Jacob Bernstein spilled the beans at summer camp seventeen years ago. Out of the mouths of babes. When Chase Culeman-Beckman turned his secret into a high school history paper ten years later, he didn't even get an "A" on it.
From the Seattle Times:
Born well after Watergate, Culeman-Beckman was only 8 years old when, he says, Jacob Bernstein, a son of Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein, revealed Deep Throat's identity to him during playtime at summer day camp in 1988.
Except for telling his mom, Culeman-Beckman would keep the secret for nearly 10 years — until spilling the beans in a high-school research paper.
In a 1999 Hartford Courant article about Culeman-Beckman's disclosure (which was printed in The Seattle Times), Felt denied he was Deep Throat. Bernstein said neither he nor reporting partner Bob Woodward had ever told their wives, children or anyone else Deep Throat's identity.
..."They've been cute about it long enough," Culeman-Beckman said then. "I just think if it's fair of them to dethrone a president, for all intents and purposes, and not tell anyone their source, I don't see why it's not fair for a person like myself to come forward. ... Let the cards fall where they may. There's a chance this could be the answer to one of the greatest political mysteries of our time."
Curiously enough, it was.
The truth was told publically in 1999. A kid scooped the Post. While this summer camp tale is an interesting side story, what I find intriguing about it is Felt denied being the mysterious informant as recently as six years ago.
John O'Connor, lawyer and author of the Vanity Fair article, insists Felt's family convinced him that he was a hero and should come forward. O'Connor claims daughter Joan only used the money angle ("make enough money to pay some bills, like the debt I've run up for the children's education") to persuade him to go along with the unmasking, to achieve their desire to present Felt as a hero.
Deep Throat's family was in it for the money, pure and simple.
O'Connor and Vanity Fair timed the announcement to avoid Memorial Day and last week's filibuster uproar. They planned the unveiling for a time it would receive maximum media attention.
It seems quite obvious to me that the family is exploiting Mark Felt. When his mind was sharper, he refused to admit to the role he played in the Watergate drama.
Why? Because he knew what he did was wrong.
Rather than respect his wishes, the family pushed a confused, old man to agree to reveal his Deep Throat identity, something he actively avoided for decades.
It truly is pathetic.
Showing posts with label Notorious. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Notorious. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 1, 2005
Watergate's Legacy
Ben Stein's American Spectator column presents an interesting take on the turn history took because W. Mark Felt violated FBI regulations and leaked information to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.
Deep Throat and Genocide
By Ben Stein
Published 6/1/2005 12:22:42 AM
Re: The "news" that former FBI agent Mark Felt broke the law, broke his code of ethics, broke his oath and was the main source for Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward's articles that helped depose Richard Nixon, a few thoughts.
Can anyone even remember now what Nixon did that was so terrible? He ended the war in Vietnam, brought home the POW's, ended the war in the Mideast, opened relations with China, started the first nuclear weapons reduction treaty, saved Eretz Israel's life, started the Environmental Protection Administration. Does anyone remember what he did that was bad?
Oh, now I remember. He lied. He was a politician who lied. How remarkable. He lied to protect his subordinates who were covering up a ridiculous burglary that no one to this date has any clue about its purpose. He lied so he could stay in office and keep his agenda of peace going. That was his crime. He was a peacemaker and he wanted to make a world where there was a generation of peace. And he succeeded.
That is his legacy. He was a peacemaker. He was a lying, conniving, covering up peacemaker. He was not a lying, conniving drug addict like JFK, a lying, conniving war starter like LBJ, a lying conniving seducer like Clinton -- a lying conniving peacemaker. That is Nixon's kharma.
When his enemies brought him down, and they had been laying for him since he proved that Alger Hiss was a traitor, since Alger Hiss was their fair-haired boy, this is what they bought for themselves in the Kharma Supermarket that is life:
1.) The defeat of the South Vietnamese government with decades of death and hardship for the people of Vietnam.
2.) The assumption of power in Cambodia by the bloodiest government of all time, the Khmer Rouge, who killed a third of their own people, often by making children beat their own parents to death. No one doubts RN would never have let this happen.
