Deep Throat: Hero or Traitor?

  • Thread starter dbartucci
  • 39 comments
  • 1,387 views

What do you think of what Felt Did?

  • He's a hero

    Votes: 17 77.3%

  • He's a traitor

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • He's dishonourable

    Votes: 2 9.1%

  • Who?

    Votes: 3 13.6%
  • Total voters
    22
dbartucci

dbartucci

1,727
Recent new stories indicate that the Washington Post informant in the Watergate Scandal was W. Mark Felt, who was the #2 man at the FBI during the scandal.

Reports indicate that Felt was angry with the Whitehouse interferring in the FBI investigation, leading them to dead-ends, and trying to politicize the bureau. He was also angry with Nixon for passing him over to become the FBI director.

Felt's family calls him a national hero, conservatives have called him dishonourable.

What's your opinion on Felt, did he do the right thing at the time? Was his job to turn evidence over the grand jury investigation and FBI agents? How should history look back on Deep Throat now that we know who it was?
 
Wow, that's funny – I was just thinking, "Why hasn't anybody made a thread about Deepthroat yet? Maybe I'll go make one myself", then I come to this. :)
 
:confused: I heard about the deep throat on the news, but don't know enough about Watergate to judge, so I'm gonna have to come back and vote, after some research. :)

Edit: OK, I knew he was planting bugs to listen in on his enemies, but I guess he was "bugging" reporters also. Sounds like there were a lot of BS going on, and according to the poll held in the 90's(by CBS, I think), about 40% of the people thought it was just political.

What Nixon and his men were caught doing were clearly illegal, so I think he did deserve to resign(kicked out) from the office. Like dbartucci said in his post, I did hear that he was probably sore about Nixon passing on him as the new FBI Director, so I'm not sure what his motive was to bring down the President. However, I don't think anybody set the President up. I think Deep Throat did the right thing.
 
Why should a leading law enforcer of the United States who gave government secrets to a newspaper reporter illegally be hailed as a hero?
 
Viper Zero
Why should a leading law enforcer of the United States who gave government secrets to a newspaper reporter illegally be hailed as a hero?
Click to expand...
I don't think he's a hero, and don't condone the methods used by Deep Throat. I'm still not sure about the man's motive. Having said that, busting the President of the United States of America can't be an simple task. Maybe he had to get creative?

What do you think, Viper? Obviously, you don't like Deep Throat, but do you think President was guilty? Did he deserve to be forced into resignation?
 
I don't like snitches nor the people who rally behind them.

Do I think Nixon was guilty? I don't know, he was never impeached or brought to trial. But, resigning from President is a pretty good sign that he did something that wasn't constitutional.
 
Viper Zero
I don't like snitches nor the people who rally behind them.
Click to expand...
I hope you aren't talking about me! :grumpy:

I'm not sure if I like this Deep Throat either. From what I read though, sounds like Nixon has nobody to blame, but himself.
 
No, I was talking about Deep Throat (the snitch) and the Liberal Media who thinks he's a hero.

Maybe we should get our parents in here and they can argue for us.
 
What was Deep Throat's primary purpose? To protect his country from a corrupt president, or to protect a corrupt president?

Surely if you do what you consider is right to protect your country (within reason) you cannot be considered to be a traitor, regardless of any figureheads of power you have to betray in the process?


I have little knowledge of the events, so I literally AM asking the first question.
 
Let me provide a link to Wikipedia about Watergate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate to clear up and summarize exactly the scandal was.

In regards to Famine's post, does it matter whether his purpose was to protect the country or protect the president? He went to the press instead of keeping the information within the bureau or turning it over to a grand jury. Surely, if he wanted to protect the country from the president he could have handled the matter internally? Or did he see an opportunity for revenge and out of frustration with CIA and whitehouse medling go to the press to take down Nixon?
 
dbartucci
In regards to Famine's post, does it matter whether his purpose was to protect the country or protect the president? He went to the press instead of keeping the information within the bureau or turning it over to a grand jury. Surely, if he wanted to protect the country from the president he could have handled the matter internally? Or did he see an opportunity for revenge and out of frustration with CIA and whitehouse medling go to the press to take down Nixon?
Click to expand...
I think he did the right thing. The various departments of the government are highly influenced by party members. If he had tried to handle things internally there was really too high a probability it would have been buried. The only real alternative was to expose it nationally, to eliminate that probability.

But a hero? No.
 
Wow this thread was nothing what I thought it was until I picked up the newspaper this morning and saw it on the front page. Sorry my inner imaturity speaking out.

I don't really know what to think, but he isn't a hero.
 
the republicans where doing burglary mafia style, and the guy who put it in the open is a traitor ? well you're right they rule the country so they should do everything as they want, it's unpatriotic to doubt them, hail to the chief (whoever he is, whatever he does)

nixon0zk.gif
 
That's right Republicans are the dirty politicans and every liberal is fine:rolleyes:.

All politicans are crooks, it just depends on how they screw you and how much they do.
 
