It was just plain stupid in this vitriolic cutthroat environment, and there's no doubt it hurts W and our election chances. I could just strangle him because he's inadvertenly and stupidly contributed to the momentum of the current piling on.
Folks don't realize how insidious one's image and perception of image is in this bloodthirsty DC game. Woodward pulled off a good one .. he got in their good graces by writing Bush at War and the other book, which were fairly complimentary.
He built up some trust with the Bush team and wrote a book with a novel concept at the time: a positive depiction of W and the team. That made him $$$.
That Card or anyone else at the WH was stupid enough to let down their guard and spilled inside info for the new book (which turns out to be a total departure from the theme of the first two ... now it's an attack), especially about a subject as politically sensitive as Rumseld, shows a stunning level of naivete and stupidity.
Either it's to see his name in a book or to innocently help W, but either way .. I think it was a huge mistake on Card's part. He's just not strong enough to appropriately defend his input now.
And with Woodward .. it's still about the same thing: $$$ and regaining the prestige and image he lost among his DC colleagues for leaving the reservation with the first two.
I bet Woodward didn't get Cheney to comment. And I will look anew at the snippets I hear from the book (I'm not buying it) and note THE FOLKS WHO WOODWARD DIDN'T BAMBOOZLE.
Very well said....
I noticed he all by disappeared after his appearance on LKL during the Valerie Plame press fiasco (when they assumed Rove was going down) where he handed a piece of paper showing who the leaker was to Christopher Dodd that promptly shut Dodd down cold and then it came out he knew who leaked and that it wasn't Rove...
I assume he tried to repent for keeping that secret in this book?
Great post and I concur!