In Praise Of: W. Mark Felt

For political junkies, there can be few stories bigger than the unveiling of Deep Throat. Hundreds of thousands will re-read their dog-eared copies of All the President's Men, looking for the clues, the contradictions, the truth, and the fiction, and we will all anxiously await the inevitable Deep Throat book by Woodward and Bernstein, collectively or separately.

Before I delve too deeply into the arcana, though, I want to state unequivocably that Deep Throat is an American hero. His legacy is secure; though some will vilify him for various reasons (he only did it because he was selfish; he wanted the FBI director job and acted out of spite; and God knows what else), let it be said that he performed a great service for this country.

Richard Nixon was a great man, a man of accomplishment, intellectual heft, and fierce tenacity; he was also easily offended and carried a giant chip on his shoulder, two dangerous qualities for a man with such power. If one wonders where today's progressives get their deep paranoia, look no further than Richard Nixon; he lowered the bar in multiple ways. First, he lowered the bar for the presidents themselves - only after Nixon could Bill Clinton lie to a grand jury and excuse it by saying 'it was just about sex'. Nixon also lowered the bar for the public; how could one's faith in the institution of the presidency not be weakened when the occupant lies, cheats, breaks into offices, and obstructs justice? Doesn't it make it easier to believe that Bush would lie about Iraq, when Nixon lied - for what? To punish his enemies? To dig up dirt? To settle scores? Certainly not for the greater good of the country.

It is in this climate that the contribution of Felt must be considered. Although Watergate was one of our darkest hours, there is yet some daylight; after all, a President fell, an FBI man leaked, a reporter kept his source confidential despite enormous pressure to reveal his identity (and he told his editor, too), and through all of this, the Republic stood. No shots were fired; the government functioned, and Americans got by.

Would the world have been worse off if we had never had a Deep Throat? That is a question that cannot be answered. Some behavior is unacceptable at any level, though; when that behavior takes place in our highest office, it must be rooted out and punished...and Felt made that task immeasurably easier. For that, he deserves the thanks of a grateful nation.

UPDATE 8:57 p.m. central: Many thanks to the great Tim Blair for the link. I'm noticing a trend here that's a bit disturbing. A lot of people are minimizing the impact Deep Throat and the Washington Post had; that sounds a little disingenuous coming from us bloggers, who after all, did plenty of crowing after Rathergate and Easongate. Remember where that '-gate' suffix came from?...

However, for a quite persuasive viewpoint quite different from my own, look to Power Line and Edward Jay Epstein. Essential reading...

And many thanks to the lovely and talented La Shawn Barber for the link, as well...

UPDATE 2 10:58 p.m. central: The reaction from some Coalition members:

PoliBlog says 'it's a generational thing'...

Instapundit barely notices...

Prof Bainbridge is not convinced that we know who Deep Throat is even now...

Viking Pundit is dreading the inevitable 'Meet the Press' appearance ('...hell, I could win a Pulitzer too if I had a deputy director of the FBI feeding me critical information')...

Alexander McClure says it's time for some good ol'-fashioned Nixon-bashing from the MSM...

And State of Flux says, well, nothing about Felt, but has some nice words about the Coalition, so read it anyway, won't you?...