UPDATE BELOW:
*GOBSHITES: h/t Charlie Pierce
Bob Woodward went on CNN last night and claimed the White House "threatened" him for his reporting on who was responsible for the sequester mess.
Below are the emails in question that had CNN and other cable news outlets' knickers in a bunch. Plus, these emails show what a dissembler Bob Woodward is, since in the reply email to Sperling, he accepts an apology and says absolutely nothing about being bullied or warned or threatened in any way whatsoever. Anyone with half a brain can see what Sperling meant when he wrote "...as a friend I think you will regret staking out that claim..." Clearly Sperling means that Woodward will regret the MISTAKE of writing something that is NOT TRUE.
Woodward is kind of a large worm, and the cable news outlets that reported this non-issue without actually, y'know, READING the context of the emails, are beneath contempt. But that's the world we live in today. A supposedly respected journalist and writer went crying to a cable news station over something that didn't happen. And here's the proof:
via daily kos:
Gene Sperling, economic adviser to the president:
Bob: I apologize for raising my voice in our conversation today. My bad. I do understand your problems with a couple of our statements in the fall — but feel on the other hand that you focus on a few specific trees that gives a very wrong perception of the forest.
But perhaps we will just not see eye to eye here. But I do truly believe you should rethink your comment about saying saying that Potus asking for revenues is moving the goal post. I know you may not believe this, but as a friend, I think you will regret staking out that claim.
The full email is here.
Woodward's response:
Gene: You do not ever have to apologize to me. You get wound up because you are making your points and you believe them. This is all part of a serious discussion. I for one welcome a little heat; there should more given the importance. I also welcome your personal advice. I am listening. I know you lived all this. My partial advantage is that I talked extensively with all involved. I am traveling and will try to reach you after 3 pm today. Best, Bob
daily kos: "So not only was Sperling's email heavier on the apology than on the threats (more specifically, there was an apology, but not a threat), Woodward clearly interpreted it as such. Indeed, he said he "welcomed it."
But then he went running to other media outlets to claim he was the target of a White House political attack.
The first of those outlets, Politico, failed to report the "as a friend" portion of Sperling's email, nor did they mention Woodward's cheerful reply.
CNN was breathlessly intrigued as well. The net result was that there was a political hit job going on: but it was Woodward who was leading it.
Oh, and you know what else? Woodward was wrong.
UPDATE:
"Any reporter or spokesperson sees more hostile language on a near-daily basis and doesn’t bat an eyelash. “If this is it, I think many reporters — and I covered the White House for four years — received emails like this,” said Bret Baier of Fox News, a network that has been one of Woodward’s strongest defenders in recent days. “I’m not sure that characterizing it as a threat — I think Bob Woodward has a little bit of explaining to do about that characterization.”
“I get emails like this almost every hour, whether it’s from the White House or the Hill,” said NBC’s Chuck Todd.
The important question becomes this: If Woodward, who has generated best-seller after best-seller over many decades based heavily on anonymous sources, can’t accurately convey a conversation with an email trail, should we trust the anonymous sources in the rest of his reporting?"
Then comes this tweet from the dimwit, Dana Perino, who, when she was press secretary to GWB, admitted in a press conference that she had never heard of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Where do they get these people?
Dana Perino: "Somewhere in Moscow tonight, Vladimir Putin saw that Bob Woodward was sent a threatening message from the White House...and he smiled. — @DanaPerino via Twitter for iPhone "
11 comments:
Woodward, still looking to bring down another president to foster his fame.
He now claims sequestration was Obama's "dirty politics" idea. Wrong again, but the Republican sheep 9like RN who wrote a post about it) will follow truth, or not.
JACKSON, Miss. -- Whatever his prospects for winning the coming mayoral election in his hometown of Clarksdale, Miss., Marco McMillian was considered by many to be a man on the rise. So word spread fast when his SUV was involved in a wreck this week, and he was nowhere to be found.
The discovery of the openly gay candidate's body near a Mississippi River levee Wednesday stunned residents of Clarksdale, a Blues mecca in the flatlands of the Mississippi Delta.
Authorities were investigating McMillian's death as a homicide, and said a person of interest was in custody, but released few other details.
"There's a lot of people upset about it," said Dennis Thomas, 33, who works at Abe's Barbeque.
"Why would somebody want to do something like that to somebody of that caliber? He was a highly respected person in town," Thomas said.
The 34-year-old Democrat wasn't running what many would consider a typical campaign for political office in Mississippi, which is known for its conservative politics.
Campaign spokesman Jarod Keith said McMillian's campaign was noteworthy because he may have been the first openly gay man to be a viable candidate for public office in the state.
McMillian, who was black, had also forged ties while serving for four years as international executive director of the historically black Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. Photos on McMillian's website and Facebook page show him with a younger Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton and with U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat.
Coahoma County Coroner Scotty Meredith said McMillian's body was found Wednesday morning near the levee between Sherard and Rena Lara. It was sent to Jackson for an autopsy.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – The Arkansas House voted 53-28 Wednesday to override Gov. Mike Beebe's veto of a bill that would outlaw most abortions starting in the 20th week of pregnancy, hours after a state Senate committee approved a package of even tighter abortion restrictions.
The Republican-controlled state Senate, which overwhelmingly backed the 20-week near-ban on abortions before Beebe, a Democrat, vetoed it, was expected to discuss whether to vote to override the veto Thursday. Like the GOP-led House, only a simple majority in the Senate is needed to override a veto.
The House-sponsored measure is based on the disputed argument that a fetus can feel pain by the 20th week of pregnancy, and thus deserves protection from abortion. Beebe vetoed the bill Tuesday, saying it contradicts the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion until a fetus can viably survive outside of the womb, which is typically at 22 to 24 weeks.
What Woodward did in this case is cowardly. He misrepresented what his friend wrote to him, and the cable news outlets and sites like Politico were too lazy and stupid to investigate on their own.
A child could have read those emails and determined that Woodward was a liar, seeking to give himself free publicity.
He's a worm. Plain and simple.
In the context of the whole email, it's pretty obviously "I think you'll regret saying this because you're wrong and you'll make an ass of yourself."
Woodward doesn't appear to regret making an ass of himself, though, so I guess Sperling was wrong.
Anon, that Woodward would characterize what HIS FRIEND wrote as a "threat," says more about him than this whole cooked-up non story. Woodward knew exactly what he was doing.
This whole controversy shows him to be a dishonest, back-stabbing narcissist.
Who'd go near him or have him as a friend?
What a worm.
The frightwing bloggers are already spreading the lie.
"Wrong again, but the Republican sheep 9like RN who wrote a post about it)..."
As the true Sheeple like Anion regurgitate whatever the line of the day is in progressive blogistan. Truth or not.
Just read RN's post, it says it all despite RN's denials
"This whole controversy shows [Woodward] to be a dishonest, back-stabbing narcissist.
"Who'd go near him or have him as a friend?
"What a worm!"
I'm glad to hear you say it. Your words beautifully express exactly what I've thought of Woodward ever since he rose to prominence.
Thanks!
I've never been a fan of Woodward.
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