Deep Throat

[Becky Davis]

I heard on the news that the person who was anonymously called Deep Throat during the Watergate crisis, is ill. After his death, his true identity, will be revealed.
I think it is amazing that this has been kept a secret all of these years. I mean, in this information age, when one has almost no privacy...how did they do it?

[White Bread]

When his identity is revealed, I bet that question will answer itself.

[gayle]

I just read that deepthroat was George H.W. Bush.....seriously.

[White Bread]

My bets are on Pat Buchanan or Fred Fielding.

[woodsdude]

Is Buchanan ill?

[tracy1]

Gayle,

Where did you read it was H.W.?

[This message has been edited by tracy1 (edited 02-06-2005).]

[Heretic]

I've got a two-decades-old bet it's Alexander Haig. The other guy says Kissinger!

[This message has been edited by Heretic (edited 02-06-2005).]

[White Bread]

Haig is a decent bet. I guess if we could find out who is ill... But where did you hear he was ill? That report can only be speculative. If anyone really knew, the cat would be out of the bag.

[Heretic]

Maybe...?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Devoted Nixon secretary dies

Monday, January 24, 2005

By The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Rose Mary Woods, the devoted secretary to President Nixon who said she inadvertently erased part of a crucial Watergate tape, has died. She was 87.

Ms. Woods died Saturday night at a nursing home in Alliance, Roger Ruzek, owner of a funeral home in Sebring, said Sunday. He did not know the cause of death.

The 18½-minute gap in the tape of a June 20, 1972, conversation between Richard Nixon and chief of staff H.R. Haldeman was critical to the question of what Nixon knew about the break-in at Democratic headquarters in the Watergate complex three days earlier -- and when he knew it.

Ms. Woods, who moved to northeastern Ohio after leaving the disgraced president's staff in 1976, never talked much about her years with the only American president to resign the office.

But Nixon considered her a member of the family. He wrote in his memoirs that it was Ms. Woods he asked to inform first lady Pat Nixon and his daughters in 1974 that he had decided to resign on August 9.

"My decision was irrevocable, and I asked her to suggest that we not talk about it anymore when I went over for dinner," Nixon said.

When the time came for the family to privately say goodbye to Nixon before he climbed aboard the helicopter headed for Air Force One, Ms. Woods stood by with Mrs. Nixon, daughters Tricia and Julie, and their husbands.

"Rose ... is as close to us as family," Nixon said.

Ms. Woods, the granddaughter of an Irish stowaway, was born in Sebring, 20 miles southwest of Youngstown, on December 26, 1917, and was raised in a strict Roman Catholic family.

She worked as a pottery company secretary in Sebring, then moved to Washington to become a typist on Capitol Hill, where she caught the eye of a rising Republican star, Congressman Richard Nixon of California.

Nixon biographer Jonathan Aitken said the two hit it off immediately. Nixon, elected to the Senate in 1950, hired Ms. Woods as his secretary.

"She was intelligent, literate, clamlike in her discretion. Technically superb, she possessed the high-speed skills of shorthand and typing necessary to keep up with her boss's often frantic and always demanding schedule," Aitken wrote.

"One of the reasons why Woods struck up such a good rapport with her boss was that their characters were similar. Disciplined in her emotions yet passionate in her convictions, Woods was intuitive, protective and obsessive about privacy."

Nixon defended his loyal employee when fingers pointed at Ms. Woods, who had spent weeks transcribing subpoenaed White House tapes.

"I know I did not do it," Nixon said. "And I completely believe Rose when she says that she did not do it."

She denied she caused the full 18½-minute gap, testifying later that she inadvertently erased four or five minutes. The phone rang while she was transcribing the tape, she said.

She accidentally hit the record button. A picture in which she demonstrated her action — stretching one foot forward while reaching back to get the phone — became one of the most famous images of the era.

A panel of experts set up in the 1970s by federal judge John Sirica, who presided over the Watergate criminal trials, concluded that the erasures were done in at least five -- and perhaps as many as nine -- separate and contiguous segments. The panel never figured out what was erased.

Who erased the rest of the tape? No one knows.

Alexander Haig, who succeeded Haldeman as chief of staff, blamed the gap on "sinister forces." Experts later examined the tape and found as many as nine deliberate erasures. They said Ms. Woods could not have done the whole thing.

In an interview on the 25th anniversary of the 1972 break-in, Ms. Woods said she was rarely asked about Watergate anymore.

"Every once in a while I get notes and things from some of the people who were with us, but not much," she said. "Everybody gets sort of separated."


