Powell coming up next hour on Hannity

[BreitbartSentMe]

Sean says, he will comment on Woodwar's book.

[Howlin]

I'll get it for you at the midnight run; it was the last sentence he said in a series of questions King asked him about Bush's credibility.

[Torie]

I think there was a deep throat, Fred Fielding, lately back in the news. I trust Woodward about Casey. I can't believe he made it up out of whole cloth. Nobody will ever know for sure. The timeline of what Woodward said Powell said when is vague to me. Maybe he used material from the earlier book. Maybe he is relying on hearsay. Powell didn't say what he told Woodward in the three phone conversations. What I want to know, is does Woodward have tapes on Powell? Did he claim that?

Hopefully, more info will emerge in time. If what you say about Woodward is true, team Bush will destroy him. I doubt that will happen. We shall see.

[Howlin]

Torie, you need to read up on this; there is nothing vague about it.

As for this:

I trust Woodward about Casey.</i.

Casey's wife, who was with him until the minute he died said it was a lie; why would you believe him over her?

[Torie]

Good, maybe somebody will call Woodward on it, and get him to defend what he said. This is the ONLY issue that really bothers me. LKL is so brain dead, it is very sad. Woodward should have a nice chat with Brit for an hour. Let it all hang out. That would help cut through this Kabuki play.

[A Citizen Reporter]

"Or will all be dead."

This is the end of what Woodward purports to be a Bush quote, the question being, "How will history remember this?" Woodward claims that President Bush's response was that we won't know about history because we will all be dead. (I've had to paraphrase this, but it also came up in the 60 mins interview.

[Miss Marple]

I really think you should go back and study that supposed Casey interview. There was no way he could have interviewed Casey without someone knowing. No one saw Woodward.

Howlin has given you specific information about why the interview couldn't have happened. You are simply refusing to admit that Woodward lied, despite the evidence.

Now, Torie, I expect you to do some reading and report back. It is not like you to be obtuse.

[Torie]

The wife said Woodward never showed up? She was with him 24/7? Woodward making it all up is stranger than fiction. I simply can't believe it. Sorry.

[A Citizen Reporter]

Having said that, I don't believe that it was given in it's full context on this show tonight.

[Howlin]

Did you miss this posted earlier on the thread?

Can You Trust Bob Woodward?
Reed Irvine
June 25, 1999

Bob Woodward's new book, "Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate," contains material that has given rise to new charges that revive old memories of how "Mortuary Bob" has relied on lies, fabricated stories and other ethical violations to produce the bestsellers that have made him rich. Mr. Woodward is famous for his ability to come up with what he presents as verbatim accounts of confidential one-on-one conversations. "Shadow" contains many of these.

When Mr. Woodward appeared on "Meet the Press" on June 20, Tim Russert asked him how it was possible to find out what President Clinton and his attorney, Bob Bennett, said when they were talking one-on-one. For example, Woodward describes them strolling on the White House grounds, discussing the rumors "connecting Clinton sexually with various women." He writes: "'If you're caught...in the White House,' Bennett said, 'I'm not good enough to help you.' 'This is a prison,' Clinton responded. 'I purposefully have no drapes on the windows.' As for women, 'I'm retired,' the president declared, repeating himself emphatically, 'I'm retired.'"

Here is Mr. Woodward's answer: "There are all kinds of avenues and sources where you can get information, documents, notes and figure out- - - and significantly no one has challenged any of those conversations." Figure out what? It appears that he started to say, "figure out what was said." That would have been an admission that he makes up the dialogue and puts quotation marks around it, but he caught himself and abruptly changed course. Larry King pressed him on the same issue and got essentially the same answer, minus the revealing slip.

Mr. Woodward told Larry King, "The only thing I'm interested in is no one has questioned any of the information. They're discussing, like you are, who, what, where? I think the significance is that the information is exhaustively reported. It's not challenged."

But that is not true. Many of the conversations Mr. Woodward included in earlier books have been challenged. Victor Lasky, veteran journalist and author, found 36 statements in an earlier book, "The Final Days," that were denied by the attributed sources or declared false by those in the best position to know. In his 1987 book, "Veil," Mr. Woodward quoted 19 words that he said William J. Casey, the CIA director, had spoken in an interview with him not long after Mr. Casey had undergone brain surgery. This was a complete fabrication. Bill Casey could never speak intelligibly after his operation, and Bob Woodward never entered his carefully guarded hospital room. Mrs. Casey accused Woodward of lying, a charge he never challenged.

