The Envelope please ...... and the award goes to

It was the middle of September 1971 when at age 10, this budding young history buff and political junkie first took pencil and paper and wrote to then president Richard M. Nixon. i was fascinated with the world of politics and wrote asking probably way too many questions regarding his views on public policy both within the US and around the world.

Back then i wrote to almost every elected official and as many conservative and liberal think tanks and groups as possible getting their various views on different pieces of legislation or asking what they thought about different subjects ranging from who would win the sports crowns to social security, the Vietnam War, taxes, poverty, the space race ... you name it i probably asked everybody about it.

I was also one of those who kept up with every twist and turn of the 1972 campaign, the break-in, and the entire Watergate scenario as well as the on-going war in SE Asia. The war, mostly due to my dad traveling over in that part of the world on a semi-regular basis, and everything else because i was so caught up in wanting to become a US Senator myself (hey i was young and foolish what can i say).

I was also one of those who cried when Mr. Nixon resigned -- not because i thought he had done nothing wrong ... i was just sorry to see him go out like that ... it seemed such a waste.

Like everyone else i have done my share of speculating in regards to the identity of "Deep Throat". my best guesses were that it was either Ron Zeigler or Henry Kissinger. Kissinger because i believed he was just Machiavellian enough to think he could pull it off and play the part of power broker and Zeigler because he seemed like such a sincere and honest guy who seemed ill at ease having to trot out the same balderdash day after day... well today i have been proven wrong.

Yes the best kept secret of the last 30 or so years has finally seen the light of day. "Deep Throat" has been unmasked as W. Mark Felt, formerly the #2 man at the FBI. Boy was i off-base, but i always figured that it HAD to be someone within the White House itself. Its a good thing i wasn't in the intelligence business back then .... OY VEY!!!!

As secrets go this was one of the all time greats ... attracting almost as many conspiracy buffs and theories as the Hoffa disappearance and just as many that were totally nuts too.

Now truly, the game is up and all of us who in our spare moments kept digging and searching to try and find the "last great clue" to this particular "hunt for the grail" will have to find other secrets to pursue ... ah well it was great fun while it lasted.

In the grand scheme of things seen from 30 or so years in the future now.. who "Deep Throat" really was does not seem that important -- AND IT ISN'T -- compared to the war on terrorism, the great and growing problem of illegal immigration and out of control federal, state and local spending of tax revenues without a seeming concern in the world for the ultimate consequences.

It did however serve its place in our national psyche -- a little light jazz so to speak in an evening of classical symphonies. I shall miss the friendly and sometimes not so friendly debates on the merits of this or that possibility .. but most of all i shall miss the mystery of "Deep Throat" much more.

While it is in some ways nice to finally know for certain who it was, i feel also a great sense of sadness that the mystique and passion of the search for the "Deep Throat" grail has also ended.

For me the best part of not knowing was that at any day you could discover the final clue that proved it was or was not your "guess" ... and in a way almost reminiscent of an Olympic athlete at the end of their career ... it is the "game" I will miss most.

For some Richard Nixon will always be the epitome of evil; for others he will always be a beacon of hope and possibilities ... for me i will always remember him as the first president i ever talked to via mail and while he was a flawed man in many respects, he had many many moments of greatness as well .... and so as this last and hopefully final chapter of the Watergate saga comes to a close let me end with this as my parting to a decent but deeply troubled soul ... who touched a part of a young boy's life with words of kindness and encouragement; advice and a bit of humor.

May the roads rise to meet you.

May the wind be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face;

The rain fall soft upon your fields

And,until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

May the lilt of Irish laughter Lighten every load,

May the mist of Irish magic Shorten every road,

May you taste the sweetest pleasures That fortune ere bestowed,

And may all your friends remember. All the favors you are owed.

Thank you, Mister Nixon for inspiring what still is a most avid and important part of my life today ... way back there in 1971.

Update 6/2/5 - Having now been asked by numerous people to comment on the hero/villian status of Mr. Felt i give my personal opinion.

As a sworn official of a Federal Law Enforcement Agency he should have followed established procedures for reporting of wrong-doing through official channels which as always have included going to the congressional committees which oversee or relate to the ares of business. If Mister Felt was of the opinion that he could not approach his superior (Attourney General John Mitchell), he should have at the very least made contact with the commmittee chairman and ranking minority member of either the Senatorial or Representative committees dealing with or having to do with the Department of Justice to explain his concerns or evidence of wrong-doing in accordance with lawful rules and governing regulations.

To circumvent the established procedures and disclose confidential or sensitive material to persons not needing to know such material (unauthorized disclosure) was then and is now a serious breach of trust, not just to the person being circumvented but also to the American people as a whole.

If i, as a member of the Armed Forces, had done such a thing i would have been subject to a courts-martial even if there were mitigating circumstances involved. Such mitigating circumstances, while they may be used in the determination of punishment rendered, do not make the breach of rules and regulations any less unlawful.

There is a right way of doing things and a wrong way of doing things. Mister Felt chose, in my humble opinion, the wrong way of trying to right a wrong. He should not be lauded for his intentions but rather rebuked for his actions. In doing what he did in the manner he did it he became a law-breaker just as much as Mister Nixon was for what he did. We are after all a nation of laws which are and of right ought to be equally applicable to every citizen.

In summary, good intentions coupled with wrong (and unlawful) actions do not make a right situation any more than bad intentions coupled with wrong (and unlawful) actions do.