TONY and Bob Woodward: Better late than never
This week, Time Out New York’s got Bob Woodward on the back page, talking about “The Secret Man” which came out on July 6th, though the big news that spurred its publication happened well over a month ago. It’s always interesting to see what Woodward has to say, especially in light of the ever-thickening plot of Plamegate/the Rove-Libby-Russert-Whoever-It-Is-This-Week affair. Still, it might have behooved interviewer Howard Halle to cast his eye about a little prior to the interview as there are some real clunkers in there: “How do you feel about the Plame affair? Interestingly, nobody seems to have affixed a -gate to it yet.” Er, Howard? You might have given that one a whirl on Google. A few people have thought of it (like, oh, CBS News, WaPo, Wonkette, NPR, the NRO, and our esteemed cousin at FishbowlDC, to name but a few). Another eyebrow raise: “After the story came out, there were all these Watergate actors – G. Gordon Liddy, Chuck Colson – going on the cable news shows, saying that Mark Felt was dishonorable, and no one was saying, “Hello! You guys are the criminals here.” Once again, that point was made, although it’s true, those exact words in that exact order were scarce to be found. Halle also asked if Woodward thought the Watergate story could break today “with the GOP controlling all three branches of government.” May we humbly suggest that Halle catch the Daily Show every so often, or even better, keep his eye peeled to FishbowlNY – Woodward and former cohort Bernstein addressed that one last week.
Halle did get some cool stuff out of Bernstein: no one ever tried to get the Deep Throat secret out of Woodward with booze or drugs (though Slate‘s Timothy Noah is now kicking himself for never trying it);he doesn’t read any political blogs; and he’d happily serve Judith Miller’s sentence for her, even if she was keeping mum to protect her own complicity (as has been alleged). Says Bernstein: “You don’t reveal confidential sources, period. Not under any kind of pressure.” We’ve heard him say that before, too, but you know, that one doesn’t get old. Norm?
Sorry to be tough on you Howard; it’s only because we care. We loved your FOB column on Harry Potter and the Uncanny Relevance to Current Events, even though we didn’t finish it because there was a spoiler. Anyone who loves Harry is all right with us. But seriously, you didn’t make up “Plamegate.”
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