© 2004 Associated Press — All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[gayle]

Tracy....

http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000789447

[Flaherty]

My bet is on Haig!
next

[tracy1]

Thanks!

[Heretic]

H.W. was a spook for a while, headed the CIA...hmmm. I'll lose a case of Moosehead if it is Bush I.

[mufti]

Maybe it was Linda Lovelace.

[Ronald Phelps]

Was it behind the green door?

[PMilam]

It's not Hal Holbrook?

[sweetness&light]

I heard on the news that the person who was anonymously called Deep Throat during the Watergate crisis, is ill.

Ill, not dead.

I thought for sure you all would get it immediately, given the clue "he is ill."

Now, think for a moment...I know you're slapping your foreheads as soon as I say it...who is ill right now and currently in the hospital? It's on the news every night...THE POPE! Who is sworn to secrecy thru his chosen profession? Priests, bishops, the pope. Who would ever suspect a member of the catholic clergy of cloak and dagger intrique? Those who read history, perhaps.

[becsflowers]

"Maybe it was Linda Lovelace. "
" Was it behind the green door?"


LOLOL!!!!!!!!!!

[Ronald Phelps]

That is the only time I thought I wanted to be a actor. I knew I could screw up and it be ok.

[b lake lady]

Now sweet.....you surely know that the POPE, the head of the Roman Catholic Church would not be involved in such an earthly concern...........say 5 "Hail Mary's" and 10 "Our Fathers." And no chocolate for 3 days............LOL

[This message has been edited by b lake lady (edited 02-06-2005).]

[b lake lady]

Updated: 12:46 PM EST
Pope Waves to Faithful From Hospital Window
Questions Raised About His Blessing
By Philip Pullella and Estelle Shirbon, Reuters



AFP/Getty


Pope John Paul II waves and blesses the faithful from his hospital room. More Pictures


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Broadband Video:
Pope Offers Blessing

More on This Story:
· Pope Sees Frailties Affirm Life
· Illness Sparks Talk of Succession

Interactive Graphic:
· Pope John Paul II: His Life & Work
· John Paul II's Life in Pictures

Talk About It: Post | Chat


ROME (Feb. 6) - Pope John Paul, looking weak and barely able to talk, appeared at his hospital window on Sunday for the first time since he was taken ill and said through an aide that he was still "serving the Church and all humanity."

The 84-year-old Pope, rushed to hospital last Tuesday with breathing problems caused by the flu, made a brief appearance from the window of his 10th floor suite in Rome's Gemelli hospital.

At the end of a message read by an aide, the Pope delivered his blessing in a voice that was faint, hoarse and cracking. Clearly weak, he then made the sign of the cross.

Later on Sunday Italian media reports speculated that the voice of the Pope, whose face was partly hidden from view by the piece of paper he was reading from, may not have been live but recorded.

At the start the Pope was wheeled to the window while seated, wearing his white cassock and skullcap. His face looked red and his eyes distant as he waved slowly to the faithful.

The Polish Pope once known as "God's Athlete" sat silently while Archbishop Leonardo Sandri read his message for him.

It thanked people the world over for their prayers for his recovery and their get-well messages, which he said had moved him in a "particularly intense way."

Then, always speaking through Sandri, the Pope made clear that he was still in charge of worldwide Catholicism.

"This way, even from here in the hospital, among other sick people to whom go my sincere best wishes, I continue to serve the Church and all humanity," the Pope's message said.


Still in Charge




The words appeared to be a response to some reports that the Pope was not able to run the Church because of his various illnesses, including Parkinson's disease.

It was believed to be the first time since his 1978 election that the Pope did not deliver a brief message on Sunday.

Even on May 17, 1981, four days after an assassination attempt, he read a radio message from his hospital bed.

Below his drab hospital window on Rome's outskirts, a small group of well-wishers gathered, including a group of students from Spain who chanted in Spanish: "John Paul Two -- the whole world loves you."

Patients in pajamas, some with intravenous drips on wheels, watched from a courtyard and made the sign of the cross when they heard his weak voice on loudspeakers.

The message and blessing were also broadcast live to St. Peter's Square, from where the Pope usually delivers the noon Sunday address from the windows of his apartments.

Most pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter's Square knew the Pope would not be there but they came anyway and watched on large television screens.

"We are here to pray for our families, for our country, and for the Pope because he is the leader of the faith that we hold dear," said Soledad Schedid, a 28-year-old woman from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

"We are here because he is the head of the Church and Catholicism and we want God to make him get better because we all need him," she said.

The Pope's inability to read the message or the prayer are not the only firsts forced on him by his latest hospitalization.