So, this is the great boast of the enemies of Richard Nixon, including Mark Felt: they made the conditions necessary for the Cambodian genocide. If there is such a thing as kharma, if there is such a thing as justice in this life of the next, Mark Felt has bought himself the worst future of any man on this earth. And Bob Woodward is right behind him, with Ben Bradlee bringing up the rear. Out of their smug arrogance and contempt, they hatched the worst nightmare imaginable: genocide. I hope they are happy now -- because their future looks pretty bleak to me.
Deep Throat and Genocide
By Ben Stein
Published 6/1/2005 12:22:42 AM
Re: The "news" that former FBI agent Mark Felt broke the law, broke his code of ethics, broke his oath and was the main source for Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward's articles that helped depose Richard Nixon, a few thoughts.
Can anyone even remember now what Nixon did that was so terrible? He ended the war in Vietnam, brought home the POW's, ended the war in the Mideast, opened relations with China, started the first nuclear weapons reduction treaty, saved Eretz Israel's life, started the Environmental Protection Administration. Does anyone remember what he did that was bad?
Oh, now I remember. He lied. He was a politician who lied. How remarkable. He lied to protect his subordinates who were covering up a ridiculous burglary that no one to this date has any clue about its purpose. He lied so he could stay in office and keep his agenda of peace going. That was his crime. He was a peacemaker and he wanted to make a world where there was a generation of peace. And he succeeded.
That is his legacy. He was a peacemaker. He was a lying, conniving, covering up peacemaker. He was not a lying, conniving drug addict like JFK, a lying, conniving war starter like LBJ, a lying conniving seducer like Clinton -- a lying conniving peacemaker. That is Nixon's kharma.
When his enemies brought him down, and they had been laying for him since he proved that Alger Hiss was a traitor, since Alger Hiss was their fair-haired boy, this is what they bought for themselves in the Kharma Supermarket that is life:
1.) The defeat of the South Vietnamese government with decades of death and hardship for the people of Vietnam.
2.) The assumption of power in Cambodia by the bloodiest government of all time, the Khmer Rouge, who killed a third of their own people, often by making children beat their own parents to death. No one doubts RN would never have let this happen.
So, this is the great boast of the enemies of Richard Nixon, including Mark Felt: they made the conditions necessary for the Cambodian genocide. If there is such a thing as kharma, if there is such a thing as justice in this life of the next, Mark Felt has bought himself the worst future of any man on this earth. And Bob Woodward is right behind him, with Ben Bradlee bringing up the rear. Out of their smug arrogance and contempt, they hatched the worst nightmare imaginable: genocide. I hope they are happy now -- because their future looks pretty bleak to me.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Trivial Pursuit
I've had enough.
W. Mark Felt was Deep Throat. It was interesting very briefly. Now, it's old.
By watching TV today, you'd think learning the identity of this leaker was the most significant news event in recent times.
In spite of what the family says, violating the law is not heroic. Felt doesn't deserve accolades, nor does he deserve any more media attention.
The mystery is over. Spending a day on this is plenty. I would have preferred that the media spent the time detailing all the good our military has accomplished for people in the Middle East.
Felt illegally leaked information to the press over thirty years ago. That has no bearing on anything happening now.
It's a bit of trivia and not much more.
W. Mark Felt was Deep Throat. It was interesting very briefly. Now, it's old.
By watching TV today, you'd think learning the identity of this leaker was the most significant news event in recent times.
In spite of what the family says, violating the law is not heroic. Felt doesn't deserve accolades, nor does he deserve any more media attention.
The mystery is over. Spending a day on this is plenty. I would have preferred that the media spent the time detailing all the good our military has accomplished for people in the Middle East.
Felt illegally leaked information to the press over thirty years ago. That has no bearing on anything happening now.
It's a bit of trivia and not much more.
Joan Felt: Like Father, Like Daughter
From BCN:
News that two Washington Post reporters who broke the Watergate scandal have finally confirmed W. Mark Felt's status as the notorious "Deep Throat" source brought "a big grin" to the ex-FBI official's face, his daughter said today.
