2nd in command at the FBI W. Mark Felt has come out of the closet as Deep Throat, and the Watergate conspiracy has erupted back into public consciousness, at least until the moral right co-opts news services with some other crap next week.
Felt, who vehemently denied his involvement with Woodward & Bernstein in 1999, is 91 and living in California. The world was set to learn of Deep Throat's identity upon his death, but apparently Felt's family wanted him to receive adulation for his decision during his lifetime.
No word yet from Woodward & Bernstein. Also silent on the issue are Redford & Hoffman, who played Woodward & Bernstein in the movie, "All The President's Men."
Personally, Other than multiple of talk show appearances by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, I am not sure what the reaction to Felt's admission will be. In the baby-boomer set, there are still VERY strong feelings about Nixon, and while most will laud Felt for having the courage to stand up to the most powerful man in the world who was breaking the law, many will criticize him for a whole slew of reasons. Regardless, there is no doubt the sea-change Watergate had the media on the American culture at large; unintended consequences of Felt's actions, to be sure.
One regret from this story is that Felt did not come out in time for Hunter S. Thompson to tell us of his opinions on the matter. As you probably know, Thompson felt that Nixon compared favorably to dung beetles only and while I don't necessarily agree with him on every point about Nixon, I would have like to have had the chance to see what he would write in this case. I guess HST had waited too long already.
(Big-ups to the omnipresent Jackie Chiles for his catching this early and giving the AofG first mover advantage.)
Who?
Posted by: Nominal Me | May 31, 2005 at 08:16 PM