America's best kept secret may soon be revealed.

[Doodler]

The word is out, and the obituary prepared, we may soon know the identity of Woodward and Bernstein's "Deep Throat".

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6210240/

Needless to say, after 33 years, the politics of the Watergate scandal are long dead, but never buried because of the few loose ends that were never fully revealed. This piece of the puzzle should be absolutely fascinating when its revealed.

Given recent events where various persons in the media have been subject to horrendous pressure from the courts to reveal inside sources after the incident with Robert Novak, this older situation playing itself out in the final stretch may serve as a reminder as to why such protections exist. Whomever DT was, he put his neck on the line at a time when a President playing power politics was way over the line. The standard defended by Woodward and Bernstein allowed an opening where a person in a precarious position in the open was able to reveal information critical to the public without fearing for his safety. Nowadays, rarely is there a story that goes by about the US government without a mention of an anonymous source within the agency in question.

So whomever he turns out to be, when he is finally revealed, remember to thank him in some small way for daring to unlock the back door for people inside government to say what needs to be said in a manner which preserves the public interest by revealing the truth to those who know best (usually) how to get the word to us.

[Makgraf]

I bet it's William Rehnquist.

He's sick right now, he was a high placed member of the executive branch (then later on the supreme court) and he got very good coverage in Woodward's The Brethren (about the Supreme Court).

[Doodler]

I bet it's William Rehnquist.

He's sick right now, he was a high placed member of the executive branch (then later on the supreme court) and he got very good coverage in Woodward's The Brethren (about the Supreme Court).

It would be interesting to see what the boys in Vegas or Atlantic City have as the current line on him. The article mentioned Bush I as a contender, but I hadn't heard that he wasn't well.

[beskeptical]

His job in the Nixon White House of Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel (1969-72) certainly makes him a candidate. But his right wing views...I don't know. On the other hand, he may very well have been alarmed at Nixon's actions that were certainly not conducive to democracy.

Are we supposed to be on this topic here?

BTW, I loved the movie "Nixon" where the teenagers are the unwitting deep throats. It was great.

[Parrothead]

What about Alexander (I'm in charge) Haig? Wasn't he considered to be DT at one point? Or has that one been cast aside?

[Doodler]

Are we supposed to be on this topic here?

I opened this more about who might he might be. Like I said, Watergate is over three decades gone by, its more a subject of history than politics at this point. No one debates who was involved and who did the dirty deeds. This is more a warm up for the wrap up when DT is finally revealed.

This is more to entertain any educated (or otherwise) guesses or suppositions as to who he might be.

[Captain Kidd]

[snip]an impeccable source has informed him that “Throat” is in ill health, that Bob Woodward has notified his colleagues at The Washington Post of this fact, and that an obituary has been prepared— almost certainly identifying the man behind the pseudonym.

It's the Pope!!!




Sorry, that was the first thing that sprung to my mind. 8-[

[SeanF]

[snip]an impeccable source has informed him that “Throat” is in ill health, that Bob Woodward has notified his colleagues at The Washington Post of this fact, and that an obituary has been prepared— almost certainly identifying the man behind the pseudonym.

It's the Pope!!!




Sorry, that was the first thing that sprung to my mind. 8-[

You know what's funny . . . my wife and I were talking about Deep Throat last night and I mentioned that Woodward had said he'd reveal DT's identity after DT died.

She said, "Maybe it's the Pope."

[Makgraf]

His job in the Nixon White House of Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel (1969-72) certainly makes him a candidate. But his right wing views...I don't know. On the other hand, he may very well have been alarmed at Nixon's actions that were certainly not conducive to democracy.

Are we supposed to be on this topic here?

Well, Rehnquist and Nixon were never particularly enamoured of each other (Nixon called him "Renchburg" or "That clown") and Rehnquist's had friends in the Saturday Night Massacre.

Rehnquist is a fairly right wing guy but there were a bunch of right-wingers on the Supreme Court when it voted 8-0 to make Nixon give up the tapes (Rehnquist recused himself from that because he was at the justice department at the time in question). Plus if we're just talking ideologies here, there's a great deal of contempt for Nixon amongst right-wingers (National Review will casually drop the phrase "Nixon, the archliberal").

BTW, I loved the movie ... where the teenagers are the unwitting deep throats. It was great.

Omit one word and that sentence takes on an entirely different meaning.

[Gillianren]

I vote for the Pope, too. it's sure more plausible than it being Bush.

I'm pretty sure Haig was discounted pretty early on, though who knows? he might've thought it would make him President. (Haig, as I recall, is a pretty weird guy.)

