Da Nile is not just a river in Egypt

We all now know who “Deep Throat” is. (Well, most of us do. . . “Puffy Dubay” of the PA & Dubay show on Minneapolis' KFAN radio claims that he saw the movie and “She looks nothing like a 91 year old man. . . “ Hint Puffy: wrong movie!) Anyway, this rant is not about the revealing of one of the biggest secrets of our time. It is about the reaction to the revelation.

(Note: I did not have time to trace all the transcripts, so I won't have actual quotes, I will have paraphrases that I believe are consistent with the original comments; this is sufficient for this rant!)

Charles Colson and Pat Buchanan were on the Today Show on 6/1. Background: Colson went to prison after being convicted of a crime with regards to Watergate; Buchanan was never indicted, except by his own words since the mid 1960's. Anyway, the two basically called Mark Felt a traitor. Their point was based on a “sacred trust” that allowed the president to talk to the FBI without fear that it be leaked. Buchanan said that leaking is always wrong and Felt should have resigned and taken it to a grand jury and the press.

Then I turn on Rush on the radio while running a few errands. A caller (not Rush!) brought up that G Gordon Liddy had recently been on a radio show saying that one of the targets of the break-in was a list of hookers that the Democrats used for “party building” (my joke, not the callers!). The caller was frustrated because everyone was ignoring the fact that they had “legitimate reasons” to break in.

Give me a break! This is denial at its worst. This is putting politics ahead of doing the right thing. Colson and Buchanan ignore the fact that the communication between the president and the FBI involved covering up a crime and did not deserve any form of privilege. Recall the Nuremberg trials and Calley at My Lai. Military personnel and political leaders have a moral obligation to not follow illegal orders, or they share responsibility in the crime.

It is also contradictory. Liddy didn't go to press or the grand jury with regards to the hooker list; they broke the law by breaking and entering! This does not rise to the level of a “legitimate reason” for their actions. Watergate was a “two-bit burglary” that now has “two-bit rationalizations” defending it.

Of course, it is SOP. We saw the same from Democrats during Whitewater and the Clinton impeachment. We have also seen the same from the Republicans during some of the recent scandals. There is a rush to attack the messenger and deny everything before we even know what the truth is. When you put party before democracy, the country loses.

On 6/2, Woodward and Bernstein was on the Today Show. Bob Woodward had the best line: “It feels like they are refighting Watergate all over again. But the record of the crimes is clear.”

Ben Bradley was the Washington Post Editor during this period. The one line he used over and over when the White House would respond to a Post story was to point out it was a “non-denial denial.”

Finally, expect Felt to be slammed constantly over the next few weeks over “making money on this.” Remember that the persons slamming him all wrote books after they got out of prison and have been making money off of this for years on the talk circuit. Felt is about the only person who did the right thing and has not made a cent. Remember that when you hear politicians rush to denial with a rousing chorus of “Old man river (of rationalizations)!”