R.I.P. Mark Felt, aka Deep Throat

I've had an obsession with Deep Throat ever since I first saw All The President's Men in 9th grade. The way Hal Holbrook portrays him as a shadowy, reticent figure smoking cigarettes always struck me as a great film noir character, except it was all true.

Now we find that Deep Throat, aka Mark Felt has passed on. And it turns out he hated his role as a informant to Woodward and Bernstein. When Mr. Felt was asked in 1999 before the world knew his role in Watergate, if he was Deep Throat, he said:

"It would be terrible," Felt replied. "This would completely undermine the reputation that you might have as a loyal, logical employee of the FBI. It just wouldn't fit at all."

But a lot of people thought Deep Throat was a hero for getting the truth out about Richard Nixon's crimes in the White House.

"That's not my view at all," he said. "It would be contrary to my responsibility as a loyal employee of the FBI to leak information."

It's too bad really that Mr. Felt did not feel prouder for his contribution in bringing Nixon down. His service was a great one for America. Sure, it may have made us Americans unusually suspicious and cynical about government. But at least we found out the truth.