Washington Post Article on Bush Aides Is Press Release in Disguise

I didn't know the Washington Post ran press releases on its front page. But clearly, actual journalism was not practiced in Friday's interview with Bush "senior staffers" Joshua Bolten and Stephen Hadley.

Reporter Michael Abramowitz states that he participated in a "wide-ranging conversation lasting more than two hours" with the two, but he either was not allowed to ask any real questions or he could not think of any. Certainly, there is no evidence of any attempt to penetrate the hagiographic haze dispersed by two men who are well qualified to join W in the dock at the Hague.

Bolten and Hadley seek to dispel the notion that Bush doesn't really make decisions and that Dick Cheney actually has been in charge. Their method is making vague statements that can never be checked, such as when Bolten attempts to show Bush is "very good about hearing and wanting contrary advice" by asserting that, "plenty of times, I have said, 'Boy, I think that's a terrible idea.'"

"Idea" about what? Maybe whether to work on legs or arms at the gym.

No details are offered. Was Abramowitz prohibited from following up on these vague, but adamant assertions? Seriously, was he?

If there were ground rules for the interview, like no follow-ups or no specifics, we should be told about them. If Hadley and Bolten simply refused to provide the details, we are entitled to know that also. If we have to read every "you know" from Caroline Kennedy, these two should not be so sanitized.

Another example. Hadley is quoted as asserting that, "one of the mythologies is that it was the vice president that somehow was pulling the strings on foreign policy in the first term and made it very ideologically driven and that somehow in the second term, the vice president's influence is in decline and, therefore, somehow the real Bush has come forward, and we have a more pragmatic foreign policy." Hadley then says this is "just hooey. "

However, there is never any example of Bush doing anything significant. Hadley's example is that Bush reviewed lists of incidents and casualties at daily 7 a.m. meetings and sometimes asked for more details. Hadley says that shows Bush knew "what was going on."

I watch Sportscenter, but I don't think I am running the Dodgers. The only decision that Hadley actually links to Bush is "the surge." Funny, that is the only move that is widely asserted to have "worked,' whatever that means.

Did Bush know that Cheney had set up his own intelligence office that only wanted information showing that Saddam Hussein did have WMDs? Abramowitz either didn't ask or wasn't told.

There are no discussions about whether Bush approved of Cheney and Addington's circumvention of the normal legal channels to have the domestic spying, rendition and torture programs approved. There is no discussion of Bush's knowledge of or role in the disastrous decisions related to the occupation credited to Cheney in several authoritative publications.

Without these details, this article is as believable as Larry Craig.

Hey, I know how to write a press release and send it to a newspaper. Sometimes, if I am lucky, it is published as news. But we deserve more from the Washington Post when it gains access to two key members of this secretive administration.

Comments

[lungfish]

Yes, the media fails us regularly. Its all fluff and very little substance. That is why I rarely pay attention to MSM... they are clearly more interested in spin than substance and if they aren't doing the spinning, they are allowing the spin as you point out so well in your article..

I am sure that this commentary regarding Cheney being in charge is being pushed by Cheney to take the heat off of himself for being at the root of the war and a lot of other malfaesance... its about making a case to avoid accountability....


Sorry, we don't care about the opinions of the accused when seeking Justice. We bring them to trial and let the evidence lead us to a determination.... Cheney says he doesn't think anyone's civil rights were violated during his terms in office.... no comment about Jose Padilla, or the thousands of innocent people who were denied a basic right - life - by his mechanations....

[perk]

Curious. The Washington Post has never been a friend to the Bush administration in the past...

[newleaf]

Washington Post, National Enquirer, it's the same level of journalism to me. At least the manufactured stories in National Enquirer are amusing. Now that I think of it, the aliens so frequently starring in Nat Enquirer must be the same ones believing the WaPo, because I can't imagine actual real humans believing all that garbage.

[mountainweb]

journalism in this country died long ago! Dan Rather was just the first to lead the walking dead.

[pinouye]

Let's not forget Connie Chung with her stating that what Newt Gingrich's mother said would be just between the two of them! Then bam...it is part of the interview on tv!