Viper Zero
Why should a leading law enforcer of the United States who gave government secrets to a newspaper reporter illegally be hailed as a hero?
Click to expand...
Because his superiors were in on the fix and he had no one to report it to to make it better. If he keeps his mouth shut the President and his gang get away with a host of illegal activitys and make a mockery of the US justice system and the electorial proccess. The fact that he had the balls to take the risk to address a wrong in the best interest of his country is to be admired.
The safe thing for him to do would have been to keep his mouth shut and go along with the fix. THAT WENT ALL THE WAY TO THE WHITE HOUSE . Who the frig did you want him to report it to ? He did the right thing at considerable risk to himself and his carreeer FOR NO PERSONAL GAIN. Name someone else who has done the same. F*&^ N government FG87^%$ n secrets ? MY ASS . Government secrets of a crime the government commited along with a coverup .
 
dbartucci
Let me provide a link to Wikipedia about Watergate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate to clear up and summarize exactly the scandal was.

In regards to Famine's post, does it matter whether his purpose was to protect the country or protect the president? He went to the press instead of keeping the information within the bureau or turning it over to a grand jury. Surely, if he wanted to protect the country from the president he could have handled the matter internally? Or did he see an opportunity for revenge and out of frustration with CIA and whitehouse medling go to the press to take down Nixon?
Click to expand...


It was because of the info he leaked wich BTW was nothing but telling the reporters were to look . That the grand jury was even put in place the whole list of crimes and the coverup was well on its way to being squashed . You had the US attorney General and the head of the FBI making evidence disapear . Again I ask WHO was he suposed to have reported to and how long before HE himself found himself looking for a new job ?
I lived through this time and you have NO IDEA what balls it took for this guy to go against the whole force of the US government to correct what he thought was a grave injustice. Dont blame the friggin criminals BLAME the guy who points them out.
 
That depends on your point of veiw concerning the crimes and the coverup . And also if you think Nixon and his boys should have been given a slap on the wrist ..or just have been ignored.
I worked on his reelection campaign . I for one was certain that he was being framed and that the liberals were out to get a great man.
I was a fool. He was and is a crook . A very friggin arogant crook .
 
ledhed
That depends on your point of veiw concerning the crimes and the coverup . And also if you think Nixon and his boys should have been given a slap on the wrist ..or just have been ignored.
I worked on his reelection campaign . I for one was certain that he was being framed and that the liberals were out to get a great man.
I was a fool. He was and is a crook . A very friggin arogant crook .
Click to expand...

I don't claim to know much about Watergate, but doesn't Nixon command any respect in the U.S.? He ended the Vietnam war and opened relations with China for a kick-off...? Sure, if he was corrupt, he should have left office (as he did), but does he really deserve to be remembered simply as a crook?
 
The media will remember him as a crook and ignore everything else. The left remembers him (and still does) as Satan of the Republican party, the source of all evil.
 
His is a strange case ..IF it was not for the watergate scandle he would have been remembered for his raproachment with China and his leadership in a VERY difficult and dangerouse time in US history. He kept the country from falling apart at the seams over the war in Vietnam and the civil unrest that followed the "68 assasinations and the riots ..the Kent state masacre etc. etc. He alone amongst his peers had the record and credibility to approach China. The world was a very dangerouse place and having China sitting next to Russia with the US not being an enemy was a very good thing. His handling of the war in Vietnam is a subject of debate ..but IMO he did what he had to do because by the time it was his turn to deal with it the US had fairly much had its full of that place ..Johnson blew that deal . In my opinion without Watergate Nixon at worst would have been considered a good President . Watergate changed the way Americans think about their leaders in very a bad way.
 
Slippery
Because you are a conservative?
Click to expand...

No.

Deep Throat committed a crime, that is a fact. Unfortunately, the statute of limitations is only five years, and Deep Throat got away with his hidden identity.

When did criminals become heroes?
 
knowing about a crime and not revealing information is a crime. and he passed the information. he would be a criminal if he kept it to himself.
 
he didn't in fact reveal that crime, telling another person about it isn't revealing that information. You must report that crime to the police, if failing to report is even a crime. Deep Throat probably waited to reveal himself until he had retired and his full pension kicked in, fired = no full pension or no pension at all. I don't think he's a hero, I do think he was motivated out of frustration over CIA interference, the increasing politization of the FBI, and anger over being passed over for the #1 position, not just "being the conscience of the FBI", like he claims now. Hero? I don't think so. Traitor? He didn't have to look hard to see the crimes Nixon, Liddy, et. al were committing, and he did greatly help take down a corrupt bureaucracy.
 
I just read on the Japanese news site, that Mark Felt is now a millionare. He signed a book contract, and there's also a ongoing talk of Tom Hanks produced movie about the "Deep Throat". Figures!
 
a6m5
I just read on the Japanese news site, that Mark Felt is now a millionare. He signed a book contract, and there's also a ongoing talk of Tom Hanks produced movie about the "Deep Throat". Figures!
Click to expand...

And you believe it ? Figures ... 💡 The guy is as old as the hills and wanted to get the story out before he dies...no book deal ...just bull deal.
 

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