The man who throughout the Watergate hearings, which he chaired, described himself as "just an old country lawyer" has a tendency to go a-speechifying, which frequently draws us away from a discussion of how Watergate-inspired laws have changed our public discourse; still, it's fun to listen to Mr. Ervin's brand of carefully homespun political wisdom. SJE: "Frankly, I think the big trouble in public life is there are too many people in public life with the anatomy of the jellyfish. They haven't got much backbone, and I think they need more backbone in government ..." WFB: "You think they should hang tough?" SJE: "Well, I think they ought to get a backbone some way instead of being so much like jellyfish." WFB: "Like Gordon Liddy?" SJE: "Well, Gordon Liddy has a little too much backbone. I'll have to admit that I have a sort of sneaking admiration for a fellow like Gordon Liddy that does have an excess of backbone. His backbone exceeds his intelligence, really."