Unfortunately I have heard a number conservative commentators talking as if Mark Felt, aka Deep Throat, were some kind of demon. To the extent that Felt’s tales brought down Richard Nixon he should be a hero to all who love individual liberty and especially free markets. Richard Nixon’s policies did more damage to the free enterprise system than any President since FDR, including Carter and Clinton. Nixon’s price controls gave us the energy crisis of the 1970s and it is this energy crisis that gave us programs like the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards (CAFE). These standards are responsible not only for a loss in auto consumer choice but also thousands of deaths each year because of the downsizing of the auto fleet. Furthermore, it is the energy crisis that has brought about the crazy energy conservation hysteria that this country has faced ever since the 70s,which has driven all kinds of goofy policies.
In addition, we have Nixon to thank for the massive bureaucracies known as the two DOEs and the EPA. This person was a disaster for real free market conservatism and I for one thank God that there was a Mark Felt out there to bring him down.
