In the midst of our discussions on Iraq and Washington state, please allow me a minor indulgence: if there's one story I can't nearly get enough of, it's Watergate. I think my interest might go back as far as age six, actually; I vividly remember visiting relatives in Hamburg, Germany and seeing the giant headline of the morning paper that day in August. It was two words:
NIXON OUT
Obviously I had no idea at the time what was really going on, but in my mind's eye I can still see that headline (in German, it said "NIXON AUS"). As I made my way through high school, college and then graduate school, I became more interested in both the political story and the journalistic story. Watching how the MSM deals with political stories today, it pains me to think that the ethic of hard work and shoe leather is being subjugated to the easy headline and the he- said-they-said formula of reportage.
The University of Texas at Austin has paid $5 million for the materials surrounding "Woodstein's" efforts, and if you're a buff like me you can't help but be enthralled. If you're not altogether sure just what Watergate was, this probably isn't the best place to start, but they do reprint some of the key articles in the series to give you an idea.
We now return you to our regularly scheduled fisking and debunking activities...
(hat tip, Kos diaries)
--TJ
TJ, I'll admit to being a bit older than you were at the time of Watergate, and I also followed every fascinating minute of it. I was living in Washington at the time, and I still have a copy of the Washington Post with the headline shown on the HRC site you linked to.
Now that the Woodstein papers are in Austin, my official-home-for-tax-purposes, I may even try to get a look at them next time I'm there.
What I really, really want to know is who was Deepthroat? I've always kind of liked the idea that maybe there was no Deepthroat, making Woodstein responsible for one of the most successful and delightful scams of all time.
By the way, I admire the work you and Carla are doing on the WA election mess, and Watergate on top of all that! So, I've linked to you.
Posted by: Tom Carter | February 10, 2005 at 10:22
Thanks for the kind words, Tom.
Interesting you mention DeepThroat. In the last couple weeks, apparently Woodstein has alerted Post executive Len Downie that DeepThroat is quite ill. All along, Woodward and Bradlee have pledged to come clean once DT is dead, and we may be nearing that point.
Posted by: Torridjoe | February 10, 2005 at 10:44
Rhenquist?
Posted by: Zap | February 10, 2005 at 10:54