commuted by President Carter) and has become, apart from his views, somewhat of a pop-culture figure. He and Timothy Leary, who he once arrested as an FBI agent, used to do a joint lecture tour. When they did a celebrity Fear Factor, he was the oldest celebrity to compete, and actually did pretty well. He has not been arrested again in about thirty-five years, near as I can figure. I didn’t call the guy a hero - I don’t think he is one by any stretch of the imagination. But what do we ask of criminals, really - that they serve their time, rehabilitate and become productive taxpaying citizens again? That he has done, and more besides. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/17 "2007-09-19T14:14:41Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] But what do we ask of criminals, really - that they serve their time, rehabilitate and become productive taxpaying citizens again? That he has done, and more besides. [/QUOTE] We also like Remorse. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/18 "2007-09-19T14:57:21Z")
Criminal who has paid his debt to society. No better or worse than any other criminal they release every day. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/19 "2007-09-19T15:13:42Z")
[QUOTE=tagos] We also like Remorse. [/QUOTE] I like it too, but we won’t get it from him. And being unremorseful isn’t a crime. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716/20 "2007-09-19T15:17:03Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] I like it too, but we won’t get it from him. And being unremorseful isn’t a crime. [/QUOTE] But it does disqualify him from being a “hero” of any kind. Or rising to any category above the level of “deranged asshole.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/g-gordon-liddy-hero-or-criminal/419716.md?page=2)