Watergate Revisited

Everything old is new again. W. Mark Felt is old, but he's newly revealed as "Deep Throat", Bob Woodward's legendary deep-background source on the Watergate story. The right-wing types are practically foaming at the mouth, trying to discredit Felt as a traitor. --To which my response is, "You've got to be kidding."

Felt saw how spectacularly corrupt the Nixon White House was, and when a reporter acquaintance called him to confirm or deny information obtained from other sources, Felt did so. He didn't approach Woodward, nor did he directly feed him information. Woodward would tell him, "So-and-so told me this, which makes me wonder if this other person is involved" and Felt might say, "You're on the wrong track with that one." He guided Woodward and Bernstein's investigation, and doubtless saved them a lot of time they might otherwise have wasted.

To those who say, while looking down from atop their high horse, that Felt should have used "official channels" to reveal the corruption, I would reply "Such as what?" The problem here was that the president of the United States believed himself and his aides to be above the law. Who, exactly, do you report that to? W. Mark Felt was the number-two man at the FBI. The top man, L. Patrick Gray, was a Nixon appointee -- and was generally believed to have his head so far up Nixon's ass that if the president took a corner too fast, he'd break Gray's neck.

There's also the fact that the president and his men were absolutely ruthless in pursuing and punishing their enemies -- for nothing more than being their enemies. They used the IRS (tax audits) and the FBI (wiretaps, intrusive security checks) as harassment against private citizens whose only crime was disagreeing with them. They used high-powered investigators to dig up dirt on people. This White House kept an "enemies list" estimated at anywhere between 490 and 600 people: journalists, celebrities, businesses, academics. It seems so juvenile as to be almost laughable -- but the laughter freezes in your throat when you think about the power these guys had, and didn't hesitate to use. That's the barrel that Felt was staring down.

So Felt's conscience demanded that he get the information about White House corruption into the light of day -- and self-preservation demanded that he keep his identity secret. Even at that, the Nixon tapes reveal that the president and his men suspected him. Nixon has a few choice words about him: "a Jew in the FBI???". (Nixon was a real treat. Take a gander at the transcript of his White House tapes -- but don't look too long; they'll make you feel dirty.)

Why is Felt revealing his secret identity now? I don't know, and I don't really care. If it's for money, I don't have a problem with that. Many, many other people have profited monitarily from telling stories of their part in Watergate -- including the criminals! In my opinion the man who blew the whistle, who was instrumental in the bringing down of the Nixon presidency, deserves our gratitude, his fifteen minutes of fame, and as much money as the infotainment industry is willing to pay him.