Yesterday, I went to Mark Felt's (Deep Throat) funeral

[Downtown Hound]

After all the speculation about who Deep Throat was, it turned out he was a guy living in my hometown of Santa Rosa, California. His memorial service was open to the public, and get this, in a place that used to be a movie theater I worked in for three years. I never knew that all the years I spent sweeping popcorn off the floor of that theater that it would one day be where Deep Throat's funeral was held, and that I would be attending.

It was quite a lovely ceremony. Both Woodward and Bernstein were there and they gave speeches. Woodward talked about the need for more people like him to come forward and expose the torture and secret prisons that we have operating around the world today. His children and grandchildren came forward and talked about the simple things they used to do with him, like when he'd rent a room at the Flamingo Hotel in the summer just so the kids could swim in the pool.

I looked around at all the people crammed into this former movie theater, which is now a kind of spiritual center, some of them friends and family of the man that changed the course of history, but most of them people just like me, strangers that had come to pay their respects. Some of them were crying. It was very beautiful. And the thing that I walked away from it was how important it is to always do the right thing, no matter who you have to defy in order to do it. Mark Felt did that, and not only gave the nation a great gift, but also all of us that were there yesterday. It goes to show you that our actions can have a powerful effect on others, even when we are gone. Maybe especially when we're gone. What a wonderful and inspirational legacy that man left behind. I only can hope that when I go, I leave behind a legacy as noble as his was.

Happy journey Mr. Felt. This nation owes you a great debt.

[aquart]

1. Well said.

[spanone]

2. k&r

[G_j]

3. thanks for sharing this. n/t

[Ian David]

4. You went to a movie theater for Deep Throat? n/t

[Downtown Hound]

5. LOL!

Back in the day, I actually did um, see Deep Throat in that theater on a few occasions when I was supposed to be working. Don't tell anybody. That theater was famous for being a, um, fun place to work.

[unblock]

13. duzy!

[formercia]

6. Woodward needs to be exposed.

More street theater from the boys. Ironic they would do it in a theater. Just actors on a stage.

I think the joke is on us.

[onethatcares]

7. a great man. thanx for the post.

Peace.

[Froward69]

8. PATRIOT

:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

[Autumn]

9. Woodward should heed

his own advice.

[bobbolink]

10. Yes, it's important to "do the right thing". But what holds a lot of people back is

being left alone and hung out to dry.

What WE can do if we REALLY want people to do more of this is to offer support and care for whistleblowers.

We are such a damned rugged individualist society that we think by demanding that people "do the right thing" that they will sacrifice all for the cause. That's not only unrealistic, it's immoral.

I've seen people arrested at peace rallies, and nobody bothers to find out who they are, to follow up and see if they need help, if their families are OK, etc. We just leave them to their own devices. That is no way to have the kind of society we NEED.

It's up to US.

[Downtown Hound]

18. Well said. n/t

[acmavm]

11. Wow! Did you hear Rod Serling in the background as Woodward

unveiled his speil?

[misanthrope]

12. Woodward only wants those people to come forward...

...if they agree to speak to him exclusively and he can write books about them. It will allow him to clutch key information and brag about his insider status, regardless of what justice demands.

[yawk09]

14. k&r

[DeepModem Mom]

15. K&R

[Mind_your_head]

16. *Gulp*.......I'm gonna go out on a limb here, but I don't believe Mark Felt was "deep throat" n/t

[Downtown Hound]

17. I'm curious, what makes you say that?

[MinM]

20. Jim Hougan's - Secret Agenda: Deep Throat was Sen Robert Bennett (R-UT)

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/MinM/134

http://www.counterpunch.org/hougan06082005.html

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/MinM/97

[Starry Messenger]

19. k & r