Why Deep Throat Was an Unimportant Source/Watergate (A Must READ!)

[KoKo]

Why Deep Throat Was an Unimportant Source and Other Reflections on Watergate
“The reason Deep Throat remained anonymous, so that even Post Editors didn’t know who he was, is that his contribution was unimportant,” writes Barry Sussman, the editor who supervised Woodward and Bernstein and the Post’s coverage of Watergate.

By Barry Sussman

Some people have asked for my take on Deep Throat, or Mark Felt, as a source for the Washington Post in its coverage of the Watergate scandal. I was District of Columbia editor when the break-in occurred on June 17th, 1972, and soon afterward was made special Watergate editor, relieved of other duties. I helped create Woodward and Bernstein as a team, and was in charge of the day-to-day coverage, working most intensely on it for the next 15 months.

Deep Throat was nice to have around, but that’s about it. His role as a key Watergate source for the Post is a myth, created by a movie and sustained by hype for almost 30 years.

One of the worst features – hardly ever addressed – was that as the story began peeling, layer by layer like an onion, hardly any American leaders rose to tell the people how atrocious such behavior was. Instead, as the Senate Watergate hearings came to a close in the fall of 1973, leaders of both political parties began saying the country had had enough of Watergate, and that it was time to move on. When the Ervin Committee produced its final report, censure of Nixon was just about absent. Ervin, asked why that was, said in his homey way, “There’s two ways to draw a picture of a horse. One is to draw a picture of a horse. The other is to draw a picture of a horse and write under it, ‘Horse.’” Ervin should have added the caption.

At the time, you could count on one hand the list of political leaders who censured Nixon because of Watergate. In the end, it was the power of public opinion, the courts, and Nixon’s own belligerent actions that forced Congress to move toward impeachment. It was a terrible failure of leadership.

http://www.journalism.org/resources/publications/articles/deepthroat.asp

[Sequoia]

1. Thank you for that website!

Not just the article.

[pacalo]

2. During the Watergate scandal, Nixon's approval ratings fell to 25%.

His open contempt for the media didn't help him, nor was the media owned by only a handful of Republican-cheerleading corporations like today.

Bush's numbers aren't there yet, but they're continuing to spiral down. We can only hope the media continues to turn on this band of thugs so that those who rely on network-fed news will get informed.

[OneBlueSky]

3. "It was a terrible failure of leadership" . . .

which is precisely what is happening in Washington today . . . only far, far worse . . . and attributable to both parties . . .

[TahitiNut]

4. Deep Throat (Felt) never provided evidence.

To the best of my recollection, Deep Throat only offered guidance in the form of "you're getting warmer/colder" and "follow the money" and never disclosed names or provided documentation. Nothing of what he provided could, if quoted, be used as evidence, as far as I know. As such, he was about as useful as a stud-finder or compass, telling two "investigative" reporters the most basic of "investigative" techniques. In mentoring Woodward in this fashion, he provided the crutch that the incompetent authoritarian Woodward needed (and still needs) in order to act in anything approaching a competent way.

During the entire Watergate 'scandal,' the corruption was downplayed by politicians ... politicians demonstrating a greater allegiance to a questionable vocation than to The People. The downplayed penalties and pardons were rationalized in the name of "healing," not HEALTH, of the body politic. It didn't work, any more than band-aids help "heal" leprosy. The repeated failure (Watergate, Iran/Contra, etc.) to prosecute and penalize, to the fullest extent of the law, those found guilty of violations of public trust and abuse of authority has merely allowed the political leprosy to spread and contaminate everything it touches. How much additional corporate corruption can be attributed to (1) failure of politicians to criminalize such behavior, and (2) the 'welcome mat' for political bribery and influence-peddling that remains on the porches of all our legislatures and government executive offices?

An abuse of the public trust should be treated as a "hate crime" and incur far greater penalties than when committed by ordinary citizens. Such crimes should also be treated as treasonous and be ineligible for any pardon or amnesty. That any politician has pardon power over the crimes of any other politician is an innate conflict of interest.

[teryang]

6. Exactly, Iran Contra has led directly to Neo Con Imperial Rule

The promotion of known criminals within the current government is emblematic of a despotic regime.

[Laughing Mirror]

5. Excellent!!

The myth and the hype of Deep Throat, Deep Throat. It was good for a lot of careers though, and helped sell a lot of at least one major newspaper.

Sussman was one of the ones who actually worked putting this stuff out, and so I'm glad to read him setting the record straight. I think he confirms what many who were there at the time have known for decades, while the myth kept perpetuating itself in movies, TV shows and books, not to mention Bradlee and Mrs. Graham, herself.

But we do love our movies and TV shows and books about Watergate and the Washington Post, dont we? We do love our myths.