Mark Felt (aka Deep Throat)

UNUSUAL, AN HONEST MAN IN WASHINGTON

I was curious for years as to who Deep Throat was. When Mark Felt finally revealed his identity, it was anticlimactic, since I knew nothing about him. Last year I read his autobiography, "The Secret Man," and was both fascinated and dismayed by the extent of the lies and immoral acts he witnessed and his agonies over what to do. I grew to admire him for ultimately doing the right thing. Anyone who reveals the truth about almost anything is a hero to me, and ratting out politicians, whom I consider to be a lower form of life and to whom lying is second nature, is a downright wonderful thing to do. Politicians have been lying to us for years, both Republicans and Democrats. Someone (thank you Linda Tripp) ratted out Clinton when he lied about not having sex with Monica. Someone thankfully appears to be ratting out Alberto Gonzales. Someone should have booted Scooter Libby out as soon as he lied, but of course, politicians protect their henchmen and have no qualms about lying to do so. Un... Read more

The Metal Gear Solid 'Deepthroat' was far cooler...

Clearly 15 minutes of fame was not his objective in either nudging Bob Woodward along in his reporting or in his coming out of the shadows 30 years later. His motivation was probably a murky mix noble intentions of justice, self interest as a career insider and spite for having been passed over for a top job at the Bureau. I used to think that it must be killing Deep Throat to keep such a secret for so long. But a guy like Mark Felt proabably has a pile of even bigger secrets that he'll take to the grave.

Pretty fascinating guy, and he was pretty handsome and debonair back in the day.

An American hero. Take that, Nixon apologists...

A hero who stuck it to a paranoid and corrupt administration. You have to work with people in DC- you try to bully the wrong person (or people) you will eventually get burned.

Well, now we know, or do we? We have no sense of honor any more. The honorable man makes a public statement and then resigns. Skulking around for 35 years is a disgrace. There were all kinds of committess in Congress that would have loved this information!

Deep Throat? nasty old man likes the sausage in the mouth

If such a thing as Watergate happened today, I would only hope that someone like Mr. Felt would be around to stick up for what was right. To be against Deep Throat means to be for that sorry crooked-ass Nixon.

This man is no hero to me. He was underhanded the whole time, and was mad at Nixon for appointing L. Patrick Gray to head the FBI, when Felt wanted that position for himself. So, he made cowardly attacks while hiding in the tall grass.

Yes, I know that the Deep Throat reveal is something akin to the second coming of the Messiah for the liberals but seriously people...the time has come and gone. I know many Democrats find it heroic and brave to leak sensitive and private information to bring down your boss and then hide behind an obscene code name until you need cash but it's about time we move foward, don't you think?

Aha! Eschew! I've found you! I knew you'd be over here! What is it with you and Deep Throat? Do you think of Linda by day and dream of Mark at night (sorry, just kidding). Seriously, though, Mark Felt is a hero. How was he to go his superiors when there was no telling who had been corrupted? If he hadn't, Nixon would have remained in office and God knows where we'd be now (chances are, though, that we'd be better off than we are now with Bush in there). Felt didn't want to see the FBI dragged down with the Nixon gangsters, and he wasn't sure who was in a position that he could trust, so he went to Fourth Estate, which in those days didn't serve as a shill for the Government, like it does now. Nobody likes stool-pigeons, but life isn't an episode of the Sopranos (well, in most cases it isn't) and when does your moral sense become so outraged that you decide to become one? Felt is a hero. Tripp is a scuzzbag. Viva FDR!!

Who really cares about this anyway except Nixon-hating dems that still haven't gotten over their hatred for the man. He's certainly no hero or patriot, that's for sure. I would rate his family lower, because they ADMITTED they are looking for money based on this great revelation. Give me a break, and let it go, please.

Kami's right, Linda Lovelace has to be embarrassed to have this low-life snitch named after her. It degrades her dignity. UPDATE: In an effort to join mag on the ethical high-ground, I will acknowledge that Felt's story was enormously interesting to those of us thirsting for Nixon's blood in those days. What I know today is that while Nixon had obstructed justice and had utilized the IRS and the FBI to carry out some governmental harrassment of certain enemies, the record is rife with similar stories from the Johnson, Kennedy, Eisenhower (to a lesser degree), Truman (to a lesser degree) and FDR (the Babe Ruth of political corruption) administrations. But, calling it doing the right thing is a bit more of a stretch for me. Sneaking around, going to the Washington Post? Not having the courage that what you had done was the right thing until you reach, say age 91? He had a boss. He took an oath. There was a Special Prosecutor, who was somehow able to convict 40 co-conspirators, se... Read more

And all these years, I thought it was Hal Holbrook.

I'm not sure how to rate this cat and its really not germane. Really, EO did real good with his commentary and i'm not a Nixon apologist. I'm just amazed that Nixon bashing is still all the rage despite the fact that he's very dead. I guess the Republicans are doing good.

I'd like to think that most of us, even my friend EO, would choose upholding the law and our constitution over protecting our political team's reputation, if it came down to it. Especially if we were a top person in the nation's top law enforcement agency. I don't see Felt as particularly heroic, but I think he did the right thing.

I'm not exactly sure what we're suppose to be ranking here (favorites? most forgettable?), but in any event I have to put Felt in the middle. He's the answer to a 30+ year question (yeah, I know, you knew the whole time), but he's also the anti-climatic answer to a 30+ year old question. I think when the majority of people who cared to know who Deep Throat was found out, the average person didn't know who he was. I have a feeling that this time next year people won't remember his name.

Yeah, I know I'm being childish here, but seriously, I just wish they'd stop calling him Deep Throat . . . it just sounds really wrong. . . .

It seems that the only people who really care who this guy was are old dyed in the wool Nixon haters who are still foaming at the mouth because Nixon did much to repair his credibility and reputation in his final years. We'll hear about him one more time when he dies so his 15 minutes of fame isn't over yet. I agree with those who feel that afterwards he'll be a trivia question which 3 years from now, no one will remember the answer.

It would've been cooler if he was a spy in sunglasses and a nice suit.