\jeff{krimmel}

More Musings About Deep Throat

I am damn near obsessed with this story, and I honestly have a hard time figuring out why. I find no end to its intrigue. About two years ago, while working a summer job, I spent my lunch hour each day for a week or so reading about the students at the University of Illinois who were working on a class project to manage a guess as to the identity of Deep Throat (the same project I mentioned in my previous post). I remember thinking how frustrating it was that we would likely not know the answer for a while yet. It amazed (and still amazes) me to think how much time and how many resources had gone into guessing who the mystery informant actually was.

I am half shocked and half deflated at today’s result. I am shocked because of the nature of the way in which this information was disclosed. I wake up, check out the news online, and find a link to a Vanity Fair article describing a man (W. Mark Felt) who claims to be Deep Throat. Within a few hours, Bob Woodward himself is confirming Mr. Felt is indeed Deep Throat. It was just terribly out of the blue. I am deflated because the mystery is over. It didn’t consume much, if any, of my time over the past couple of years, but the mystery was still there when the topic came up. That’s no longer the case.

It’s almost like what would happen if somehow all of the various theories about who killed JFK suddenly vanished with the presentation of an irrefutable conclusion. Each of the current theories has holes, and the chances of us knowing for sure exactly what happened in Dallas on November 22, 1963, wane with each passing day. Likewise, each of the Deep Throat identities had problems, and the various theories were all competing for many years. Today they no longer are. It’s over.

I must say I am looking forward to the couple of high profile books that come out of all of this. I would love to first read Woodward’s and Bernstein’s All The President’s Men and then read the book that I would bet the house they will write as a result of today’s revelation. I would get quite a kick out of that.

As for Mr. Felt, I think he must pretty pleased with the outcome. I can appreciate the argument that the man deserved to receive some accolades for his actions before he passed, and I would think that knowing what your legacy is going to be before you go can be rather comforting. Of course you will have your collection of bigots (e.g. Pat Buchanan) and convicted felons (e.g. G. Gordon Liddy) calling you names, but who cares? I believe most people will recognize Mr. Felt as having performed an extremely valuable public service in the face of extraordinary risk. And, to be honest, when it’s you versus Richard Nixon in a game of moral fortitude, you have to like your chances.