Wednesday, June 01, 2005
In Defense of Deep Throat
For those of you that have been residing under a rock the last two days, you may not have heard that the identity of Deep Throat has been revealed. Don't worry though, because in true conservative style, the attack dogs wasted no time before trying to crucify him. Of course the conservative word du jour was traitor. After all, W. Mark Felt (aka Deep Throat) was the number two man at the FBI at the time and shouldn't have leaked information to the press. To make a long story short, the conservatives believe that Nixon was screwed from within. (I do have to admit though, it was kind of entertaining to watch a rabid Pat Buchanan and Chuck Colson froth at the mouth while they practically screamed at Matt Lauer on the Today show for insinuating that Felt was anything but treasonous scum.)
According to Buchanan, Colson, and the vacuous conservative zombies over at Free Republic (no link, you'll have to get there yourselves), Felt should have gone to his superior and followed the chain of command instead of going to the "liberal" media. And of course they won't let us forget that Felt had recently been passed over for promotion to the head of the FBI in favor of L. Patrick Gray, a bureau outsider and Nixon crony, so he clearly had an axe to grind and was looking for revenge. Never once however, did they even hint at the fact that Nixon may have done something wrong. Forget the fact that he tried to impede an investigation into a criminal activity. That's just nitpicking.
But let's talk about a seemingly unrelated incident for just a minute. Let's fast-forward about twenty-five years and talk about the tragedy at Columbine High School. One of the things that came out of that terrible event is that we now strongly encourage our students to speak out if they hear of anything like this. In fact, we have posters all over the schools today reminding students that "Heroes call before it's too late." Remaining quiet about possible illegal activities could be dangerous. Lives could be lost, justice could be denied, damage could be done. Since that awful April day in 1999 there have been a number of possible school slayings averted because someone spoke up in time for something to be done about it. In every case, the students who spoke up have been rightly labeled as heroes. Not traitors. not treasonous scum because they shirked their loyalty to their classmates, but heroes, plain and simple.
W. Mark Felt spoke out at a time when something could be done. Unable to go to his boss who had been installed specifically to keep the Nixon White House abreast of the investigation, Felt went to someone that could make a difference. He risked his entire career to make sure that the truth would see the light of day and that those who were guilty would be brought to justice. In my book, that makes him a hero. He could have chosen loyalty, he could have chosen to not rock the boat, but he didn't. Instead, he chose honesty and justice. Imagine our reaction if someone in the ranks of the Nazi party had come forth early on and exposed Hitler's plans. Imagine if someone in the ranks of al Qaida were to come forward and provide the hiding place of Osama bin Laden. How would we treat them? As traitors? Not hardly. Of course Nixon wasn't the equivalent of a Hitler or an Osama bin Laden. That is not the point of my analagies. We're talking about erring on the side of truth as opposed to blind loyalty to something or someone that a person knows in their heart is wrong.
And before the freepers and the wingnuts throw Linda Tripp in my face, there is a difference. Nixon's attempts to impede a federal investigation was an illegal act. Bill Clinton receiving a blowjob from a woman who was not his wife was an immoral act of adulterous ignorance, but not illegal. Mark Felt was bringing a criminal to justice. Linda Tripp was gossiping about a person's private life. Adulterous affairs take place on a daily basis. None of them are right, but neither are any of them illegal in the eyes of the law. However, impeding a federal investigation qualifies as both immoral and illegal. Linda Tripp is not deserving of the same status as Mark Felt. Comparing the two is nothing more than a juvenile attempt to paint Felt as a gossip hound, which he is not.
So despite the constant barrage of pro-Nixon/anti-Felt bloviating that we hear eminating from the right these days, I believe it's clear that what Felt did is nothing short of courageous. And I'm not saying this because I'm a Democrat and Nixon was a Republican, I'm saying this because Mark Felt helped to bring the truth to a public that is too often kept in the dark and that should never be considered treasonous in any day and age. Thank you Mark Felt. The integrity of our country is in your debt.
According to Buchanan, Colson, and the vacuous conservative zombies over at Free Republic (no link, you'll have to get there yourselves), Felt should have gone to his superior and followed the chain of command instead of going to the "liberal" media. And of course they won't let us forget that Felt had recently been passed over for promotion to the head of the FBI in favor of L. Patrick Gray, a bureau outsider and Nixon crony, so he clearly had an axe to grind and was looking for revenge. Never once however, did they even hint at the fact that Nixon may have done something wrong. Forget the fact that he tried to impede an investigation into a criminal activity. That's just nitpicking.
But let's talk about a seemingly unrelated incident for just a minute. Let's fast-forward about twenty-five years and talk about the tragedy at Columbine High School. One of the things that came out of that terrible event is that we now strongly encourage our students to speak out if they hear of anything like this. In fact, we have posters all over the schools today reminding students that "Heroes call before it's too late." Remaining quiet about possible illegal activities could be dangerous. Lives could be lost, justice could be denied, damage could be done. Since that awful April day in 1999 there have been a number of possible school slayings averted because someone spoke up in time for something to be done about it. In every case, the students who spoke up have been rightly labeled as heroes. Not traitors. not treasonous scum because they shirked their loyalty to their classmates, but heroes, plain and simple.
W. Mark Felt spoke out at a time when something could be done. Unable to go to his boss who had been installed specifically to keep the Nixon White House abreast of the investigation, Felt went to someone that could make a difference. He risked his entire career to make sure that the truth would see the light of day and that those who were guilty would be brought to justice. In my book, that makes him a hero. He could have chosen loyalty, he could have chosen to not rock the boat, but he didn't. Instead, he chose honesty and justice. Imagine our reaction if someone in the ranks of the Nazi party had come forth early on and exposed Hitler's plans. Imagine if someone in the ranks of al Qaida were to come forward and provide the hiding place of Osama bin Laden. How would we treat them? As traitors? Not hardly. Of course Nixon wasn't the equivalent of a Hitler or an Osama bin Laden. That is not the point of my analagies. We're talking about erring on the side of truth as opposed to blind loyalty to something or someone that a person knows in their heart is wrong.
And before the freepers and the wingnuts throw Linda Tripp in my face, there is a difference. Nixon's attempts to impede a federal investigation was an illegal act. Bill Clinton receiving a blowjob from a woman who was not his wife was an immoral act of adulterous ignorance, but not illegal. Mark Felt was bringing a criminal to justice. Linda Tripp was gossiping about a person's private life. Adulterous affairs take place on a daily basis. None of them are right, but neither are any of them illegal in the eyes of the law. However, impeding a federal investigation qualifies as both immoral and illegal. Linda Tripp is not deserving of the same status as Mark Felt. Comparing the two is nothing more than a juvenile attempt to paint Felt as a gossip hound, which he is not.
So despite the constant barrage of pro-Nixon/anti-Felt bloviating that we hear eminating from the right these days, I believe it's clear that what Felt did is nothing short of courageous. And I'm not saying this because I'm a Democrat and Nixon was a Republican, I'm saying this because Mark Felt helped to bring the truth to a public that is too often kept in the dark and that should never be considered treasonous in any day and age. Thank you Mark Felt. The integrity of our country is in your debt.
