Mr. Wolfowitz goes to Omaha..(he did not get his way)

[SoCalDem]

Posted, Jul. 23, 2004
Updated, Jul. 23, 2004



http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=54&aid=68828

Anonymous in the Midwest
Mr. Wolfowitz goes to Omaha. .

By Geneva Overholser (more by author)


Paul Wolfowitz is accustomed to requesting –- and receiving –- anonymity when he wants it. But, as the Des Moines Register reported (not, alas, online, though you can read about it in Slate) that doesn't work everywhere:

Incognito in Omaha

After Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz spoke to the Omaha Chamber of Commerce last Friday, he set aside 45 minutes to talk about the Iraq war with a handful of newspaper reporters from Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri. As is common in Washington, D.C., a Pentagon aide swooped down just before the questions began and explained that Wolfowitz could only be identified as a "senior Defense Department official."

But this was Omaha, and the Midwest reporters rebelled at the suggested anonymity. They told Wolfowitz such a session was essentially a waste of their time, and besides, it's customary for public officials in the Midwest to put their name behind their comments. One reporter explained it would look pretty silly if he wrote a story quoting Wolfowitz speaking publicly to the Omaha Chamber, and then in the next paragraph quoted a "senior Defense Department official." Everybody in Omaha knew Wolfowitz was the only senior defense official in town on Friday.

Wolfowitz, who recently apologized for negative comments he made about reporters covering Iraq, retreated without hesitation and agreed to speak on the record.

(from the Des Moines Register, July 15, in "Insider: Iowa Ear," a weekly column of inside-baseball political items)

more......

[bluestateguy]

1. Chickenhawk

Paul Wolfowitz is not qualified to talk about military matters.

And real men go on the record.

[donco6]

2. Dope

As with most DC politicians, they don't "get" the Midwest.