"I think it's a great moment in American history and in our family, especially for my dad," Joan Felt said outside the Santa Rosa home she shares with her 91-year-old father.
...Joan Felt said today that her father has always lived with honor and what he did is "very patriotic."
Felt is described as a man who keeps to himself, according to Robert Scoffern, a neighbor who lives four doors down from Felt. Felt has lived with his daughter on the Redford Place cul-de-sac for about the last 12 years, said Scoffern.
"We knew he retired from the FBI. We left him alone. Nobody was inquisitive. I don't think anyone got too close to him. He was a private man," Scoffern said today in a telephone interview.
Nick Jones, Felt's grandson, read a statement to the crowd assembled outside the Redford Place family home earlier today. The family considers Felt a hero, according to the statement.
More, from AP:
"The family believes that my grandfather, Mark Felt Sr., is a great American hero who went well above and beyond the call of duty at much risk to himself to save his country from a horrible injustice," a family statement read by grandson Nick Jones said. "We all sincerely hope the country will see him this way as well."
...Felt had expressed reservations in the past about revealing his identity, and about whether his actions were appropriate for an FBI man, his grandson said.
According to the article, Felt once told his son, Mark Jr., that he did not believe being Deep Throat "was anything to be proud of. ... You (should) not leak information to anyone."
His family members thought otherwise, and persuaded him to talk about his role in the Watergate scandal, saying he deserves to receive accolades before his death. His daughter, Joan, argued that he could "make enough money to pay some bills, like the debt I've run up for the children's education."
"As he recently told my mother, 'I guess people used to think Deep Throat was a criminal, but now they think he's a hero'," Jones said.
And for all the liberals who tremble at the mention of the Patriot Act:
Felt was convicted in the 1970s for authorizing illegal break-ins at homes of people associated with the radical Weather Underground. He was pardoned by President Reagan in 1981.
Is Felt a hero?
He actually did what the liberals claim could happen under the Patriot Act. He sent FBI agents to illegally break into homes. The man was convicted.
Daughter Joan believes she can "make enough money to pay some bills, like the debt I've run up for the children's education."
No wonder she had that HUGE smile on her face.
Although his daughter and other family members seem to think Felt is a hero, as well as the MSM, I don't.He's a footnote in American history, and not an entirely noble one.
Leak Brings Down Woodward and Bernstein
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein refuse to confirm or deny W. Mark Felt as Deep Throat.
From Editor and Publisher:
On Bernstein--
Contacted by E&P, former Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein, who with Bob Woodward relied on the man dubbed 'Deep Throat' for crucial advice in their Watergate sleuthing, would neither confirm of deny Felt was the source, and said that the Woodward-Bernstein team would not change its stance.
"I think people are jumping up and down about this, but we have nothing to say other than what we have said which is when the individual dies, we will disclose his identity," he said. "Other sources have released us from pledges, but nothing has happened that could change that in these circumstances."
..."There have been numerous books and articles and speculation in journalism classes devoted to Deep Throat," Bernstein told E&P, when contacted at his Manhattan office. "When the individual dies, we will disclose his identity. We have always said the same thing. We do not go into any detail about it, not to play games, but to protect the source."
Asked if he was aware of the Vanity Fair article prior to its publication or had spoken with Felt, Bernstein declined comment. He also declined comment when asked directly if Felt was Deep Throat. "I'm not going to go beyond this," he said. "I've said what I am going to say."
When asked if this report was different than most past reports on Deep Throat's identity because it involved alleged commments by the famed anonymous source, Bernstein said, "That is not exactly true," but declined to elaborate further.
On Woodward--
In the Vanity Fair article exposing former FBI official W. Mark Felt as legendary Watergate source 'Deep Throat" (see article elsewhere on this site), writer John D. O'Connor details how he tried to get Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward to join in.
Felt, 91, purportedly said he wanted Woodward, who with Carl Bernstein relied on Deep Throat in their reporting, to cooperate.
