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.
So there may be an upside to this thing, although Woodward and Bernstein have made a fortune on the "Deep Throat" franchise, and there's no end in sight to their gravy train.
Sounds like Nixon and Felt weren't all that different.
And while interviewing the "opposite opinion" Brokaw and Russert also began using Deep Throat to justify the use of anonymous reporters. Russert even called out for a new Deep Throat to come forward...This is a great story for journalists all the way around, as long as they don't put on too many "different perspectives." They can barely contain their glee.
100% !
That's what I'm waiting for, too. What's the real story behind this "Revelation"?
His name has surfaced before. I'm not a Watergate buff, but without researching it am inclined to trust Liddy over Dean, etc.
Here is a link to an interesting article from 1992. It probes the institutional forces, and downplays the importance of identifying "who" was DeepThroat.
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/92may/9205deepthroat.htm
It wasn't about morals. It was a turf war.
Kinda like black bag wiretaps on DNC HQ in Watergate ;-)
Deep throat- Good snitch
Even that's a stretch, since Tripp broke no law. Supposedly, she violated a trust. But she did the right thing, both for Lewinsky and the country.
The only thing interesting about this is watching the MSM try to push this story on a public that cares little about it. It's been 33 years since the Watergate break-in and people just don't care about it any more. For inside-the- beltway wonks it might be, in their world, huge but out here in the real world it's met with a yawn.
Check this out:
Deep Throat vs. Linda Tripp: The Legacy of Whistle-Blowing in America
http://www.rightgrrl.com/1999/tripp.html
Yes, and the FNF idiots stepped all over everything that Liddy was trying to say.
John Dean sent Liddy to the DNC. It was about call girls and Dean's girlfriend (now wife, I believe) was involved in the ring.
Read the section of Silent Coup that is entitled Golden Boy.
Well put, and I sense you're right, but as you say, for inside the beltway types this is . . . hugh!
Well, While I care about why Felt did what he did and would've liked to have the info about why at the time, I'm glad he did what he did. I can see why Woodstein and the WP kept his identity a secret, though, since his motivation certainly wouldn't have helped their case. Interesting decision that, eh?
What torques me off now is seeing the MSM praise this guy to the skies while at the same time sitting on a motherlode of info on other pols the MSM just happens to like.
Yep.
The story came out just in time to pay the tuition of the grandson(family spokesman yesterday)...he is attending law or medical school, I forget which...
Yeh right....... like the Exxon Valdez!
Tripp probably saved Monica's life and perhaps her own. Wasn't she the last one to see Foster alive??
This story is for journalists to get back at a public which is turning away. Look at how important we are. We did it to Nixon, now we are trying to bring down Bush.
Watergate was the beginning of mainstream media's own war on terror (read: republicans & conservatives).
If you had the head of the FBI criminal division passing confidential information on the ongoing investigation of Clinton's dalliances in an attempt to bring down the government because of "disappointment" over not being appointed head of the FBI, the Washington Post would have been in a fury and would have demanded that "Maximum John" Sirica (who later publicly campaigned with Carter while a sitting judge) throw the book at him. When the roles are reversed, this scumbo is venerated as a hero.
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