An inconvenient truth
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An inconvenient truth
The only thing that's worse than forgetting the past is forgetting the recent past, as many journalists have done. Most journalists who pimped relentless for the war in Iraq and for the powers that be have paid no penalty for a mistake that killed many people. Former Washington Post investigative reporter turned novelist Lorraine Adams explains why she based a character on Bob Woodward in her latest novel:
[I] would talk to the people who have no power and who are affected by the people in power, and that gives a much more useful picture of the way policy affects the human soul. Woodward, who started as a reporter who did that, who knocked on doors and talked to people on the ground, became a celebrity. In becoming a celebrity, he invariably saw it as a much better deal for him, in terms of making money, to talk to other celebrities inside Washington: presidents, their chiefs of staff, vice presidents, their chiefs of staff. We have learned that Deep Throat was an FBI official, not an agent, an official. He was on, what we call, the 7th Floor. I think Woodward’s capitulation to interviewing people in limousines, as opposed to people on the subway, is something I feel is partly responsible for the fact that we ended up in Iraq. Because so many reporters, Judith Miller is the most egregious of them, spoke to Scooter Libby and some other higher officials, and never spoke to intelligence people on the ground. They swallowed wholesale Colin Powell at the U.N., and [ultimately] their limousine reporting meant that 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives. I don’t think anything can be so neatly drawn, but I think in this case it can be neatly drawn.
I'm sorry. This is the Age of Obama -- what was I thinking. No looking back allowed!
Comments (59)
No Bunchie- focus and continue to Blame Bush in June of 2010.........Never saw a guy try to ignore the Epic Debacle in the White House like you. Obama is a joke, yet you continue to ignore the plethera of stories out there- very sad.— Manny Trillo- Yeah, let's not focus on the oil polluting the entire Gulf and soon all of FL. Let's talk about Iraq!
- The phrase "limousine liberal" come to mind. (That includes Escalades, kids.) C'mon, Adams based a character on Woodward because there's a whole generation of aging hippies out there who miss their heroes. Like Woodward...Bill Ayers...Abbie Hoffman...Ira Einhorn...— MaggieL
Comment removed.- Come on Willy, no looking towards the past...It's the era of hope and change!!— camtheman
Facts are stubborn things. We all suffer from not knowing them when it matters.- Oil Spill....Deficit 13T....Bribing democrats not to run for office....."Jobs, Jobs, Jobs"?.....Isreal.....Two failed Terrorist Bombing in the U.S........Economy in the Tank.....Democrats losing everytime Obama comes to "help"......— Manny Trillo
I was listening to Bernstein and Woodward explaining how they started on Watergate--they got a phone list and a map, which they used to determine who was in which office and what the relationships were. Then they found the addresses and went out, typically about 8:18 pm, and knocked on doors. That sounds like what Will wants to have happened. Do not regret the past nor forget it.- Comment removed.
As the trolls have reminded you here Will, you've got to get the basic truths down. When a Republican is in office, everything bad that happens is the fault of the Democrat who preceded him (see Bush and 9/11, Bush and the "inherited recession", etc.) When a Democrat is in office, everything that happened before he swore the oath of office is off the table and thus all that happens afterwards is his fault 100% completely. If you would just take your marching orders like the "journalists" at FAUX news you would understand all this.- "The fact that idiots here are debating journalistic "integrity" illustrates one thing - no one here was a math major." 1 trillion dolalrs? Thats smaller than the defict in Obama's first year of office. How's that math for you?— RG
Nothing wrong with looking back, as long as your not using the past to cover up for the failures of the present.— jmc
Someone is actually trying to say that Bush did not inherit a recession? Remember the tech sector crash? The whole market collapse? My, libs have such short memories. Or is it that they can't see reality?— rudytbone- How much did you all pay to read this article? or any other part of philly.com? Nothing. You get what you pay for. Newspapers and journalists can't produce quality work for nothing, so stop your whining or start paying.— mindspring
- Tear Down This Myth now #311,647 on Amazon. Ouch.— Refounder
- Comment removed.