O'Connor and Felt's daughter Joan tried to get Woodward to go along. The article pictures Woodward as neither confirming nor denying Felt was Deep Throat but acting in ways that certainly suggest that this is the truth. "Just because I'm talking to you, I'm not admitting that he is who you think he is," Woodward told O'Connor.
But Woodward was concerned about Felt's mental state, in talks and a visit with him, and ultimately, he did not go along with a joint exposure plan.
_______________________________
If Felt is indeed Deep Throat, he is getting the last laugh.
Woodward and Berstein gained cult status as the reporters who helped bring down the Nixon presidency, thanks to their source, the mysterious Deep Throat.
Keeping this mystery alive was most likely part of Woodward and Berstein's retirement nest egg. They expected to cash in big when Deep Throat died. Therefore, it makes sense that they are choosing not to verify or dispel Felt's claim.
Isn't it ironic that the man responsible for leaking information to Woodward and Bernstein to destroy Nixon, would leak information that would destroy the secrecy of the reporters' exclusive?
I guess one could conclude that once a leaker, always a leaker.
From Editor and Publisher:
On Bernstein--
Contacted by E&P, former Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein, who with Bob Woodward relied on the man dubbed 'Deep Throat' for crucial advice in their Watergate sleuthing, would neither confirm of deny Felt was the source, and said that the Woodward-Bernstein team would not change its stance.
"I think people are jumping up and down about this, but we have nothing to say other than what we have said which is when the individual dies, we will disclose his identity," he said. "Other sources have released us from pledges, but nothing has happened that could change that in these circumstances."
..."There have been numerous books and articles and speculation in journalism classes devoted to Deep Throat," Bernstein told E&P, when contacted at his Manhattan office. "When the individual dies, we will disclose his identity. We have always said the same thing. We do not go into any detail about it, not to play games, but to protect the source."
Asked if he was aware of the Vanity Fair article prior to its publication or had spoken with Felt, Bernstein declined comment. He also declined comment when asked directly if Felt was Deep Throat. "I'm not going to go beyond this," he said. "I've said what I am going to say."
When asked if this report was different than most past reports on Deep Throat's identity because it involved alleged commments by the famed anonymous source, Bernstein said, "That is not exactly true," but declined to elaborate further.
On Woodward--
In the Vanity Fair article exposing former FBI official W. Mark Felt as legendary Watergate source 'Deep Throat" (see article elsewhere on this site), writer John D. O'Connor details how he tried to get Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward to join in.
Felt, 91, purportedly said he wanted Woodward, who with Carl Bernstein relied on Deep Throat in their reporting, to cooperate.
O'Connor and Felt's daughter Joan tried to get Woodward to go along. The article pictures Woodward as neither confirming nor denying Felt was Deep Throat but acting in ways that certainly suggest that this is the truth. "Just because I'm talking to you, I'm not admitting that he is who you think he is," Woodward told O'Connor.
But Woodward was concerned about Felt's mental state, in talks and a visit with him, and ultimately, he did not go along with a joint exposure plan.
_______________________________
If Felt is indeed Deep Throat, he is getting the last laugh.
Woodward and Berstein gained cult status as the reporters who helped bring down the Nixon presidency, thanks to their source, the mysterious Deep Throat.
Keeping this mystery alive was most likely part of Woodward and Berstein's retirement nest egg. They expected to cash in big when Deep Throat died. Therefore, it makes sense that they are choosing not to verify or dispel Felt's claim.
Isn't it ironic that the man responsible for leaking information to Woodward and Bernstein to destroy Nixon, would leak information that would destroy the secrecy of the reporters' exclusive?
I guess one could conclude that once a leaker, always a leaker.
DEEP THROAT
W. Mark Felt
According to Vanity Fair, 91-year-old W. Mark Felt is Deep throat the informant that fed information to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.
He was the number two man at the FBI during the Watergate investigation.
It had been said that Deep Throat's identity would be revealed after the individual's death.
Apparently, Mr. Felt has given the green light to make it known that he was the informer.
Even at 91, it's never too late for 15 minutes of fame.
From ABC:
May 31, 2005 -- After more than 30 years of silence, the most famous anonymous source in American history, Deep Throat, has identified himself to a reporter at Vanity Fair.
