It Would Seem That Bob Woodward Does Not Understand How The Constitution Works

[Purveyor]

The threat of the looming sequester is a genuinely good reason to get very stressed out about what might happen to the domestic discretionary budget and the vulnerable Americans who are served by any number of important services. But there seems to be no one who is suffering from outright Sequestration Derangement as badly as Bob Woodward. That unraveling hit an apotheosis today, when he went on the "Morning Joe" program and seemingly forgot that our nation is nominally governed by the rule of law.

Woodward has been dining out lately on the little scooplet from his book The Price Of Politics that places the germination for the whole sequester idea in the mind of Jack Lew, and the subsequent reward for earning that scooplet has been the way he's been constantly invited to opine on the matter in print and on the teevee. But his subsequent performances have basically demonstrated that he does not actually understand the sequester all that well. But now his misunderstandings have proceeded from the merely embarrassing to something downright disturbing.

Over the weekend, he got slapped up and down pretty convincingly after claiming that Obama's desire for a so-called balanced approach (spending cuts and revenue raising) to mitigate the sequester was "moving the goalposts." What Woodward failed to consider was that the whole point of the sequester-as-enforcement-mechanism was to replace the enforcement mechanism with something else -- and that the Budget Control Act both invited and anticipated a "balanced approach."

As Brian Beutler pointed out, the "bill even provided the House and Senate instructions for advancing a Super Committee bill if it included revenue." This is not hard to understand. One need only read the bill.

But as bad as Woodward's failure to understand the Budget Control Act was, it pales in comparison to Wednesday's appearance on "Morning Joe," where Woodward just said that Obama should essentially chuck the law passed by Congress, and which he signed, in the bin and overcome the sequester with pure and simple illegality.

MORE...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/27/bob-woodward-sequester_n_2774774.html

[annabanana]

1. I think he's losing it.

It's amusing that he's still masquerading as a journalist, but, fella.. Halloween was nearly 4 months ago. His appearance on Joe was, . . odd.

[dsc]

2. the irony is that Nixon tried that in reverse

and got smacked down bigtime.

[Enrique]

3. Woodward wants him to cut Social Security, like everyone else in D.C.

it has nothing to do with understanding the Constitution, Woodward is simply taking sides like the whole media is on the deficit. They all want Obama to cave.

[Cali_Democrat]

4. Woodward is nothing more than a political hack

He's pissed that the Obama Administration cut his access off. It's a good thing they did too, you don't want crazy people in the halls of power. Who knows what they might do.

Also, Woodward wants Obama to ignore the budget only when it comes to military matters, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind cutting Medicare and Social Security. What an ass.

Fuck him.

[OldDem2012]

7. He's much more dangerous than a mere "political hack" because he's part of the far right....

...and I suspect is a NeoCon himself...

Bob Woodward

A Yalie and a Secret Society Member

The staunchly conservative Bob Woodward grew up in Wheaton, Illinois. A good student at Yale, he was ultimately one of fifteen seniors "tapped" for one of that university's secret societies, Book and Snake, a cut below the more infamous Skull and Bones, but the top of the second-tier fraternities. Woodward had his first journalistic experience working for the Banner, a Yale publication. In his 1965 yearbook he was referred to as a "Banner mogul." Havill writes,

Certainly, with the CIA encouraged to recruit on the Yale campus, particularly among history majors and secret societies, it is more than reasonable to assume Bob may have been one of those approached by the agency, or by a military intelligence unit, especially after four years of naval ROTC training. Although it would answer a lot of questions that have been raised about Bob Woodward, at this point one can only speculate as to whether he was offered the chance to become a "double-wallet guy," as CIA agents who have two identities are dubbed. It would certainly be understandable if he decided not to adhere to the straight and accepted the submerged patriotic glamour and extra funds that such a relationship would provide. It would also explain the comments of Pulitzer Prize-winning author J. Anthony Lukas, when he wrote in 1989 that Bob Woodward was "temperamentally secretive, loathe to volunteer information about himself," or the Washingtonian's remarks in 1987: "He is secretive about everything." As Esquire magazine put it, summing up in its 1992 article on Bob, "What is he hiding?"

