Honour and Honesty ‘Deep Throated”
The daughter of the former FBI agent who was revealed this week as Deep Throat has acknowledged that money played a role in the family’s decision to go public.
Grandson Nick, heads for similar career based on honour and honesty.
“My son, Nick, is in law school and he’ll owe $US100,000 ($A132,500) by the time he graduates,” she said. “I am still a single mum, still supporting them to one degree or another, and I am not ashamed of this.”Dad’s weak at the moment, let’s go talk to him.
Joan Felt said her father suffered a stroke in 2001 and has undergone surgery for heart problems and a broken hip but is still lucid.Daughter gets him in a weak moment and now he believes that he was a hero.
“We had to help him see that most of the world now considers what he did heroic,” she said. “At the time it was happening, he wouldn’t have gotten that percentage of support, but history has shown it was so important what he did.”I’m no fan of Tricky Dicky but I am of institutions, Official Secrets Acts and outwardly (at least) apolitical Public Servants and holders of high office. Doubtful motivation to the end.
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You’re an interesting creature, Kevin Gillett. I’d have pegged you as a Libertarian. Clearly, you’re not.
You’re joking mate, if I was a libertarian I would be the only ex professional soldier to be so. There must be structure and rules and then we can look at freedoms. High office is high responsibility and I don’t like people who abuse said office or debase the responsibility. In ways that is a criticism of both Nixon and Felt.
Interesting question. Would Deep Throat have existed had Nixon not behaved so abominably? Claiming money, and (mentioned in other reports) thwarted ambition as motivations suggests that, yes, Felt would have been inclined to leak–but one must presume to a much lesser ultimate effect. In which case, such lauding of Felt as hero and societal conscience loses what gloss his admerers claim. But perhaps that’s more reflective of society than we’d like to admit–?
Surely public servants and service pers need to retain civil and military law as above all else. We are always reminded it is an offence to obey an unlawful command, as it must be for a public servant to carry out the instructions/duties of a criminal boss. It would have been outrageous for the 2i/c of the FBI to be aware of criminal wrongdoing and not speak up. I think ethically and legally, Felt did the right thing. The hypothetical question is whether he would have done the same had LBJ or Ford been in office and acted similarly.
Regardless, this issue of money doesn’t change what he did 30 odd years ago. If book deals and magazine cheques were what motivated Felt, I would have thought he’d have cashed in well before the age of 91.
Could be wrong, but I understand that felt leaked evidence and testimony that had been given before a grand jury. So I understand some sort of investigation was underway (and he may have even prejudiced that). In light of that, it’s hard to say that there wasn’t other lawful avenues that he could have taken besides leaking.
I’m sure there’ll be plenty of books out this Christmas that will make the case for every sort of interpretation.
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I would be the only ex professional soldier to be so. There must be structure and rules and then we can look at freedoms. High office is high responsibility and I don’t like people who abuse said office or debase the responsibility.