W. Mark Felt, 91, an assistant director at the FBI in the 1970s, has told reporter John D. O'Connor that he is "the man known as Deep Throat."
O'Connor told ABC News in an interview today that Felt had for years thought he was a dishonorable man for talking to Bob Woodward, a reporter for The Washington Post during Watergate. Woodward's articles, writted with Carl Bernstein, led to the resignation of President Nixon.
"Mark wants the public respect, and wants to be known as a good man," O'Connor said. "He's very proud of the bureau, he's very proud of the FBI. He now knows he is a hero."
From MSNBC:
Ex-FBI official says he's 'Deep Throat'
Magazine quotes him as saying he was 'doing his duty'
W. Mark Felt, who retired from the FBI after rising to its second most senior position, has identified himself as the "Deep Throat" source quoted by The Washington Post to break the Watergate scandal that led to President Nixon's resignation, Vanity Fair magazine said Tuesday.
"I'm the guy they used to call Deep Throat," he told John D. O'Connor, the author of Vanity Fair's exclusive that appears in its July issue.
Felt, now 91 and living in Santa Rosa, Calif. reportedly gave O'Connor permission to disclose his identity.
"The Felt family cooperated fully, providing old photographs for the story and agreeing to sit for portraits," Vanity Fair stated in a press release.
Felt said he was "only doing his duty" and did not seek to bring down Nixon over the cover-up of a break-in at Democratic Party offices in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.
Carl Bernstein, who with Bob Woodward broke the story as Washington Post reporters, issued a statement neither denying nor confirming Felt's claim. Bernstein stated he and Woodward would be keeping their pledge to reveal the source only once that person dies.
NBC News commentator Chris Matthews, who wrote a book about Watergate, said he wasn't surprised, adding that Felt "has always been the leading suspect."
_______________________________
After ABC concluded it's coverage of President Bush's press conference, they stayed on the air to report W. Mark Felt's claim that he is Deep Throat.
Terry Moran bemoaned that today this is a "much different White House." He said this administration is disciplined and they won't talk.
Charles Gibson chimed in to agree that this White House is so secretive. No one is willing to meet reporters in underground parking lots.
I just about choked hearing the two men yearn for a highly-placed official from the Bush adminstration to leak information the way Felt claims he did.
Nixon White House = Good
Bush White House = Bad
Someone was willing to cooperate with the press to undermine Nixon. Moran and Gibson criticize the current administration because no one will do the same to Bush.
Did they consider the possibility that there is nothing untoward to leak?
No doubt, Woodward and Bernstein were banking on huge book sales when the time would come for them to release the identity of Deep Throat. I wouldn't be surprised if the book had already been written.
It looks like W. Mark Felt stole their thunder as well as profits.
More from ABC:
The identity of Deep Throat, the source for details about Nixon's Watergate cover-up, has been called the best-kept secret in the history of Washington D.C., or at least in the history of politics and journalism. Only four people were said to know the source's identity: Woodward; Bernstein; Ben Bradlee, the former executive editor of the Post; and, of course, Deep Throat himself.
Both Bradlee and Bernstein have refused to confirm to ABC News that Felt is Deep Throat.
Woodward would also neither confirm nor deny the report.
"There's a principle involved here," he told ABC News. He and Bernstein promised not to reveal Deep Throat's identity until the source dies.
Despite years of feelings of negativity and ambivalence, O'Connor said, Felt's family has helped him realize that "he is a hero" and "that it is good what he did."
In his 1979 book, "The FBI Pyramid: From the Inside," Felt flat-out denied that he was the famous source.
"I would have done better," Felt told The Hartford Courant in 1999. "I would have been more effective. Deep Throat didn't exactly bring the White House crashing down, did he?"
...The source was dubbed "Deep Throat" by Post managing editor Howard Simons after the notorious porn film.
_______________________________
The MSM is having a lot of fun with elevating Felt to hero status.
I'd be willing to bet that Dan Rather is in tears right now, crushed that he's not behind the anchor desk, rehashing the Watergate years.
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