Posted on 12/19/2008 10:38:33 AM PST by Publius804
Watergate 'Deep Throat' W. Mark Felt Dies at 95
SAN FRANCISCO — W. Mark Felt, the former FBI second-in-command who revealed himself as "Deep Throat" 30 years after he tipped off reporters to the Watergate scandal that toppled a president, has died. He was 95.
Felt died Thursday in Santa Rosa after suffering from congestive heart failure for several months, said family friend John D. O'Connor, who wrote the 2005 Vanity Fair article uncovering Felt's secret.
The shadowy central figure in one of the most gripping political dramas of the 20th century, Felt insisted his alter ego be kept secret when he leaked damaging information about President Richard Nixon and his aides to Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward.
While some — including Nixon and his aides — speculated that Felt was the source who connected the White House to the June 1972 break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, he steadfastly denied the accusations until finally coming forward in May 2005.
"I'm the guy they used to call Deep Throat," Felt told O'Connor for the Vanity Fair article, creating a whirlwind of media attention. The man who had kept his secret for decades, weakened by a stroke, did not do much talking — he merely waved to the media from the front door of his daughter's Santa Rosa home.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Only the “good” die young?
See what Ben Stein has to say:
http://spectator.org/archives/2005/06/01/deep-throat-and-genocide
He did the right thing for the wrong reasons. His reason for turning on Nixon was revenge for being passed over for a promotion. How many Vietnamese and Cambodians paid with their lives for his bruised ego?
The Carter administration, pandering to the Left, decided to prosecute the FBI leadership. Felt was convicted in November 1980 of conspiracy to violate the civil rights of the Weathermen, their friends and family. Many or most FBI agents supported him. Ronald Reagan pardoned Felt shortly after taking office.
Felt is the prototype of those who run to the media, who leak anonymously, rather than report to the proper legal authorities. That has become a plague on our government, and a threat to democracy. He can go to hell.
It is your logic that is flawed, as instead of prosecuting murderers and reckless corruption you would rather see the prosecution of relatively minor crimes.
“Don’t be stupid. He should have gone to the proper legal authorities, not the media, and he should have done it in the open. He set the precedent for anonymous leaks to the press by anyone who has a beef with official policy. He undermined democracy by setting the foundation for coup d’etat via leaks and media/bureaucracy collaboration.”
Isn’t it amazing how this never happened before him and even more incredible that it most certainly never would have happened in the future if he hadn’t done what he did?
“It is your logic that is flawed, as instead of prosecuting murderers and reckless corruption you would rather see the prosecution of relatively minor crimes.”
Umm, murders? Sure.
You can argue all day whether Nixon and his minions’ crimes were “minor,” but the crap they did was destructive, particularly the coverup effort. Was revealing it more destructive than the act itself? Who knows? But to argue that Nixon’s crimes shouldn’t have been exposed is silly.
BTW, you’ll note that a number of Clinton’s “crimes” were exposed and he was impeached. He was then acquitted. Like it or not, that’s how our system works. Nixon, on the other hand, didn’t have a prayer of beating impeachment and he knew it. He deserved what he got.
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