In His Own Words

People who know me know that I'm a big fan of Bob Woodward's writing and I've read every book he's written. The Brethren is the best inside look at the Supreme Court ever written and shows the mastery of Justice Brennan outflanking Chief Justice Burger over and over again.

But I was very disappointed with Woodward's last book, Bush At War. It was so clearly only written from the perspective of Woodward's sources, the Bush Administration. Indeed, unlike Paul O'Neill, who was slammed for taking classified documents, the Bush Administration cooperated so freely with Woodward that it gave him classified documents in order to help ensure a positive picture of Bush in the book.

One of the main elements of this, and one in which Woodward drops to the first person narrative, were a series of interviews that Bush gave to Woodward about 9/11. At the time these interviews were a real coup, because it helped to ensure that the Bush portrayal in the book was what the Administration wanted.

Now the Bush Administration has tried to counter Richard Clarke's allegations by asserting, without any factual basis, that it was engaged in terrorism and focused on al Qaeda before 9/11. So Clarke, last night on Larry King Live, noted Bush's own words in Woodward's book during one of his interviews with Woodward:

Now, what does the president say in his own words to Bob Woodward in "Bush at War?" He says, Bush acknowledged that bin Laden was not his focus or that of his national security team. "I was not on point," the president said. "I didn't feel a sense of urgency."

So much for restoring "honor and integrity" to the White House.

It's time for them to go.

(BTW, Woodward has a new book out soon on Iraq and terrorism. Let's see if it is as pro-Bush.)

- posted by Joshua @ 7:10 PM