You’d have to be a true political junkie—and probably a Left-leaning one at that—to actually care that Deep Throat, the secret source for Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s Watergate investigative reporting, has finally stepped forward and identified himself. It seems that W. Mark Felt, now 91, and the number two man in the FBI during Nixon’s presidency, is the guy.
Felt was suspected to be the source as early as 1974, but kept denying it, and now bares all, supposedly at the urging of his two children. But please don’t ascribe too much nobility here. It is widely believed that he ratted out Nixon because he was passed over for the directorship of the FBI. Meanwhile, his daughter Joan was quoted as saying, “Bob Woodward’s going to get all the glory for this, but we could at least make some money…Let’s do it for the family.” I guess the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.
It worth noting that Felt himself authorized illegal FBI break-ins during the hunt for radical Weather Underground fugitives, and was later pardoned for this offense by Ronald Reagan—a pardon that was of course condemned by the usual useful idiots such as the New York Times. Moreover, the security guard who discovered the break-in, and made the entire Watergate industry possible, Frank Wills, died in obscurity, never feted by the self-same band of hypocrites. Why they never took the opportunity to raise up this simple Black working man, supposedly the very core of their political constituency, is a mystery only to those who really believe in the pathetic morally and intellectually bankrupt enterprise that is the Democratic party.
To understand how the 1972 break-in, planned and authorized by lower-level White House officials, could bring down an entire presidency, requires a bit of background…
First and foremost, the Left always hated Richard Nixon, since he had the temerity to target pinkos and Commies. From his first victory over Leftie congressman Jerry Voorhis in 1946, to his defeat of “Pink Lady” Helen Gahagan Douglas, to win a Senate seat in 1950, or his savaging of later-to-be-outed Commie Alger Hiss, “Tricky Dick” ticked off the Gliterati. Even though he always had the support of the average Joe, his treatment by the media and his humble background seemed to keep Nixon on the defensive for his entire life. Remind yourself that there was little if any alternative to the predominant Left-wing media of the era.
It didn’t help when he lost a close and probably corrupted presidential race against John Kennedy in 1960. Many, including President Eisenhower, suggested that Nixon contest the results, citing obvious irregularities in Illinois and Texas. Nixon declined to do so, both for the good of the country, and because the media would have undoubtedly attacked him without mercy. Back home in California, he was persuaded to run against incumbent Pat Brown for governor in 1962, but lost, declaring to the press that they would “…not have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore.”
He appeared back on the scene in 1968, defeating liberal icon Hubert Humphrey, in a presidential election that felt closer than it was, given the candidacy of George Wallace. While Nixon’s margin of the popular vote was minute, his 301 to 191 electoral vote edge was strong, and would have defeated Humphrey even if all the lost votes in the South had gone for him. Still, Humphrey was gaining toward the end, and might have made things closer had he attacked LBJ’s war policy earlier in the campaign.
Thus, even though all the polls showed gigantic leads for Nixon in 1972, over hapless candidate George McGovern, his reelection committee was taking nothing for granted. As it turned out, Nixon was to win by the incredible electoral margin of 520 to 17, and garnered 60.7 percent of the popular vote. McGovern carried only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.
While it was never established who ordered the break-in, or even why it was proposed in the first place, Nixon’s only involvement was in the cover-up, and in making the fatal mistake of lying to protect his staff. At least he wouldn’t live long enough to see the time when it would be all right for a president to lie under oath.
But then he didn’t live long enough to watch the Blogosphere take down the Elite Media, either.