I didn’t find Woodward’s book…tedious…I learned a...

October 9th, 2012

I didn’t find Woodward’s book…tedious…I learned a lot from it. What I found it to be was remarkably slanted. This was all the more jarring because Woodward is famous for his distinct lack of slant…So in one sense the book is a departure: it is relentlessly biased against the president. Woodward argues that the White House and Congress failed to reach a major deficit-reduction deal last summer because Obama didn’t provide the necessary leadership, even though this thesis is untethered from Woodward’s own reporting, to say nothing of reality. But, in another sense, the book is perfectly in sync with Woodward’s oeuvre. There is a body of respectable Washington opinion that considers Obama unworthy of the presidency: he hadn’t put in his time before running, didn’t grasp the majesty of the office, evinced no respect for the way things were done. He not only won without courting the city’s elders, he had the bad manners to keep his distance even after winning. This is the view Woodward distills. Woodward telegraphs his contempt from the get-go.

bold, ours. more at TNR.

I didn’t find Woodward’s book…tedious…I learned a lot from it. What I found it to be was remarkably slanted. This was all the more jarring because Woodward is famous for his distinct lack of slant…So in one sense the book is a departure: it is relentlessly biased against the president. Woodward argues that the White House and Congress failed to reach a major deficit-reduction deal last summer because Obama didn’t provide the necessary leadership, even though this thesis is untethered from Woodward’s own reporting, to say nothing of reality. But, in another sense, the book is perfectly in sync with Woodward’s oeuvre. There is a body of respectable Washington opinion that considers Obama unworthy of the presidency: he hadn’t put in his time before running, didn’t grasp the majesty of the office, evinced no respect for the way things were done. He not only won without courting the city’s elders, he had the bad manners to keep his distance even after winning. This is the view Woodward distills. Woodward telegraphs his contempt from the get-go.

bold, ours. more at TNR.