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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.
Today Show Deep-Throat ping.
Of course, with Nixon and his liberal domestic policies out of office, and the man himself discredited, it was easier for the GOP to move right. A successful two-term Nixon would have had enough influence over the party to block the nomination of the far more conservative Reagan in '76 and '80. So, Katie, be careful of what you wish for.
Katie is now interviewing Brokaw and Russert. Couric just heaped scorn on Buchanan and Colson's notion that Felt had betrayed a trust. She sarcastically asked "I'm confused: wasn't Watergate a bad thing?" For Katie, the end always justifies the means. When the end is bringing down a Republican president, that is.
I loathe the media.
I thought providing confidential FBI information was somehow illegal....Has the statue of limitations run out or can we still prosecute this criminal?
I'm quite sure the statute of limitations would have passed, unless there's some unusual federal statute involved.
Works for me.
Liddy was on Fox 'n' Friends, and said that Felt had been prosecuted, but I didn't catch what for.
He also outlined the history of the entire affair - the DNC was suspected of being linked to a call-girl ring. The "burglary" was to install a wiretap on the telephone of a secretary, likely the phone that was used to arrange trysts for DNC benefactors.
Liddy asserts that Felt is not Deep Throat (but that Felt did indeed illegally leak). I didn't catch or don't understand the explanaition Liddy gave ... "because information Felt knew as #2 at the FBI was not in Woodward and Bernstein's book." Liddy thinks Deep Throat is a fiction, an aggregate of multiple sources.
Great sentence!!
Katie should not start a campaign to erect a memorial to Felt. She might find that she is the only contributor.
Thanks for the Today report.
Katie's late sister was a very liberal Democratic state senator from the university town of Charlottesville, Virginia. She was elected on the basis of being related to someone famous.
Imagine how angry we would be if someone attached to the Reagan administration had gone public with something that made us happy (like, for instance, Ollie North or Ted Olson) and a prominent MSM reporter stated that he might have done it for money.
This statement must infuriate some on the left.
(steely)
Today did mention that. You'll find a description in the third paragraph of the report.
If she thinks Felt did the right thing, I wonder how she'd justify the MSM staying silent about everything it knew/knows about pols like Bubba and Kerry?
Glad you enjoyed that one. It's all so predictable. For Chris Matthews, is was cover-to-cover Deep Throat last night, while O'Reilly downplayed the story if he covered it at all.
"often labelled Nixon's hatchet man." Funny, I don't recall Matt calling any of Clinton's heavies by that term.
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Linda Tripp- Bad snitch
Deep throat- Good snitch
The hypocrisy is neck deep on this one for the libs.
FBI, files, Hillary
Felt's motivation was anything BUT heroic. Sounds like he was a p.o.'d, arrogant traitor to me.
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