[LITNUP]

What are you goofy? Have you even looked at the Chi Trib or Sun times or NYT in the past 18 months? They have been the Obama pr juggernaut without fail... How about The networks when they fawned over Obama and played gothcha with Hillary Sarah and McCain? SHEESH

[senorlou]

They can post all the phony articles they want, they'll never live it down. I can't wait until after the transition, when we can get a better look at what damage Bushco have done. Nothing but scandals and corruption charges as far as the eye can see for these Bush Republicans. Should be quite a show.

[inthedesert]

There will be all kinds of articles, interviews, etc. with people from the Bush years after he leaves office.
It will be nothing more than a concerted effort to "re-phrase" the last 8 years by many people who will now be looking for jobs but may have a very difficult time of it since they were part of BushCo. I think that will be great. I think there will be a limit as to how many of these people FoxNoise can hire, right?? LOL
Pronouncements by ANYONE who was part of the Bush years are simply not to be taken seriously. Poor Condi Rice. Poor Rumsfeld..­........LO­L. And yes, I hope they will be brought up before the World Court in The Hague!!!! I can't wait.

[quindy]

"Poor" Condi Rice is going back to Stanford University where she came from. I just wonder who in his/her right mind would want to listen to what she has to say?

[scjk67]

washington post is another name for the right wing neo-con readers. just as Fixed News with Bill-o and Hannity style.

[Marlyn]

The Washington Times is even worse.

[Rog49Thomas]

And closer to God to boot!

And until recently a staunch believer in the Lost Cause!

(Warning: Messiah may differ from that shown in advertisements).

[TJCole]

They call it "propaganda"...

[Telemachus]

WaPo is not the paper it was when Woodward & Bernstein broke the Watergate story, nor does it appear to have any inclination to reclaim its former stature -- although the time is right and the opportunities could not be more obvious.

One interesting development since 1972, though, is the publication of an on-line edition that allows the posting of comments. The comments in response to the article you mention, as well as to Ruth Marcus' hilariously craven attempt to tamp down enthusiasm for prosecuting criminal conduct by BushCo, went on for page after page, a tidal wave of scorn and ridicule. Can we hope that, over time, such feedback will eventually have some effect?

[willpen]

Most excellent point. Maybe this means that WE can REALLY make a difference this time around. The ball is in our hands now.... we only need to make the right plays...

[Rog49Thomas]

W&B were fed the story by Felt - who was one unhappy camper because Nixon was not going to make him the new J Edgar Hoover. Nixon wanted to bring the FBI under the President's control. Politicians had been afraid to cross JEH because the FBI spent a considerable part of its resources and time spying on politicians and other of the elite. Old J Edgar had all the dirt. Nixon went outside of the agency for the new head and passed over Brother Felt (the logical inside candidate).

At that point the WaPo had a different political agenda that it does today.

And covered Felt's tracks by promoting the mirage that two junior reporters had ferreted out a big story.

[rich misty]

Bush aides have reached record new lows in political credibility... Absolute zero

[Rog49Thomas]

Is that Kelvin or Rankine scale?

[SiberianRat]

It sounds like the interview (and the presidency for that matter) was top-to-bottom "hooey."

[Non-Compassionate Liberal]

And what kind of lackey-sissy says "hooey?"

[mommadona]

G Gordon Liddy and Ollie North are button-bustin' proud of these two, I betcha.

[SonnyBono]

Well if the New York Times is going to hire Bill Kristol then the Washington Post feels left out so they run the latest piece of drivel that Hadley and Bolton can create. I stopped reading the article (?) when it got to the part where Bush was so concerned about US military deaths and how he shed crocodile tears over them.

Mr. Bolton and Mr. Hadley - don't make any plans to fly to Europe after January 20th - some judge might have you arrested and charged with war crimes.

By the way - if that moral and intellectual midget "W" was so concerned about the soldiers - why is it that he has never attended any funerals? He has had over 4200 chances and many of them were at Arlington - just a short drive away from the White House.

[radiojunkie]

Bush doesn't go to troop funerals. I think it goes something like this. He can't possibly go to every funeral while being the decider. Going to a funeral or only some funerals would send the wrong message. Well then, pretty convenient.

I think the real truth is more like this. Bush has asked us to go shopping to show patriotism and sacrifice. What he's really saying is he doesn't want the American people to be involved unless their shopping, flag pin wearing sheep. To go to troop funerals would fly in the face of everything he thinks he's doing right. Makes me sick.

[SparkyDash]

All of their ghosts would rise up and strike him down.