We can be as sure that Bob Woodward’s “Obama Wars” is objective and fully in context as we can be that Deep Throat was only one man.
Woodward has attracted a lot of attention to his newest book by releasing a few comments by President Obama that, out of context, were guaranteed to stir new charges that the president is cold and cynical.
The two most-quoted of Obama’s statements:
“We can absorb a terrorist attack. We’ll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever ... we absorbed it and we are stronger.”And on his Afghanistan pull-out deadline: “I can’t let this be a war without end, and I can’t lose the whole Democratic Party.”
‘Bizarre’ hucksterism. Woodward was on TV yesterday calling “bizarre” Obama’s assertion that “we can absorb a terrorist attack.” Woodward was clever enough to say Obama might have meant the terrorists can’t win, and Woodward even lets us see Obama saying we’ll do everything we can to prevent another attack. But by then throwing out the word “bizarre,” Woodward kept the talking heads talking about his book.
Obama’s worry about losing the Democratic Party looks worse at first, but even that comment has an innocent explanation. His point might have been that he already can’t count on the Republican Party; he can’t lose his fellow Democrats, too.
Woodward has never been interested first in sober, balanced reporting. He always has focused on making his stories sound a little more interesting than reality, and he has not been reluctant to reorganize facts for the sake of sales. Just ask Deep Throats.
Frank Warner
Comments