Man, what a pathetic bunch of commenters on this blog. I mean really, no one does anything but anonymously criticize a Pulitzer Prize winning author and a blog that is widely respected across the country. Anonymously of course. Losers, all of you. And pu55ies too.— Les Ismore- Mannie, can you come up with a new theme for crying out loud. I mean every freakin' day you show how stupid you are by not knowing the difference between a blog and a news item. You are probably the most pathetic of all. What a loser...or maybe Billy Atkinson ties with you. Nothing ever relevent except your incessant whining....Losers— Les Ismore
- "Anonymously of course. Losers, all of you." Oh the irony. So people are losers for criticizing Will, but you're a picture of bravery for anonymously criticizing them? Got it. Another epic logic fail for Les.— RG
- I'm not criticizing Will for not posting my favorite topic of the day nitwit. All most of the wingnut posters do here is criticize the topic selection and whine all freakin' day. It takes 0 balls to criticize someone who puts themselves out there every freakin' day. As I said pu55ies one and all.— Les Ismore
- "All most of the wingnut posters do here is criticize the topic selection and whine all freakin' day" I guess you don't see the irony of Will complainign about the lack of journalism yet posting incessantly about inconsequential figures like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin. Postings that simply serve as a sales pitch for his book. In other words, shortbus, Will's a hypocritical self promoter.— RG
- And of course when has Manny Trillo, Billy Atkinson, Refounder or the rest of them ever made one cogent point here. Classless trolls in my humble opinion. RG you are the ultimate troll but at least you try to stay on topic and debate. These other pus55ies just come here to throw stones anonymously of course. They need to get out from their moms basement and see the light of day once in a while.— Les Ismore
- Inconsequential figures like Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck??? YOu gotta be kidding me. One was almost vice president of the United States and the other is trying to create an insurrection using the weak minded and uninformed. Get real RG.— Les Ismore
- Comment removed.
- and midgets is a font of knowledge...hahaha...— Les Ismore
- "One was almost vice president of the United States and the other is trying to create an insurrection using the weak minded and uninformed." Are they writing or voting on laws, Les? Or are they just convienent boogeyman for Will to sell books?— RG
- "It takes 0 balls to criticize someone who puts themselves out there every freakin' day." Yet you criticized President Bush, and still blame him a year and a half after he left office. Pot meet kettle. Logical consistency Les, look into it.— RG
- One would LOVe to be in government and the other just pretends that he wants to overthrow it RG. Kind of like Rand Paul but scarier. When you have right wing rags announcing that they have the scoop on Sarah Palin's latest facebook post, as much as I hate to say it, she has influence in our politics.— Les Ismore
- While I certainly agree that the supposedly left wing media did a poor job asking questions and challenging officials, I think the bigger problem is our population. The simple truth is that 75% of Americans supported this war and most of them couldn't tell you the difference between a Sunni and a Shi'ite. In other words, journalists sold idiots what they wanted to hear. Liberal politicians were afraid of the poll numbers and, like cowards, backed down to Dubya. The problem is that Americans who have no idea what they're talking about have opinions and pollsters take them seriously. The real problem is us, and we got what we wanted.— Contract Aaron
- " Yet you criticized President Bush, and still blame him a year and a half after he left office." And your point is....?— Les Ismore
- "And your point is....?" Bush "put himself out there every day" in what you already called the hardest job in the world. Yet you anonymously criticize him, while pi--ing your pants in hysteria over criticism of Will. The fact that you are too dense to even see the hypocrisy in yoru acts speaks volumes.— RG
- "One would LOVe to be in government" Loved it so much she quit as gov, which you've criticized her for. So she's either power hungry or a quitter, which one is it? Gee Les, can't you get your talking points straight? What, is Olbermann on vacay or something?— RG
- RG - I know this is difficult for you to understand. Its not about Bush. It is about people showing up on this blog and not criticizing the topic but criticizing the blogger and only the blogger. And by criticism I dont mean arguing against the bloggers point, I mean just throwing stones anonymously at the blogger for things totally unrelated to the original post. Is that easy enough for a moron like you to understand? And let me say that they do nothing like this in Japan.....hahaha....— Les Ismore
Les Ismore talks about people who never made a point here - yet the only point he is capable of making is calling people names. It really is classless and less than intelligent Les. But we have come to expect nothing more from the left. You can't win an argument so you blame someone, or call them names. And of course only the weak minded and uninformed could have any opinion other than yours. Look in the mirror pal. You are the weak minded and uninformed.- Comment removed.
