Some people have expressed great surprise that this week’s revelation of Mark Felt as the real Deep Throat has gone unnoticed on my blog. Fair enough.
Yes, I’m a journalist by training and to my core … but what you might not know is that, when I was a graduate teaching assistant and (later) adjunct prof at Arkansas, I gave my journalism students an opportunity to earn extra credit by showing up at the clubhouse at my apartment complex to watch “All the President’s Men” and eat pizza I provided. (Yeah, I was an awesome teacher! 🙂
I’ve long had tremendous respect and admiration for Bob Woodward, who has always seemed to me like the more intelligent of the infamous “Woodstein” team. So I was very curious to hear his take on the identity of Deep Throat, after so many years of keeping mum on the subject. Thursday’s Washington Post article, “How Mark Felt Became Deep Throat,” did not disappoint; it reveals Woodward as an inexperienced reporter, trying to find his way in Washington after leaving his post as a Navy lieutenant. What I didn’t know is that both Woodward and Felt took classes at (and for Felt, graduated from) GW, my esteemed alma mater. (All the more reason to love Woodward!)
But on balance, while I know there are those who want me to have much to say about the Deep Throat revelation — I just *don’t*. Was I surprised? No. I’ve always figured that if Deep Throat were someone everyone suspected or who’s famous (such as Rhenquist or Pat Buchanan), it wouldn’t have been a secret this long. I’d never heard of Mark Felt, and I think that’s largely because Mark Felt didn’t *want* me to know who he was.
I find myself more imbued with even more (if that’s conceivable) respect for two things I already hold deep affection for: The Washington Post and Bob Woodward.