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Nov. 24, 2009
Rabbi Avi Shafran : The Atheists' unintended gift
JWisdom.com: You are a Philanthropist with Aliza Bulow (5 minutes)
Nov. 23, 2009
JWisdom.com: Actually, it really is all about you with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff
Nov. 20, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: How to make every second of your life come first
Caroline B. Glick: Whither American Jewry
Nov. 19, 2009
Binyamin L. Jolkovsky: Please Listen to this Godcast (5 minutes)
Jonathan Tobin: ADL Crosses the Line with Report Bashing Obama Critics
Nov. 18, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: What Judaism has to say about the secret of the Mona Lisa's smile
JWisdom.com: The (Jewish) Dating Game with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
Nov. 17, 2009
Steven Emerson: How Does the 4th Amendment Impact Terror Finance Investigations?
JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung
Nov. 16, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : When borrowing is stealing
JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes)
Nov. 13, 2009
JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: Obama's failure, Netanyahu's opportunity
Nov. 12, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet By Marialisa Calta : A sweet sweet potato treat
JWisdom.com Does God get tired? with Rabbi Harvey Belovski ( 5 minutes)
Nov. 11, 2009
Rabbi Avi Shafran: Jews and money: When anti-Semitism isn't
JWisdom.com Marriages are not made in Heaven with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (VERY fast 15 minutes)
Nov. 10, 2009
Michael Doyle: Author of book exposing CAIR ordered to remove supporting documents from Web
JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes)
Nov. 9, 2009
Mark Steyn: Shooter exposes hole in U.S. terror strategy
JWisdom.com It's never too late to have a happy childhood with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Nov. 6, 2009
Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week
Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man
Nov. 5, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered?
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review June 3, 2005 / 25 Iyar, 5765

Does doing the right thing make someone a villian?

By Dan Abrams

Abrams
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Word came Tuesday that this country's most famous whistleblower has finally come forward and identified himself; "Deep Throat," the source who provided the confirmation needed by "The Washington Post's" Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, while reporting the Watergate story. According to an article in "Vanity Fair" magazine, W. Mark Felt, the number two at the FBI at the time, has admitted it was him. "Deep Throat" did something he was not officially supposed to do but he did it for the sake of the country.

He helped uncover a web of corruption at the highest level of government. The Nixon administration hated the fact that it was leaked, not because it was bad for the country, because it was bad for the administration.

I wonder how that sort of heroic act would be viewed today. The same goes for Daniel Ellsberg, the man who photocopied the Pentagon papers and provided them to Congress and "The New York Times." The release of those documents helped get us out of the Vietnam War.

Those who warned the release would harm national security have since conceded it did nothing of the sort. But I'm worried that these days Mark Felt and even the reporters themselves would be assailed as partisan— much more so than they were back then. Whichever party was in power would go into attack mode and leave the nation unable to appreciate why the information was released.

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Look at the case of Jim Taricani, a reporter at NBC's Providence, Rhode Island station who refused to reveal a source that gave him a videotape of a local official appearing to accept a bribe. Taricani. He was convicted of criminal contempt and sentenced to six months home confinement for refusing to reveal his source.

That source came forward voluntarily, but it didn't matter. Taricani became the bad guy with the judge in the case stating publicly that he should have gone to prison, but was too ill to serve a prison sentence so he instead he got home confinement.

I sometimes wonder whether Richard Clarke, the Republican terror expert who served in four administrations and criticized the Bush White House's lack of focus on al Qaeda before 9/11, would have been appreciated in a less divisive time. I don't know.

In many of these cases, it's in the public's interest to know, even if it's embarrassing to whatever administration. Some leaks do benefit the country, just like "Deep Throat" did over 30 years ago. And I would argue that going forward, not every government official who provides information should be viewed as a villain.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Dan Abrams anchors “The Abrams Report,” Monday through Friday from 6-7 p.m. ET on MSNBC TV. He also covers legal stories for “NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw,” “Today” and “Dateline NBC.” To visit his website, click here. Comment by clicking here.

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