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July 1, 2005
On Revealing Secrets
Deep Throat was almost revealed in grand jury testimony, says a Washington Post story puffing Woodward's latest book full of exciting details, like the address of the parking garage where W&B met Felt. Big whoop.
"To his eternal credit," Woodward writes, he did just that.I fail to see why it was a credit to the district attorney to pull back when he had a lying FBI official on the stand and was asking about an illegal break in and wire-tapping. Why was it important to protect the source if someone else figured it out? Once Watergate was over, the secret was not worth protecting -- other than, perhaps, revealing Felt to be a thoroughly ambiguous source who was undercutting the Nixon White House because he hated what they had done to the FBI rather than because he was crusading for truth and justice.
The reason the attorney general gets credit, so far as I can surmise, is that Woodward got to remain famous because his source remained unimpeached. Woodward cheerfully admits lying to Richard Cohen to divert suspicion from Felt. Lovely. Sounds like a gripping read.
Posted by CrankyProfessor at July 1, 2005 9:02 AM