The name Bob Woodward has been synonymous with investigative journalism for the vast majority of my lifetime. By the time I started getting my feet wet in that world, his words had been used for years by Journalism professors across the country – including my own. And I had assumed that he would enjoy privileged status until his full retirement, or death. But, the Obama administration has brought that into question.
Yes, I am a conservative that is suggesting that a liberal journalist should be left alone by this administration, because he was simply doing the same job he’s been doing. True, Woodward may have implied some degree of similarities between this presidency, and that of Nixon (if the shoe fits?), but that is no reason to start running about making threats against members of the media. That is another important point, since Woodward is by no means the only target of the Obama Administration, and Lanny Davis, former Clinton White House Counsel, explains that to the hosts on WMAL below.
While it might be tempting to take some degree of amusement in this latest round of nonsense among the liberal members of the media, that probably isn’t the best idea, especially given what Davis implies in that interview – that this administration is not above throwing around threats of withdrawing White House press credentials from journalists that annoy them. Sure, it could be interesting to watch John Nolte’s running list of liberal journalists that take the administration’s side against Woodward over on Breitbart.com. Personally, I think he’s being very generous in putting many of those people in the “remotely close to objective” category, but that’s just me. All of this nonsense is just that. I’m paying more attention to what isn’t making the headlines – the handful of journalists I know personally that have privately, or only semi-publicly stated that they have also received similar threats from this administration. That points out that there is a disturbing trend building here. And that makes Nolte’s list less than compelling, since it’s not insane to assume that those journalists know better than most about any blacklisting, or other harassment this administration has already meted out to “misbehaving” journalists. So, yes, I’ll keep track of that list, but not to see who’s a traitor against his own kind – I want to know who knows, or suspects how far this administration will go to silence its opposition in the media. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I think that’s more important than a hundred Woodwards.
Reap the Wind… Sow the Whirlwind.