John Tierney Tells It Like it Isn't

It's hard to know why Tierney wrote his NYT Op/Ed column today. Perhaps it was merely to complain that whatever is going on at the moment is wrong. While the subtext of “Show Him the Money” is to natter about the fact that Woodstein and the book and movie producers of “All the President's Men” made pots of money, the main message seems to be that Mark Felt and his family should have been paid by some publication for the story that came out this past week revealing that Felt is Deep Throat. Okay. Fair enough. But Tierney also seems to be saying that since journalists are craven and greedy, sources should be paid for giving them info. Or is he just being cute and making a passive/aggressive slam at the people he calls “keepers of journalistic ethics in America”? I despise the way Tierney writes, I don't read him regularly, and I admit I'm not good at reading between the lines of a Tierney piece. But I do know this. He got his facts wrong in his first paragraph this morning: “I hope Mark Felt and his family get the big payoff they want, but they've already hurt their chances by ignoring his famous advice as Deep Throat. They didn't follow the money.” The famous advice to “follow the money” was movie dialogue. Hal Holbrook said it in “All the President's Men”. Mark Felt never said it. I don't say it's not good advice. It's perfect advice. But how about crediting the correct source, Mr. Tierney?