By now, you probably know that Bob Woodward was threatened by a senior White House staffer due to Woodward's recounting of the true facts about the birth of the sequestration plan. President Obama and the Obamacrats have been blaming Republicans for the sequester and Woodward has reported that this is not true. Indeed, Woodward has provided a detailed factual report which makes clear that Obama and the Obamacrats came up with the idea for a sequester, they also determined that sequestration would only cut spending and not raise taxes, and they also refused to modify that plan in any way that the Republicans wanted. For telling the truth (and implicitly calling Obama a liar), Woodward was told he would "regret" it.
It has been very interesting to watch this whole mess unfold. First, we heard that Woodward was not really threatened; it was just a poor choice of words. Of course, then we learned from Lanny Davis, a Democrat from the Clinton White House who now writes a column, that his paper was threatened by the same person who threatened Woodward. The paper was told that if it continued to carry Davis' column, the credentials of its White House reporters would be lifted. So much for the "this was no threat" meme.
Second, we can see the Obama machine starting up the effort to make Woodward regret telling the truth. Probably the most prominent attack came from perpetual Obama campaign advisor David Plouffe who likened Woodward to an aging former major league star who could no longer compete in the big leagues. Woodward is over the hill, you see. But Plouffe the bully is not alone. All of the usual suspects have been coming out in support of the White House and against Woodward. Woodward is now a right wing hack. Woodward is a liar. Woodward is senile. The attacks are getting more vicious, and they are not abating.
Third, it will be interesting to see how the organs of the mainstream media like the TV networks and the big press outlets react. No, I am not talking about so called networks like MSNBC; I mean CBS, ABC and NBC. What will the New York Times say on its pages? So far, CBS carried segments explaining that Woodward was correct in saying that the sequester was Obama's idea but the Woodward was misguided in saying that the deal was not to include tax increases. CBS essentially ignored the threats made to Woodward. ABC, on the other hand, explained the threats and reporter Rick Klein said that this would not "end well" for the White House. We will have to see if the story has legs. Will we still be hearing about it in two days? If so, this will have proven to be a debacle for the Obama White House. On the other hand, if the story fades away now, its impact will be small for now.
One thing is certain, however; the next time that the White House decides to take on a reporter, it will not get any benefit of the doubt even from the Obama loving press. One time is an aberration; two times is a coincidence; and three times is a pattern.
The truth is that Obama ought to call Woodward and apologize, but hey that's just what I think.
It has been very interesting to watch this whole mess unfold. First, we heard that Woodward was not really threatened; it was just a poor choice of words. Of course, then we learned from Lanny Davis, a Democrat from the Clinton White House who now writes a column, that his paper was threatened by the same person who threatened Woodward. The paper was told that if it continued to carry Davis' column, the credentials of its White House reporters would be lifted. So much for the "this was no threat" meme.
Second, we can see the Obama machine starting up the effort to make Woodward regret telling the truth. Probably the most prominent attack came from perpetual Obama campaign advisor David Plouffe who likened Woodward to an aging former major league star who could no longer compete in the big leagues. Woodward is over the hill, you see. But Plouffe the bully is not alone. All of the usual suspects have been coming out in support of the White House and against Woodward. Woodward is now a right wing hack. Woodward is a liar. Woodward is senile. The attacks are getting more vicious, and they are not abating.
Third, it will be interesting to see how the organs of the mainstream media like the TV networks and the big press outlets react. No, I am not talking about so called networks like MSNBC; I mean CBS, ABC and NBC. What will the New York Times say on its pages? So far, CBS carried segments explaining that Woodward was correct in saying that the sequester was Obama's idea but the Woodward was misguided in saying that the deal was not to include tax increases. CBS essentially ignored the threats made to Woodward. ABC, on the other hand, explained the threats and reporter Rick Klein said that this would not "end well" for the White House. We will have to see if the story has legs. Will we still be hearing about it in two days? If so, this will have proven to be a debacle for the Obama White House. On the other hand, if the story fades away now, its impact will be small for now.
One thing is certain, however; the next time that the White House decides to take on a reporter, it will not get any benefit of the doubt even from the Obama loving press. One time is an aberration; two times is a coincidence; and three times is a pattern.
The truth is that Obama ought to call Woodward and apologize, but hey that's just what I think.
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