- "I mean just throwing stones anonymously at the blogger for things totally unrelated to the original post." No Les, most posters ARE making a point on the post. Will's incessant whining about journalism, yet his failure to actually do any of his own.— RG
- Comment removed.
- I think a Pulitzer Prize winning writer knows just a bit about journalism, RG. Would you agree with that one statement? Another question for you RG, do you think this blog is the sum total of Will's work? Will is highly regarded in the blogosphere and routinely is linked to from some of the top blogs in the country.— Les Ismore
- "I think a Pulitzer Prize winning writer knows just a bit about journalism, RG." Oh goodness, here comes the appeals to authority. Will has a Pultizer, which should be a shield from criticism.— RG
- Not a shield but a validation of ones life's work.— Les Ismore
- "Not a shield but a validation of ones life's work." The Pulitzer isn't a lifetime achievement award.— RG
- My point (which for some reason didnt make it through the sensors) is this. Yes, I make fun of RG, Billy Atkinson, Manny and others, and I do this anonymously just like they do to me. The difference between that and the hate I see here is that we all know our bloggers name, where he works, etc. That is what I meant by being "out there" ever day. There were many posts here in the past that I had some concern about just how crazy Manny is or Billy Atkinson. Yes, attack me, call me names, and I will do the same to you but it takes a real pu55ie to pull a Manny or Billy every day.— Les Ismore
- Comment removed.
- "article lifted by bunch." This is EXACTLY the kind of STUPIDITY I am referring to. Billy, go back into your hole and dont come out until you learn the basics of blogging vs. news reporting and at least a working knowlege of Fair Use laws. Please do us that favor.— Les Ismore
- "Not a shield but a validation of ones life's work." Did the Nobel Peace Prize validate Yassar Arafat's life work? Did it make him an expert on peace? Sorry, just couldn't resist.— RG
- Good one RG. But I thought you would use Obama. Anyway, all snark aside, did you get my point?— Les Ismore
- "did you get my point?" I get your point, but I still find that you are incosistent in applying it. Bush, Rand Paul, et al "put themselves out there", yet you anonymously criticize them. Granted they are running or have held office, but then the example can be moved to Glenn Beck. You criticize them because you disagree with them, same with bill and Manny in regards to Will.— RG
- Les Ismore- must be his real name- right? He is not anonymous????— Manny Trillo
YOU MEAN YOU AREN'T THE REAL MANNY TRILLO???? I AM OUTRAGED!!!!!— bird11
"It is about people showing up on this blog and not criticizing the topic but criticizing the blogger and only the blogger." . . . . . It's called insecurity. The same reason baby's cry so much. You know Will strikes a nerve, when they employ the CAPS.- "The same reason baby's cry so much." I thought that was collick?— RG
- "I thought that was collick?" It's actually Obama Derangement Syndrome.
- MSL and Billy, bravo! Love how you frame the debate. Anyone who disagrees with Obama or progressives is either a baby or deranged. My how times have changed.— RG
- Les...maybe you should follow the advice of your user name and STFU.— Refounder
- Comment removed.
- bill atkinson, your depth of intelligence is truly inspiring.— Les Ismore
- Gee RG, I recall you were the one calling me childlike for criticizing BP. Pot, meet Kettle. Or as you like to say, another right wing logic fail.
- " I recall you were the one calling me childlike for criticizing BP" No, your analysis was childish. Get mad Obama!— RG
- RG, master of splitting hairs. And I didn't realize only children were supposed to get mad. Adults are supposed to not get mad about the oil spill? I realize that the only thing that makes you mad is lost profits, but now that that is happening with BP, maybe you can get mad too.
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