[Bawheid]

I know, I'll just Google "Deep Throat"; since I'm at work it will save time if I do an image search..........

*gets coat and P45*

[frogesque]

I know, I'll just Google "Deep Throat"; since I'm at work it will save time if I do an image search..........

*gets coat and P45*

ROFL =D> (but you may have to explain it to those across the Pond and I don't think they will cotton on to 'getting your jotters' either :wink: )

[Captain Kidd]

I know, I'll just Google "Deep Throat"; since I'm at work it will save time if I do an image search..........

*gets coat and P45*

ROFL =D> (but you may have to explain it to those across the Pond and I don't think they will cotton on to 'getting your jotters' either :wink: )

:-s Yeah, at least to this one...

[Bawheid]

A P45 is the form you get when you leave a job. It sets out your earnings and tax paid for your next employer and the tax authorities. Same as a Pink Slip?

Or was it the "Deep Throat" reference you didn't get?

[Captain Kidd]

It was the P45. For some reason I kept thinking gun.

Fortunately I've never had the joy of finding a pink slip waiting for me so no idea what info, other than "you're fired" is on it.

[Maksutov]

Ah, how soon we forget Linda Lovelace, who was a presidential candidate some time back.

[jfribrg]

If I was a betting kind of person, I would put my money on Fielding. I don't have any idea if he is on death's door or not. Perhaps the report that there is an obituary already prepared is not as morbid as it may sound. Perhaps there is a 2 or three paragraph obituary prepared years ago with generic comments about deep throat, and when the time comes, you simply paste the comments onto the rest of DT's obituary. Woodward and Bernstein have made arrangements to reveal the identity of DT in the event that they precede him. Maybe this obituary is just part of those arrangements.

Personally, I would love to take Woodward to dinner and slip a little pentathol into his soup....

[Bawheid]

Ah, how soon we forget Linda Lovelace, who was a presidential candidate some time back.

What was Mickey Dolenz thinking?

If you want to elect porn stars to run your country Italy or Hungary are the best bet.

[kucharek]

Ah, how soon we forget Linda Lovelace, who was a presidential candidate some time back.

Funnily, I just read that there is a documentary about that movie and its influence on the early Seventies coming soon. And a relaunch of the movie itself. They will also show copies cut to get an R-rating, while the documentary will be NC-17 :-)

[Bawheid]

Like most movies the original was better than the sequels, or so I have heard. ops:

[Doodler]

ops: Err, this is going in a direction I had honestly not expected. ops:

[Bawheid]

You can always rely on the Scots, aided by Harald and Mak, to lower the tone.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the thread........

Not G. H. W. Bush then?

[A Thousand Pardons]

Ah, how soon we forget Linda Lovelace, who was a presidential candidate some time back.

Funnily, I just read that there is a documentary about that movie and its influence on the early Seventies coming soon.

I think you mean a different movie.

ObConspiracy: Surely there are others at death's door? It's been more than thirty years.

[ToSeek]

Perhaps the report that there is an obituary already prepared is not as morbid as it may sound.

It shouldn't sound morbid. News organizations always have a file of obituaries of notable people ready to go so they don't have to do a quick (and therefore error-prone) research job when someone dies.

[weatherc]

It shouldn't sound morbid. News organizations always have a file of obituaries of notable people ready to go so they don't have to do a quick (and therefore error-prone) research job when someone dies.

It's always kind of funny when a news organization accidentally starts reporting that someone has died when they haven't; sometimes someone will accidentally greenlight a prepared bio when they simply meant to update it. #-o

[Gillianren]

Not G. H. W. Bush then?

I would find it greatly unlikely that he knew enough to be Deep Throat, especially since I cannot, in fact, remember what he did at the time. (this is in part because we are discussing events before my birth--my older sister's friend Doug, who lived down the street from us when we were kids, was born the day Nixon resigned.) still, I would probably remember if he'd held a position where he was likely to know all of that.

[Makgraf]

Not G. H. W. Bush then?

I would find it greatly unlikely that he knew enough to be Deep Throat, especially since I cannot, in fact, remember what he did at the time. (this is in part because we are discussing events before my birth--my older sister's friend Doug, who lived down the street from us when we were kids, was born the day Nixon resigned.) still, I would probably remember if he'd held a position where he was likely to know all of that.

He was UN Ambassador and then RNC Chairman during that time (don't remember when he switched). IIRC, Bush was one of the first Republican leaders to confront Nixon to resign too...

[Gillianren]

if he was, good for him, but I don't think either of those sound close enough to Nixon for Bush to have been Deep Throat. or is that just me?