True Hero

The Republicans are going to go nuts, but Deep Throat, the source who fed Woodward and Bernstein key details in uncovering the Watergate scandal and dooming Richard Nixon's paranoid presidency, is now known. There will be tut-tutting: Pat Buchanan is beside himself, but he kinda has a thing for Hitler anyway; John Dean, up until now the most familiar person to have told the truth in that mess, will probably be conflicted. But Dean has nothing to be ashamed of. And Mark Felt, heretofore known as Deep Throat, despite all the shades of gray he embodied, is a true hero.

The Nixon apologists, who are legion (google these names and see what you get: Buchanan, Haldeman, Erlichman, Colson, Liddy, Mitchell), who still hold grudges, who still have a disdain for those who saved our democracy, should be ashamed for the peril they put our country in. They aren't. They should be ashamed (and still in jail, imho) for their traitorous actions. They were the enemies within, and they set the model for future usurpations of our democracy. Bill Clinton's impeachment was mere payback for Nixon - lying about sex is not a high crime or misdemeanor.

The true legacy of Watergate is found in the Bush administration. The real traitors, Ann Coulter be damned, are those who lied us to war. They have endagered our national security by putting our troops in harms way and decimating our military with the foolish retribution of a fortunate son. They have taken the good will of nations and rejected it. They have placed the well-being of the wealthy ahead of the well-being of our nation. George Bush is the true heir to Richard Nixon. He has furthered the destruction of our democracy by means that would make the old Nixon, paranoid and devious, proud.