Jane Sherburne, a former assistant counsel in the Clinton White House, in a deposition taken by Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch on June 21, testified that Mr. Woodward had put words in her mouth in "Shadow" about a conversation she had with Hillary Clinton concerning a Newsweek article. She testified that the "dialogue does not resemble what I recall of the conversation."

She also testified that the interview was entirely off the record. She said Mr. Woodward called to tell her that when she saw the excerpts from his book that were to be published in The Washington Post she might think he had broken this agreement. He claimed there was no violation because he had heard of Hillary's reaction to the Newsweek article from many other people, and so he decided to put the words in her mouth.

Ms. Sherburne said that she had not expected to see anything she told Mr. Woodward in quotes because of their agreement and the fact that she had rejected a subsequent request that he be allowed to put some of it on the record. She testified that she sent a written apology to Mrs. Clinton, saying that "as she well knew, the dialogue was made up" by Mr. Woodward and that "to believe in Woodward's professionalism" was not good judgment.

Journalists have been fired for fabricating stories, lying and violating their commitments to keep material off the record. Bob Woodward's publishers and peers take no notice of his sins.

[Miss Marple]

By the way, Mary Matilin is following Fred Thompson on Greta's show. I would say Team Bush is doing a pretty good job of relegating Woodward to the dust heap.

[Torie]

Ya, I read it. Through the confusing piece, I read the names Sherburne and Klayman.

[Miss Marple]

Mary Matalin says that the President likes loud, aggressive discussions about policy in cabinet meetings. She says that she has been present when Cheney and Powell have laughed about how no one understands their relationship in Washington, and that they have been good friends for 17 years. She also says that the Woodward book portrays their relationship as a frat-house rivalry, and that the President wouldn't put up with such behavior.

So far, WOodward is still looking like a liar to me.

[kabar]

What would he have to gain by helping Woodward spread this manure? This got my attention, quickly.

Powell and Armitage are close personal friends. They came to the State Department as a package. Armitage has said that four years will be enough for both of them. Armitage can convey things to the Press and Congress that Powell can't. I don't think it is a big secret that Powell is unhappy with his position within the Administration. He has been Chairman of the JCS and the head of the NSC. In terms of influence, SecState is something of a step down compared to the other jobs.

If you recall, Powell said before the 2000 election that he would entertain job offers from either Gore or Bush. He has always seen himself as being apolitical. It is not by accident that all polls indicate that he is the most respected and admired man in America. Powell values his personal reputation more than being part of GWB's team. He is a master bureaucrat who knows how to manipulate the apparatus of Washington to his best advantage. Powell is the bureaucrat's bureaucrat. No one of either party will ever confront him publicly.

[TexKat]

David Frum, author of GWB's Axis of Evil speech and the book An End To Evil and Gerald Posner author of While America Slept are on Scarborough Country MSNBC stating that the Saudis are the feeders of Woodword's info.

From different articles that I have been reading about the Saudis and their dissatisfication with GWB on the Israeli Palestinian issue what these two are stating makes sense.

[Miss Marple]

But Bandar was on Larry King disputing the book.

Could be we are seeing the two factions in Saudi Arabia spilling over to our election.

[Howlin]

Woodward should have a nice chat with Brit for an hour.

But he won't. What does that tell you?

[Torie]

Well the specific charge was that Cheney and Powell were not speaking with each other. Somebody should ask just how Woodward knows that, and for what period he thinks that condition obtained. Maybe Woodward abused the term "is." I must admit, given that both men are seasoned and calm pros, that that one is hard to imagine. It makes them both seem adolescent.

You know what? I want to interview Woodward for an hour. It would make interesting television. Trust me.

[woofie]

I wanna know what Dick Morris was spouting....I missed it, something about Kerry is gonna win...

[CyberAnt]

"need maga does of valium"

NOT ME! This is the greatest news! Finally, all the garbage the Clintons kept secret for 8 years is going to be brought out into the light of day. Now, people are really going to see what the Clinton admin was really all about.

[Howlin]

The wife said Woodward never showed up?

She said it was an out and out lie; and the guards on Casey's hospital door said he was never there.