Doesn’t this belong in the “Spoilers” thread, in the Everything Else forum?
Who the hell is dead?
Whoops, Felt’s not dead. I assumed that since they’d said they’d only release his name when he died he had, that’s what I get for not reading too closely.
As to the “only on death” thing: yeah, that list of Nixon’s crimes probably explains it.
Hmm, Ben Stein in the American Spectator is quite the Nixon apologist, going so far as to blame Felt, Woodward and Bradlee for the Cambodian genocide.
And good ole’ Rush is all over this article, calling Woodward a stenographer and not a journalist. Next up: the right-wing demands that those Pulitzers be handed back and given to Judith Miller.
Stein worked for the Nixon Administration as a speech writer and lawyer (see BENSTEIN.COM). I think it’s likely he has a fair amount of information on the subject, but is hardly a disinterested party. As for Stein’s claim that Nixon is a peacemaker, well, he says peacemaker, others say warmonger… What everyone can agree on is that he was a lying, conniving, dishonest politician who used federal agencies to investigate things that weren’t threats to national security.
Why do you suppose they tagged him Deep Throat? Wasn’t that like a hugely popular porn video at the time?
Not “Deep Throat Was Gently Touched?”
For Stein’s target audience, by “peacemaker” I believe he means to allude to the Colt .45 Peacemaker used by the U.S. Cavalry to subdue the Indians in the American West, so it’s really more of a matter of semantics than a genuine disagreement.
Look at me! I’m an old man! I was deep throat! Who cares anymore?!?!
etc
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/01/AR2005060101044.html
“It’s hard for me to judge” whether former deputy FBI Director Mark Felt provided a valuable public service or acted improperly, Bush told reporters.
Words fail me.
The timing of this confession is pretty interesting, given all the blather from the 101st fighting keyboarders about how horrible anonymous sources are.
What the heck was with the POTUS and his answer to reporters? Very very disconcerting.
I think it’s funny that they only quoted the “it’s hard for me to judge” words. I’d be interested to hear the question actually asked of him and his full answer, instead of one clause followed by almost three full lines of non-quote embellishment. I’ve heard convincing arguments both for and against Felt’s actions as Deep Throat, so it is also hard for me to judge on so vague a question. Hell, one could easily say that I believe that he provided a valuable public service by acting improperly. Then where’s the soundbite?
Well if the POTUS had said that, my post would have said something different.
I have no idea why he waffled. There is no way he would be criticized by those already jumping on Felt/Deep Throat. They’d just quiet down and get back to talking about the nuclear option and the Bolton nomination. The situation would be very close to his stance on the Mexico/US border and immigration policy. His refusal to really do anything about it infuriates his “base” but they choose to stifle their criticism or choose their words very carefully.
I’ve got mixed feelings on Felt/Deep Throat. Lest anyone think I’m a Nixon apologist, see my past posts on him: I’ve made my arguments that he went beyond being a bad president into the realm of evil.
But Felt had a lot of reason to personally go after Nixon, since Felt was the odds on favorite to replace his mentor and boss (Hoover) and was 100% sure the head FBI job was his. When Nixon appointed someone else, Felt was crushed: it was his ultimate ambition to head the FBI, he had it in his hands, and now it was gone, likely forever. And Nixon was the reason.
And Felt’s sudden motives of purity and horror and Nixon’s dirty tricks seem pretty hollow coming from a man who was Hoover’s #2 for years and a partner in Hoover’s well documented dirty tricks that would at least match Nixon’s.
I’m glad Felt leaked his info, because I really was glad to see Nixon get taken down. I was a senior in high school at the time so I remember the entire series of events very clearly. But I don’t buy that Felt did it out of his morale outrage over Nixon.
Yeah, if anything, this reveal just makes it more apparent that the real heroes in Watergate were Woodward and Bernstein. Those were guys who did their jobs so well they changed the world for the better.
Sorry, but is this Sarcastic Desslock, or “I love gays and abortions” Desslock? I can’t tell any more.
So? If someone turns in a murderer for the reward money that doesn’t make the murderer somehow less bad, which is the subtext the right is using on this.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/06/01.html#a3233
Amusing daily show on Novak, Buchanan, and G Gordon Liddy’s evaluations of Felt. It’s a miracle televisions don’t explode when Liddy appears.