Posted on 02/28/2013 3:50:29 PM PST by RummyChick
Bob Woodward has suggested that the White House threatened him. Many of his colleagues in the press corps aren't buying it.
By the standards of this White House, a statement like the one senior White House official Gene Sperling wrote to Woodward last week -- "I think you will regret staking out that claim" -- is both mild and familiar, reporters who have dealt with the Obama administration say.
"It's not a big deal. You've been yelled at by people in the White House, I've been yelled at by people in the White House -- I'm sure this has happened to a thousand people in Washington," Atlantic columnist Jeffrey Goldberg, who deals with the White House frequently, told POLITICO. "The whole thing seems like a tempest in a teapot."
"I get emails like this almost every hour, whether it's from the White House or Capitol Hill," said Chuck Todd, the NBC News political director and senior White House correspondent. "For better or worse, flacks get paid to push back."
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Conservatives Regret Taking Woodward’s ‘Threat’ Story Seriously
Unless Pres. Obama happened to be a Republican . . . .
Keith Urbahn, Donald Rumsfeld’s former chief of staff, tweeted:
Vintage Woodward: Cherry-pick a friendly exchange, make it sinister & vault himself into the media. Did it with Rummy in State of Denial.
— Keith Urbahn (@keithurbahn) February 28, 2013
My BS detector is going off. If a Republican White House used these thuggish tactics the whole press corps would rise up in indignation. Remember their whining about Nixon’s so-called “enemies list”?
one of my favorites so far is at Gawker. Nixon must be laughing over Cook’s “Goodbye Bob” article
If there were two columns labeled “journalists” and “regime propagandists”, politico has just staked their claim, firmly, in the “propagandists” column.
The Obama media says this is no big deal, happens all the time.
If so, I’d expect any number of the b*st*rds to come forward with the threats they received from the GWB administration. Hmmmmm, haven’t seen a one.
Fox News’s Perino: Bush effort to discredit Woodward ‘failed miserably
Remember the uproar by the left over John Bolton? He was denounced as a bully because he once yelled at a staffer.
“Fox News’s Perino: Bush effort to discredit Woodward ‘failed miserably”
There is a decided difference between trying to discredit and threatening.
But the difference in the reaction of the Obama media to the two situations is interesting to any who would see.
Yep!!!
It is a Tempest in a Teapot. Next week Woodward will be back on his knees servicing Obama just like before, and his story will be yesterdays news.
This is acceptable behavior for public servants in Jeffrey Goldberg's view?
I’d like to see all those emails all those reporters get from the white house. I’d also like to know if they got any of these type emails from the Bush white house.
Agreed. If we are to truly make progress on the conservative front we need to be careful about falling for these little traps, whether they are intended as such or not. Love Rush but he and drudge went overboard too early promoting this.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.