Now we can reveal the real Deep Throat (Woodward on his knees before Felt

[Vitruvius]

by Les Payne

The best-kept secret of the Watergate scandal is that it was Bob Woodward - not the newly revealed FBI official Mark Felt - who was in fact the real "Deep Throat." The revelations of Woodward's new book, "The Secret Man," confirm this in detailing the relationship between the veteran agent and the young Washington Post reporter. It is the journalist, to stick with the porn-flick metaphor, who figuratively and literally emerges as the Linda Lovelace of the piece.

Woodward came humbly on his knees to Deputy Director Felt in search of guidance, news tips and proper names. <SNIP> Felt, on the other hand, was never much given to humility. The older man clearly maintained control. He set the rules of engagement, insisted upon ruses and decided exactly what details to reveal and when. "He was stern and strict about those rules, Woodward wrote, "which he issued with a booming, insistent voice. I promised." <SNIP> "I suspect that in Felt's mind," Woodward wrote, "I was his agent."

Indeed he was. Upon first meeting Felt at the White House as a Navy courier, Woodward tells us he essentially began developing the FBI man as a mentor and subsequent Watergate source dubbed "Deep Throat." We haven't heard Felt's side of this encounter yet, but it's a good bet that this veteran spymaster was also sizing up his young protégé as a "recruit" for his own purposes down the line.

In Woodward, he had gained an influential voice whispering into the ears of millions of Americans. His agenda was not always apparent when dealing with The Washington Post, but on several occasions it was clear and present. <SNIP> Felt gleefully floated damaging stories <against L. Patrick Gray> that would clear the way for <Felt> being named director. <SNIP>

In addition, Felt held a general distaste for the Nixon White House - which, as an insider, he knew to be riddled with corruption, and, according to Woodward, a menace to individual liberties. (As a key black-bag operator for director Hoover, however, Felt himself was not exactly a guardian of civil liberties.) <SNIP> Assessing the complex relationship, Woodward said, "I used Mark Felt; reporters always use sources. ... At the same time, Mark Felt was using me."

More at http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-oppay164346283jul17,0,7774600.column?coll=ny-viewpoints-headlines

[EVDebs]

1. Bob never mentions his unusual relationship with Sen Robt. Bennett

Deep Throat A few more thoughts about Watergate
By Bob Harris

www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/07.03.97/scoop-9727.html

snip>

"What's missing is an understanding of Deep Throat, Woodward's garage-lurking source who guided the reporters to some of their biggest leads. If he was just a concerned citizen, great. But if Deep Throat had his own agenda, then he used the Washington Post to shape the story for his own purposes and got away clean.

"I have told Woodward everything I know about the Watergate case, except the Mullen Company's tie to the CIA."--Robert F. Bennett, testifying before House Special Committee on Intelligence, July 2, 1974.

Robert Bennett was the head of Robert R. Mullen and Co., a CIA front headquartered in the very same building as the CIA's Domestic Operations Division."" Bennett is now Senator Robert F. Bennett R-UT.

Oh, BTW, Ben Bradlee's boyhood friend was Richard Helms. And Bradlee's intelligence background, espeially while in France, is quite appropriate for their roles in Watergate and with military intelligence's interest in what Nixon was up to. Blind Man's Bluff by Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew show us that the navy was especially pissed when Nixon/DrK blew the SALT talks re Delta Subs and the USSR. Zumwalt was really p.o.d and you can imaging Adm. Moorers' spy-ring reaction (Moorer-Radford).

[samdogmom]

2. Gee, does this explain why Woodward has sold out?

He's a complete wash out...no more high standards and morals--Now he's just a mouthpiece for Bush. What a waste. I'm disgusted!

[EVDebs]

3. I think in Secret Agenda by Jim Hougan the insiders said,

Whew, "He's one of us". No need to worry.

I'm waiting for Jim Hougan's new book on Deep Throat to come out. Don't waste time on any more of Woodward's Bush hagiography either.

[samdogmom]

4. Thanks! I won't!

Carl Bernstein wore the pants in that relationship!

[JohnyCanuck]

5. You need to read these two OnlineJournal.com articles

Secret admirers: The Bushes and the Washington Post Part 1 and

Secret admirers: The Bushes and the Washington Post Part 2


Snip from Part 2:

The most important propaganda stage the Post has built for George W to act the role of "president" upon was, of course, what the corporate media still prefers to portray as the "defining moment" of Junior's reign—the events of September 11. The challenge was made more difficult by Bush's Fredo Corleone performance on the day the attacks occurred. After acting clueless enough to dawdle in front of a classroom of second-graders for nearly a half-hour following the crash of the second plane, he then spent the rest of the day flying erratically around the country ("Just trying to get out of harm's way," as he later told a reporter), and appearing perplexed and too small for his suit as he addressed a national television audience that night.

This was a job for Superman—which the Post provided in the form of its premier Washington insider, presidential chronicler and US Navy Intelligence veteran, the legendary Watergate reporter, Bob Woodward. Along with Post reporter Dan Balz, Woodward employed his impeccable journalistic fellatio in an eight-part, front-page series of articles giving a moment-to-moment White House account of the first days of the "war on terror," inflating the image of a cowardly dauphin into that of a credibly decisive commander-in-chief. The articles became the basis for Woodward's subsequent bestseller, "Bush At War"—which is probably best viewed as a sequel to his book about the first Gulf War, "The Commanders," featuring many of the same characters.

Woodward's relationship to the Bush family is particularly interesting (see Part 1 of this series for more details). For the uninitiated, Woodward fairly successfully inoculated himself from any future suspicion that he might be too close to the subjects of his writing with his historic coverage of the Watergate scandal. In the matrix of the corporate media, Woodward is still portrayed as the archetypal intrepid investigative reporter who, with his scruffy partner, Carl Bernstein, spoke truth to power and brought down a president.

In the real world, Woodward has proven to be uncannily close to the highest centers of power.

[samdogmom]

6. I'm reading as I type.

Thanks for the link and for confirming what I already could see with my own two eyes--Woodward CAN'T BE TRUSTED! (Sorry, I'm an old journalism major and I need a lot of trustworthy sources before I'll believe...I didn't have concrete evidence about Woodward before (only my gut) but now I feel that I do.) So Thanks, he's slime and off my list of possible sources FOREVER! Please, everybody consider "the source" when he opens his mouth! You CAN'T TRUST HIM!