In celebrities section of Newsweek this week, the "Q&A" feature is an interview with actor and director Robert Redford. Newsweek's David Gates asked him about how did he "start getting obsessed with Watergate." Redford said when he heard reporters whispering after the break-in that there was more to it, "But nobody wanted to f--- with him." He said of Nixon: "He gave me an award once -- I was 13, he was a senator. I remember being struck by what a bad vibe I got from the guy." Then Redford grew more desperate in tone:
Newsweek: What's the political landscape look like to you today?
Redford: Now you pick up the paper and there's a Watergate every day. I don't think anyone's connecting the dots and saying to the public, "Wake up, folks, because you could end up in a totalitarian nightmare, wondering what happened to your country."
The occasion for the interview was the 25th annual Sundance Film Festival and a new two-disc edition of the remastered DVD of "All the President's Men."
