* I know some people will think it is pretty strange when I say "if he even had anything to do with it". I'll repeat it: if he even had anything to do with it.
If you are at all familiar with Nazi history, you know about the concept of the big lie. The idea is that any idea, no matter how ridiculous, can be sold to the general population as unquestionable truth by simply repeating it over and over again, no matter what anyone says.
That is what has happened with Osama Bin Laden. He is absolutely regarded as the mastermind behind 9/11 even though no proof has ever been adduced to that effect. Without a doubt, he approved of the attack. Without a doubt, he hates the United States. Without a doubt, he supports terrorist activities against Israel and the United States, and Western Civilization altogether. But that is not proof that he orchestrated or financed or designed the attack on the World Trade Centre, and it bothers me, even if it doesn't bother anyone else, that he would be hanged on the spot in the U.S. if he was ever found there and no one would mind at all
.Bob Woodward-- he of "All the President's Men" fame-- used to be a journalist. He'll probably be honored forever for his celebrated expose-- with Carl Bernstein-- of the Watergate scandal.
He probably doesn't know why.
He is now an iconographer of the worst sort. He belongs to the Barbara Walters school of pseudo-journalists who think that it is better to write fawning little laudatory tracts from the inside, than incisive, perceptive, important news from the outside.
Bob Woodward is in. He is invited to join President Bush and Cheney and the whole gang in the White House for an "insider" look at the presidency of George W. That's like getting an "insider" account of the 9/11 bombings from Osama Bin Laden-- if he even had anything to do with it.*
The Bush administration, which, believe it or not, still has few holdovers from the Nixon era, must love the irony of it all, tee hee. Just imagine-- one of the most famous journalists on the planet, known primarily for his role in bringing down the Nixon White House, gives his imprimatur of approval to a president that is as far to the right of Nixon as McGovern was to his left.
If George Bush had any real character, of course, he would have invited a reporter with acuity and objectivity, to see that he really is, ahem, doing a good job. Democrats sometimes like to do this, because, after all, they are the party of tolerance and diversity. That's why Clinton had David Gergen on his staff for a while. That's why President Bartlett on West Wing brought in Ainsley as Sam Seaborne's nemesis for a while. (Why is it that you just know that a similar show with a Republican president and republican sensibilities would never bring in a liberal to ensure diversity of opinion? Because they believe they're always right, that's why.)
Instead, Bush, having established to his satisfaction that Woodward was politically sympathetic, and eager to please, invited the little toady, a naive little fawn, an intern, for heaven's sake, into the oval office for what can only be described as journalistic fellatio. Woodward's stained dress is his "casual" and coy references to files marked "Top Secret" left within his view, and the flattering portrait of the president and his staff as personable, patriotic, and steely-eyed with determination to do something noble, be it whacking the Iraqi's or giving billions of dollars in tax rebates to the rich.
I don't mind Woodward fawning over Bush and writing pornographic iconography (pornography of the political mind). I do mind him continuing to pass himself off as a journalist on CNN and other talk shows, and acting as if he has any kind of objectivity left.
Woodward, take off the dress. It's time to go home.