Posted on 06/01/2005 4:40:18 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
You just knew Today was going to revel in the Deep Throat story this morning. When the face of your beloved party is the dour Harry Reid, the tautly-stretched Nancy Pelosi and the 'expansive' Teddy Kennedy, any chance to switch the subject to the good old days of bashing bad old Richard Nixon must be seized.
In fairness, Andrea Mitchell, reporting the story, made a balanced presentation. Among other things she raised the possibility that the 91-year old Felt, who has suffered a stroke, might have been incapable of truly making the decision to reveal his identity as Deep Throat, and that instead it was his family that made it for him in the pursuit of money.
Further tempering Today's enthusiasm for Felt might have been the fact, which they reorted, that in 1980 Felt was convicted and fined $5,000 for approving FBI break-ins of homes of members of the radical Weather Underground. President Reagan subsequently granted him a full pardon.
Interviewing Woodward John O'Connor, the Felt family advisor who broke story in Vanity Fair, Couric suggested that Felt's children had said to him: "Woodward is going to get all the glory but we could make enough money to pay off the bills." O'Connor maintained that Felt's "main motivation was heroic, and with the goal of creating a permanent legacy, not money."
But ultimately, Couric was willing to look the other way on any Felt foibles, for after all, he did play a crucial role in destroying the presidency of the hated Richard Nixon.
Here's how Katie editorialized her admiration: "It's interesting that in people's lives, they sometimes come to a fork in the road and decide to do the right thing. What motivated him to do the right thing?"
O'Connor gave some bland answer about doing the right thing for the country.
Matt Lauer then interviewed former Nixon aides Pat Buchanan and Chuck Colson, stating that Colson was "often labelled Nixon's hatchet man." Funny, I don't recall Matt calling any of Clinton's heavies by that term.
Predictably, neither Colson nor Buchanan respected Felt's actions, calling them a betrayal of trust and of the confidentiality of the FBI. Buchanan pointed out that Hoover had been fully familiar with JFK's seamy personal life but never leaked it to the press.
By far the most interesting revelation was this. In rebutting the notion that Felt had acted heroically, I think it was Buchanan who mentioned that, a month before Felt began leaking to Woodward on Watergate, he had leaked him inside details on the assassination attempt on George Wallace.
In other words, this was not about heroism and saving the country. This was FBI inside politics, as Asst. Director Felt had been angling for appointment as Director, replacing Hoover, and was bitter that he had been passed over.
There are two current semi-announcees in the '06 senate race against Her Heinous, a woman with Ferraro type husband problems and the son-in-law of Richard Nixon.
Being one of the "heroes" of Watergate, Her Heinous "saved" us from the original Nixon...
Katie= "Little Susie Shallow Throat".
Courtesy of DAC.
IIRC Liddy subscribes to the theory that Dean ordered the Watergate burglary NOT to gather info on the DNC, but to find documents related to an alleged call-girl ring being operated out of the DNC's office in the Watergate.
Dean's new little wifey, Maureen (whose chic appearance was featured adoringly by the MSM at the time), was allegedly either an operator of the call-girl ring, or one of the call girls.
I think the theory is that Dean was trying to seize the evidence in order to protect her from being exposed. Or something like that.
Also IIRC, Liddy was sued for libel by John and Maureen Dean for espousing this theory. Liddy won.
link to photo of John and Maureen Dean at their wedding --note wedding guest on the right, the notorious playboy Barry Goldwater Jr.
Ping me when Katie deep throats on camera in order to boost the ratings..
I can't believe FNF hasn't been replaced by an adult show before now.
I think one of my old fart buddies nailed it over a couple a beers last night.
No one under 50 gives a sh!t about any of this.
Is she till gettin residuals for the deep colon show?
Someone ought to clue the Old Mediots in about the results of the overblown Watergate affair:
-A presidency was brought down by indirect effects simply because the president was perhaps overly loyal to his people.
-The United States was weakened.
-The worst and weakest president of the 20th century was installed - emboldening our enemies.
-The Shah of Iran was overthrown instead of the US being able to bolster up a voice of moderation and modernity in the MidEast - and much of the world's terrorism was strengthened as a result
- and OPEC stretched its muscles - and the US was not strong enough to effectively respond (I categorically don't mean militarity).
-Reagan was the inevitable reaction to the worst president, but by that time irreversible damage had been done.
-The Old Media FRAUDcasters have since been trying to bring down presidents, and even found themselves forced, finally, into joining the New Media to some extent against Bill Clinton.
-Journalism's "highest calling" has become trying to bring shame on politicians - with the gold prizes for R-politicians - instead of reporting news that really affects the country and the world.
(Others have made these comments far more effectively than my poor attempt here, and I would appreciate a ping to better enumerations.) We're still in the process of attempting to recover from Watergate.
Couric's cute comment "wasn't watergate bad" burns me and anybody who cares about this country.
"Why would the WP confirm the "source" having committed to secrecy until the geezer croaks? The WP could have denied comment and make the family prove their case but they didn't."
Why would a LIBERAL, Nixon-hating newspaper deny comment and make the family "prove" their case...but they didn't? Well, DUH...I couldn't guess! Meanwhile, I heard on talk radio this morning that the "story" could prove to be a best-seller (worth well over a million) for the family.
And you know why the media tries to do that to "R" presidents? Not ideology - - but lots and lots of potential money and fame! Look at Woodward and Bernstein.
Every hack reporter wants some of what they got....getting the story right "be damned"......
Nixon was a perfect example of the Peter Principle.
He'd have never found himself in the Whitehouse had he not been Ike's Veep.
He was an accident of history, much like the Bush dynasty.
Don't get too comfortable about your "glad he did"... when you get more into this story, and realize all the damage that was done to the country due to the trivial incident known as Watergate, you may find yourself wishing you hadn't been so duped by the Old Media FRAUDcasters.
I saw it at the market.
I think it was National Enquirer.
Thanks - I'll see if I can find it online.
While you're at it, you probably note that a greater percentage of R's voted for the Civil Right's agenda and the rest of LBJ's Great Society than did D's.
Goldwater was a voice crying in the wilderness for conservatism. Watergate killed that wing of the R's - and opened up the opportunity for the present (more) Conservative movement.
We did pay a very high price, though, for it greatly weakened the US.
If Watergate is the standard for crimes, and Colson went to jail (1-3yrs) for revealing ONE FBI file, MF should have been put away for life. The crimes MF committed, and was pardoned by Reagan for, were easily more numerous and far reaching than anything Nixon did, or Colson, or Liddy.
The only person who may have been remotely as culpable is Dean - who skated.
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