In the weekend stories about the new Bob Woodward book, the conventional wisdom was that Woodward's first two Bush books were too supportive and sympathetic to the Bush White House, and now he's finally displaying some independence. But left out of that spin is Woodward's support and sympathy for the Clintons during their time in the White House. Revisit a few Brent Bozell columns for a reality check.
In 1994, Bozell wrote a column cheekily titled: "Woodward and Bernstein: Whitewater Wimps." Oh, how the scourges of Watergate went soft. Brent was especially flabbergasted by Woodward claiming Hillary was not a crook because the statute of limitations expired:
Even worse, a week later, Woodward presented this delicious lawyer's defense of the First Lady's cattle killing: "Would it be possible that there's a crime involved in the $100,000 in the futures market? This was what, 15 years ago, so the statute of limitations automatically means it's not a crime." Somewhere in New Jersey, Nixon is giggling.
Bozell had more of a puffball-Woodward overview in a 1999 column headlined "Bob Woodward, Sacred Cow":
– In a 1996 PBS special positing the ridiculous notion that the press was too tough on Clinton, Woodward noted Clinton "believes that the Washington press corps is so out of touch that it is absolutely inconceivable that reporters will understand the issues that people are really dealing with in their lives, and Clinton feels a profound alienation from the Washington culture here. And I happen to agree with him."
– He spends much of his new book on Monicagate ["Shadow"], but last year he couldn't bear any comparisons to Nixon: "He authorized a police state. Now, 25 years later, the issue turns on not something of that magnitude, but a dress."
– When the story of Hillary's $100,000 cattle-futures bonanza came out, Woodward made excuses: "There are journalists who go out and give five, six speeches at universities, make $100,000 doing this ? And if you were to lay all that out before the public and say, 'Who's greedy? Who has the moral high road?' there might be a different answer."
– In his last book ["The Choice"], Woodward caused Hillary a little heartburn by revealing how she held New Age seances and talked to Eleanor Roosevelt. This time, we're led to believe that Hillary told friends the Lewinsky scandal must be God's will, and that she must prevail. On CNBC's "Hardball," Woodward went further, implying Hillary's wounds were not unlike the wounds of Christ: "Hillary went through her own Stations of the Cross in the Whitewater investigation, pre-Monica."
There were times that Woodward had bad news in his investigations in the Clinton years, but they were often greeted with silence, not heavy-breathing hype. Take 1997 scoops on Chinese nationals trying to buy influence in American elections, here, or here, or here.
Another overlooked Woodward scoop displayed the media's liberal reflexes: when he revealed a 1973 memo between liberal justices admitting they were "legislating policy and exceeding [the court's] authority as the interpreter, not the maker of law" in deciding Roe v. Wade, No one picked up the story. Woodward told Los Angeles Times media reporter David Shaw: "There are more people in the news media than not who agree with the [Roe] abortion decision and don't want to look at how the sausage was made."
