Deep Throat Disappointment

Ever since "Deep Throat's" identity was revealed, I've been feeling kind of disappointed. I don't mean just because the mystery figure is some guy I never heard of. I'm also disappointed that the secret is out and the mystery is over. I feel like someone who was amazed by a magic trick, only to learn that it's done with black thread. And let's face it, those mean older kids who told us all about Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy weren't necessarily doing us a favor.

For years, I viewed the mysterious figure of "Deep Throat" as romantic and heroic. Here was a person who was obviously at great personal risk, but was so appalled by the action of Nixon and his boys that he had to get the truth out. I always thought it would be fitting if it turned out that this secret person were an American icon — like Walter Cronkite, or maybe even Cher. But no, it's just some guy.

In fact, now that it's been revealed that the person who leaked all the information to Woodward and Bernstein was W. Mark Felt, the Number Two guy at the FBI, there are those who feel he wasn't a hero at all. They believe that if he knew about illegal acts, he should have reported them to the proper authorities instead of blabbing to the press. The only problem is that the "proper authorities" were among those committing the crimes.

But Felt was no perfect hero. He not only had feet of clay, he had a whole three-piece suit of clay. And a hat. At the time of Watergate, he had an axe to grind because he was passed over for the head of the FBI job. And years later, Felt himself was convicted of carrying out illegal searches and violating the civil rights of domestic dissidents in the Weather Underground movement. In other words, he was no mythical hero. He was an imperfect human.
My first thought after I heard the announcement was, "Why is he coming forward now?" Was he just tired of walking around all these years with the nickname "Deep Throat?" It's not exactly a dignified moniker for a 91-year-old man. Maybe his family had been teasing him about it all these years. "Please pass the salt, 'Deep Throat,'" or "Look at the bicycle Grandpa Deep Throat gave me" are the kind of comments that could drive anyone to finally saying, "Enough!"

But the reason turned out to be much more mundane. He and his family realized more and more people were going to figure out who he was soon, and they also thought maybe they could get a few bucks out of this — in their words, "at least enough money to pay some bills."

In mythology, anonymous heroes don't step forward to reveal their identities so they can pay some bills. They do it to set an example for others who might be thinking of doing something courageous, but just need a little push. But again, he's not a mythic hero, he's just a guy.

No, he's not a legendary figure like Hercules or like the David who slew Goliath. He's just a human being. But in real life, as opposed to legend, flawed, regular people are often the ones who end up being heroes. So, maybe the revelation that Felt is the guy is a nice reminder to all of us that everybody has the potential to do something heroic.

Besides, there are still plenty of myths we can hold onto. I'm still not so sure about what those older kids told me about the Tooth Fairy. After all, those quarters under my pillow were real.

Update: Last time, I told you about the empty police car that was parked on our neighborhood's main street in the hope of deterring bank robbers. The police recently removed the car from the street. The last spot it occupied was in front of one of the banks. Two days after the empty cop car was gone, the bank was robbed.

By Lloyd Garver