The Vatican has announced the Pope will not preside at Ash Wednesday services in St. Peter's Basilica at the start of Lent. It will be the first time in his 26-year-old papacy that he will miss Ash Wednesday.

American Cardinal James Stafford would preside at the ceremony on the Pope's behalf, the Vatican said.

Sunday was the Pope's fifth full day in the hospital where he was taken after suffering a breathing crisis just before midnight on Tuesday. The appearance was the first since last Sunday in Saint Peter's Square.

The Pope's latest hospitalization, coupled with the onslaught of Parkinson's disease and arthritis, has served as another reminder that one of history's greatest papacies is getting closer to an end.

But the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano said the Pope "who led the Church into the Third Millennium will continue to guide her with the strength of his suffering."

Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer and Tom Heneghan.


02-06-05 12:00 EST

Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by

[Ronald Phelps]

This pope? Remember he was not the pope back then. It was probably Nixons wife.

[PMilam]

How did he get to be Pope?

[b lake lady]

Supposed to be a direct descendant of one of the desciples...............

[sweetness&light]

Wellll, first he proved he could keep a secret by being a priest and advancing up thru the ranks. Probably a little tithing here and a whole lot of tithing there to the catholic church from "unnamed sources" didn't hurt his nomination.

But then, it could have been Margaret Mitchell. http://www.geekfest.com/ubb/wink.gif She certainly knew where all the bodies were buried...amazing how suddenly hers joined them.

[OvertheRiver]

Originally posted by sweetness&light:
But then, it could have been Margaret Mitchell. http://www.geekfest.com/ubb/wink.gif She certainly knew where all the bodies were buried...amazing how suddenly hers joined them.

You mean wife of John, not the writer of Gone with the Wind, right? http://www.geekfest.com/ubb/smile.gif

[redneck]

Maybe its Forest Gump remember the movie. LOL

[Neener Neener]

Seems George H. W. Bush has had recurring atriel fibrillation, has suffered from hyperthyroidism which was treated with radioactive iodine. This rendered him with a hypothyroid so he is now on synthroid maintenance for his lifetime. Graves disease also takes it's toll (curious that Mrs. Bush and their dog Millie also suffer from Graves disease). The odds of three in the same family having this same disease are enormous. Soooooooooo, it definitely could be that Mr. Bush is the ailing and illusive "Deep Throat".

[This message has been edited by Neener Neener (edited 02-07-2005).]

[This message has been edited by Neener Neener (edited 02-07-2005).]

[sweetness&light]

OTR,
Yep, John's late ex, but then he's late, too. What a couple. Think you're having a dull cocktail party? Just invite Martha and jump back behind the decorative asbestos screen. Do they still make women like that? One can only hope so. I admire those who openly state their opinion without mincing any words or apologizing before hand if their view doesn't fit yours.

Ah yes, the good old days when Watergate was Watergate and nobody played the 'race card.' But that could have been because no one of color was involved....or was there? I heard Deep Throat was really Fidel Castro, but then I could be wrong. http://www.geekfest.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[Becky Davis]

There is supposed to be a play about Martha. Don't know the name of it. I think she was kind of cute, even though they were supposed to have kept her pretty doped up to sedate her into keeping her mouth shut. Did you know she was from Pine Bluff AR?

[Becky Davis]

It is someone who has been identified and denied it, so Woodward will have to produce the evidence.
John Dean was on Oberman last night talking about it.

[Neener Neener]

Becky, Martha was dopey because she was from Pine Bluff?

[Flaherty]

Hey Becky, what did John Dean have to say? I'd be interested. Thanks Deni

[redneck]

A copied Article:


New Clue! Watergate's Deep Throat Is...
...George Herbert Walker Bush. Former president. Father of the current president. He's Deep Throat? A Watergate researcher and author says he now thinks the mysterious figure codenamed "Deep Throat" by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein is none other than Papa Bush, reports The Boston Herald.

Do you think George H.W. Bush could be Deep Throat? If not, who is and why? Sound off in the History Forum.

Arguably the most mysterious figure in American political history, Deep Throat is the one who divulged confidential information to Woodward and Bernstein that enabled them to crack the Watergate case and help bring down a presidency. And now Adrian Havill, the author of a 1993 biography titled "Deep Truth" about reporters Woodward and Carl Bernstein, says after new research he believes the elder Bush is the unnamed contact. Until now, Havill maintained Deep Throat was a composite of secret sources and not a single person.

Just who is Deep Throat? A list of the suspects.

