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.
Money talks. Lets write a song along those lines.
I couldn't have said it better myself.
Excellent example of the phenomenon. When a Republican ox is being gored, it's all good for the MSM.
Just catching the Today show opening here in Chicago...Katy opens saying that she's so excited to find out about Deep Throat, we've all been wondering for so many years...
PUKE!
Colonic Catie went on to say that they'd be interviewing others who would have the opposite opinion!!! LOL.....they were both shocked at the vehemence of Buchanan's and Colson's argument against Felt.
Sounds like someone the RATS would elect as a President.
Felt has had a stroke and his memory is faulty.
It's funny that when this Nixon/Watergate thing happened I was a newly wed with a husband who had just returned from Viet Nam. We were so busy trying to make ends meet that we didn't give politics much attention. I remember my dad saying that Nixon didn't know anything about this. He was just trying to protect his friends. In light of politics today, Watergate seems insignificant. Was my dad right?
I pointed this out in a post yesterday- they freely admit they did it for the money- which in my opinion draws the motives of all the players into question:
From the Vanity Fair article:
At one lunch at a scenic restaurant overlooking the Pacific, Joan and Mark sat their father down to lay out the case for full, public disclosure. Felt argued with them, according to his son, warning them not to betray him. I dont want this out, Felt said. And if it got in the papers, Id guess Id know who put it there. But they persisted. They explained that they wanted their fathers legacy to be heroic and permanent, not anonymous. And beyond their main motive posteritythey thought that there might eventually be some profit in it. Bob Woodwards gonna get all the glory for this, but we could make at least enough money to pay some bills, like the debt Ive run up for the kids education, Joan recalls saying. Lets do it for the family. With that, both children remember, he finally agreed. He wasnt particularly interested, Mark says, but he said, Thats a good reason.
MILLIONAIRE DAD
My dad is a hero. Add another zero.
He's just so debonaire although he's lost his hair.
Add another zero.
He snuck around and lied. The law he blatantly defied.
Add another zero.
etc....
I saw G. Gordon Liddy on the Matthews show last night, and he stated that Nixon didn't order the Watergate operation, that it was John Dean who did so, and that Nixon went down defending something he was not responsible for.
Yes, your Dad was right. I remember my Dad telling me about the Kennedy family when I was going to vote for the first time. It altered my opinion of Kennedy even though I had been brainwashed by my Catholic High School.
That's because in the Clintonista regime, they had a hatchet woman!
I assume al Qatie Couric musters the same level of indignation about Sandy Berglers absconding with high-level classified documents in his pants out of the National Archives...
No???
Did Katie view Linda Tripp as heroic?
I think there's an interesting backstory here, about how and why this revelation came out the way it did. I wonder if anyone will look into that.
And if whistleblowing is so heroic, why the silence on so many Dem pols? And McCain?
Basically, the FBI were doing black bag wire taps without warrants on the radicals. They were illegal, and Felt authorized them. Reagan pardoned Felt in 81.
Excellent rhetorical question!
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