The "Floating Pentagon" Assignment

Three days after graduating from Yale, Woodward was sent by the U.S. Navy to Norfolk, Virginia, where he was commissioned as an ensign by none other than U.S. Senator George Smathers from Florida. Bob's assignment was to a very special ship, called a "floating Pentagon," the U.S.S. Wright. The ship was a National Emergency Command Ship-a place where a President and cabinet could preside from in the event of a nuclear war. It had elaborate and sophisticated communications and data processing capabilities. It had a smaller replica of the war room at the Pentagon. It ran under what was called SIOP-Single Integrated Operation Plan. For example, in the event of nuclear war, the Wright was third in line to take full command if the two ahead of it, the Strategic Air Command in Omaha (SAC) and NORAD, were rendered incommunicado. Woodward-straightfacedly-told authors Colodny and Gettlin (Silent Coup) that he guessed he was picked for the ship because he had been a radio ham as a kid.

Aboard the Wright, Woodward had top secret "crypto" clearance-the same clearance researcher Harold Weisberg found had been assigned to Lee Harvey Oswald when he was himself in the Marines. Such clearance in Woodward's case gave him full access to nearly all classified materials and codes on the ship. Woodward also ran the ship's newspaper. Woodward has insisted that possessing a high security clearance is not necessarily indicative of intelligence work.

The Wright carried men from each of the military services, as well as CIA personnel. One of Havill's government sources reported that the CIA would likely have had additional informants on a ship of such sensitivity, adding that "the rivalry between the services was intense."

After a two and a half year stint on the Wright, Woodward was assigned to go to Vietnam. Woodward wrote the Pentagon asking to serve on a destroyer. The wish was granted. One naval captain told Havill that it seemed reasonable Woodward would have a little pull from his previous duty to avoid getting assigned to Vietnam. Another former naval officer disputed that, saying "Nobody got out of going to Vietnam in 1968."

But Woodward did. He was stationed aboard the U.S.S. Fox, based in Southern California. The personnel on board the Fox included an intelligence team, many of whom had studied Russian and Asian languages at the famous armed services language school in Monterey, California.

By 1968, Woodward ran the ship's radio team. In 1969, Woodward was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal for his communications work. From there, Woodward moved on to a Pentagon assignment, a job that included briefing top officers in the government. Admiral Thomas Moorer and former secretary of defense Melvin Laird are both on record noting that Woodward briefed Al Haig at the White House during this period. What is suspicious is Woodward's semi-admittance to Hougan that he had done some briefing, and his complete denial to Colodny and Gettlin that he had ever briefed anyone at the White House. Havill notes:

Considering the evidence, Bob Woodward's denial more strongly suggests intelligence than it does his uninvolvement in White House briefings.

Woodward's secrecy about his past, his choice of associates, and what is known of his activities caused Havill to write:

The question, then, begs itself once more. Was Bob Woodward ever a free-lance or retained Central Intelligence Agency liaison officer, informant or operative . . . ? This author got various forms of affirmative opinions from intelligence experts. It would explain his assignment to the Wright and his misleading statements to interviewers. It would make understandable his being able to get out of going to Vietnam in 1968, his extension for an additional year at the Pentagon, his being chosen to brief at the White House and his denials as well. It would also help explain his subsequent high-level friendships with leaders of the U.S. military and the CIA.

It would also explain the role Woodward and Bernstein wittingly or unwittingly played in keeping the CIA's nose clean while making sure the world saw the President's nose was dirty.

There's more...

[AnotherMcIntosh]

5. "our nation is nominally governed by the rule of law." The word "nominally" is right.

Notwithstanding the words of the author on Huffington Post, it's more likely than not that Woodward does understand that "nominally" part.

If that author of the article becomes aware of when, if ever, that we are going to return to the rule of law under the Constitution, he should let us know.

(By the way, Congress cannot nullify Congressional provisions by passing laws inconsistent with the Constitution. It can be legitimatly argued that the sequestration law is unconstitutional. If and when it goes into effect, it will be challenged in court. Saying that Woodward doesn't understand how the Constitution works won't nullify that.)

[TheMastersNemesis]

6. Woodward Trying To Repent For His Role In Trashing Nixon. He Is Trying To Get Back In Grace W/GOP.

[Tippy]

8. Time for Woodward to hang it up he only wishes he is a smart as he thinks he is..