Monday, February 7, 2005

Throat Warbling

My friend Gordon Kent writes to ask...

Your comment about Julie Nixon Eisenhower being Deep Throat raised a thought. I'm not nearly the aficionado of D.T. that you are — but how many women have been considered for the part (so to speak)? And what do you think the chances are that D.T. is a woman?

I don't think that's possible. When they were making the movie of All the President's Men, they cast Hal Holbrook as the mysterious informant. The story is that Robert Redford (or someone involved in the movie) went to Bob Woodward and said, in effect, "Look...we know you can't tell us who Deep Throat is, but for God's sake, we don't want to be about to release this movie and suddenly it comes out that it was a midget or a black guy or a woman or something like that." And Woodward, it is said, assured them that Holbrook was safe casting.

More to the point: Over the years, a number of things have been revealed about Deep Throat. In their book, Woodward and Bernstein refer to their friend as "he" and they say he drank Scotch and smoked, and they give a few other hints. They've said that nothing in the book is a fib to throw people off the scent. I don't think they're dumb enough to give all that info out, swear by it, and then declare that Deep Throat was an Amish woman. No one would believe them, and the rest of the news community would rip them apart. Which may happen anyway, but I can't imagine Woodward and Bernstein making it that easy.

• Posted at 5:24 PM · LINK

It's Neuman with a "U"

The late Frank Kelly Freas is remembered in a way that would have amused him. (Thanks, Jerry Beck.)

• Posted at 8:40 AM · LINK

Throat Problems

I awoke this morn to this e-mail from Michael Burstein...

Given the news that Deep Throat is terminally ill, your post saying that "I really hope it turns out to be someone like Julie Nixon Eisenhower or Ben Stein" could be interpreted as hoping one of them is about to die, which I'm pretty sure is not the impression you meant to give...

No, you're right. I don't hope for anyone's death...especially Ben Stein, since the world needs all the funny Conservatives it can get.

But you know, I kinda wonder about this rumor that D.T. is very ill. Why would Woodward, who has zealously avoided giving anything but the slightest hint for decades, now reveal to anyone that it's someone who is now terminally ill? If the source is one of the two dozen or so popular suspects, there are going to be reporters on his porch, demanding to know if he's dying so they can rush back and say, "So-and-so is dying so he must be Deep Throat." That's probably not what the mystery man wants to endure in his final days of life. And there's nothing in it for Woodward, especially if his source continues to deny it on his death bed. You have to wonder if this is just another false lead.

• Posted at 8:23 AM · LINK

Throat Culture (Part II)

We may be about to find out the identity of "Deep Throat," the informant who tipped off Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to certain facts during the Nixon/Watergate drama. According to this article, D.T. is ill to the point where Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee has already prepped the obit, which would presumably reveal the secret. Todd Draper, a reader of this site, notes: "This would seem to contradict the George H. W. Bush theory, as he seemed perfectly healthy during his Super Bowl pre-game appearance tonight."

So it could be any day now, or this report could be wrong. If I were a betting man, and there were anyone around willing to cover bets on this, I think I'd lay a few bucks on it being former F.B.I. assistant director Mark Felt, and maybe make a side wager on Fred Fielding, who was Nixon's deputy counsel, just in case. Of course, I really hope it turns out to be someone like Julie Nixon Eisenhower or Ben Stein, but I'll settle for just about anyone at this point.

• Posted at 1:00 AM · LINK

February 8, 2005 • Current • February 6, 2005