Heroes & Villains

So we finally know the identity of Deep Throat.

Cool.

In dark times, [if I may borrow a phrase from McC]
it’s hard to view Mark Felt as anything less than a
courageous hero, who quite possibly saved our
republic from self-destruction.

But the truth is never that simple.

Dal LaMagna, founder of the Progressive Government
Institute, gives some essential background on the
Number 2 man in J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI:

Part of Felt’s duties... was to direct counter
intelligence programs [COINTELPRO] created
to repress political dissent.

Programs were created to infiltrate and discredit
the Civil Rights Movement, the American Indian
Movement, as well as dissident student groups.

And...

Felt’s job, according to the Church Report,
was to ensure that Bureau programs were being
operated efficiently, not constitutionally:

"There was no instruction to me," Felt stated,
"nor do I believe there is any instruction in the
Inspector's manuals, that inspectors should be
on the alert to see that constitutional values
are being protected."

Read LaMagna's article in The Huffington Post.

If you’ve never heard of COINTELPRO, read all about it here.

The Watergate break-in was a tea party compared to the crimes
Tricky Dick & the FBI were committing against American citizens
and the U.S. Constitution.

And that was before the PATRIOT act.