What made Havill suspect George H.W. Bush? Five things:
1. President George W. Bush is well known for disliking reporters, but he gave Woodward an unusual seven hours of interviews for Woodward's book, "Bush at War."
2. The elder Bush had a deep motivation to dislike President Richard Nixon, who had urged him to leave a safe congressional seat for a position as assistant secretary of the Treasury with a hint that Nixon would replace Spiro Agnew with Bush on the 1972 ticket. The Boston Herald reports that Nixon reneged, and Bush "was given the thankless task of heading the Republican National Committee in 1973," Havill said.
3. George H.W. Bush was United Nations ambassador in New York from 1971 to 1973, but regularly traveled to his Washington home on weekends. Seven of the eight Deep Throat/Woodward meetings were on weekends.
4. Bush had intimate knowledge of Washington and the way it worked.
"This is a guy with deep political contacts from way back," Havill said.
5. Both Woodward and Bush are graduates of Yale University and both were in the U.S. Navy.

Find out the key players in the Watergate scandal.

Woodward has said he will only reveal Deep Throat's identity when the source dies. And that leads us to the latest news, which one would think negates all of the above. An article in today's Los Angeles Times says that Deep Throat is now close to death. The last we saw, George H.W. Bush was in great health. So maybe it's not him.

This is not the picture of a dying man!

[Becky Davis]

Flherty, sorry, I did't read your question. Here's a bit.

• February 8, 2005 | 7:14 p.m. ET

Dean sticks to report of 'Throat's' illness (Keith Olbermann)

SECAUCUS - Key Watergate witness turned Deep Throat sleuth John Dean is standing by his report in The Los Angeles Times that Bob Woodward has notified his masters at The Washington Post that “Throat” is ill.

Len Downie, the newspaper’s executive editor, denied Woodward had given him such a message. But, joining me on 'Countdown', Dean said of Downie, “it's either he has a very bad memory, because my source when he told me this, had no reason to volunteer this other than the fact that he learned it directly from Downie.” Dean also noted that Ben Bradlee, the then-Post editor who shepherded the reporting of Woodward and Bernstein, has confirmed he’s written the obituary of “Throat” for the paper. “You don't generally have a former executive editor writing obits, to put those in the can to be ready for the day they might be needed.”

But what does the story of illness do for the identification process? Dean refused to “clear” any of the four finalists (Pat Buchanan, Dwight Chapin, Ray Price, and Jerry Warren) he named in a 2002 electronic book for Salon. “I can't eliminate any of them. As I say, everybody who's ever been tagged has denied it, so you know, everyone still is denying it.”

On the other hand, two simultaneous illnesses among people in Dean’s life — one being Throat’s, one being one of his friends’ — may turn out to be one-in-the-same. And that presumed fact would put Dean, and others seeking to mask history’s most famous unnamed source, in an ethical dilemma.

“When I first learned this,” Dean told me, “I went around and checked to see who of my friends might be in bad health. And it was only because of a very unusual circumstance that I learned that a couple of people are ill that have not told me. In fact one of them happens to know that I believe this happened to be a clue to the identity of Throat and another friend of his, a mutual friend of ours, told me that he was ill.

“And this is very troubling to me because you know, I obviously want to honor this man's shuffling off with his denial and don't want to be the person to blow this up. So it's been a very difficult situation.” But Dean did clear up just how sick Throat is said to be. In his piece, Dean wrote only that Throat “is ill,” but by the time it got reported in other venues, it got exaggerated as far as ‘is facing death.’ “This was an undisclosed source that gave me the information that Woodward had reported to Downie that indeed this man was ill,” Dean said. “Now I don't know exactly the words that Bob used. Whether it was that he was ill, that he was in bad condition, or what…. but it was clear that he was sometimes, he wasn't in the best of health.” And, as Dean agreed, the idea that there’s an obituary of the man waiting in a newspaper archive ordinarily wouldn’t mean a single thing about the relative likelihood of his death (the major papers and news organizations all have obits of Britney Spears ready to go on a moment’s notice), the idea that there is an article sitting around somewhere that says “Such-and-such — who was the Watergate source of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein known as “Deep Throat” — died today,” is a different kettle of fish.

Lastly, I asked John Dean in jest if the movie version of Watergate — “All The President’s Men” — might have been closer to the truth than we could have ever believed: “Is there any chance at all that Deep Throat was actually Hal Holbrook?”

He answered with a laugh. “Well, let me tell you this on that score — when he was cast, I'm told that Woodward said, 'Not bad.’”

If you’re making a guess, that should give you something to work with.

E-mail: KOlbermann@msnbc.com