2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumOh, No You DON’T!
An Open Letter to Bob Woodward
Sir:
Having read your recent comments about excessive rhetoric from Trumps opponents contributing to his completely unhinged statements, they are not only ludicrous, they are demonstrative of your own inability to responsibly opine on the current state of the presidential race or, for that matter, to comment on anything of import.
As the oft-cited line of movie dialogue goes, What we have here is a failure to communicate. What we presently have is an abysmal failure on the part of the mainstream media to accurately communicate the true nature of the current campaigns, and the positions held by the candidates.
Weve all heard Trumps outlandish remarks about Mexicans, Muslims, African-Americans, women, the disabled, et al. To seek to excuse those comments with the well, both sides are doing it meme is beyond reprehensible. When was the last time you heard Hillary Clinton state that Mexicans are rapists, or that Muslim-Americans should be monitored by the government due to their penchant for terrorism?
I think it's got to be said this is not just about Trump. A lot of the people who really are opposed to Trump, I think, are engaged in some excessive rhetoric also.
I hate to be the one to break it to you, Bob, but what people who are really opposed to Trump and people who are really opposed to Hillary say is of zero consequence outside of the MSMs constant need to devote their news coverage to some people are saying. The only thing that matters is what the candidates themselves are saying and a candidate who suggests that gun-owners could take matters into their own hands to stop his opponents bid for the presidency far outweighs whatever ungenerous rhetoric you attribute to those who oppose him.
Perhaps you should review some old Sesame Street videos entitled One of these things is not like the others
They were developed as an educational tool to demonstrate to children that drawing equivalencies between three vegetables and a lug wrench is just plain silly in the same way attempting to equate a candidate who speaks to the important issues of our times and a candidate who calls Barack Obama the founder of ISIS is beyond silly, and is especially ridiculous coming from an adult who really should know better. And you really should know better, despite the notion of your actually being a functioning adult being questionable for years.
We all understand that the mainstream media has to cast any presidential election as a horserace; its what keeps ill-informed asses firmly planted on the couch. The fact that you a once revered and well-respected journalist are contributing to this well, both sides are equally responsible for hyperbolic rhetoric is just another classic example of a washed-up has-been desperately trying to remain relevant in a world where washed-up has-beens serve no purpose beyond being the punchline to late-night talk-show political jokes.
To again reference a piece of movie dialogue, Bob: You could have been somebody. You could have been a contender. Instead you chose a one-way ticket to Palookaville. Maybe its time to stop pretending youve still got a shot at the title.
Yours Truly,
--- NanceGreggs
pkdu
(3,977 posts)Glorfindel
(9,733 posts)I hope he reads it and takes it to heart.
bulloney
(4,113 posts)I don't know what happened to Woodward since his Watergate investigation days. Maybe he's had a taste of being a big time celebrity and figures the only way to stay there is to be a big suck-up to big money interests in the media.
Augiedog
(2,548 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)another hack running with the pack and saying what'll get him invited back.
MADem
(135,425 posts)He is the walking definition of ten pounds worth in a five pound bag~! A pompous blivet~!
mdbl
(4,973 posts)He constantly gave GW Bush a pass of legitimacy when none was deserved.
brush
(53,843 posts)those fawning, ass kissing books.
What a maroon both Woodward and W.
Lord Magus
(1,999 posts)I have to wonder if he was just riding Bernstein's coattails for that too.
MADem
(135,425 posts)MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)riversedge
(70,299 posts)sheshe2
(83,886 posts)Ef him.
K&R!
Tobin S.
(10,418 posts)and it would also apply. Just change the name.
Augiedog
(2,548 posts)mcar
(42,372 posts)It is perfect. I once greatly admired him as a real journalist. Now he's just a tool.
I always send copies of my "open letters" to the intended recipients - which explains why I regularly receive emails from people like Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Paul Ryan et al.
They automatically add your email address to their fundraiser rolls - too stupid to actually READ what you've had to say.
mdbl
(4,973 posts)"I regularly receive emails from people like Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Paul Ryan et al."
Once in a while I receive some whacked out flyer from one of the RWNJ's in congress. It's like listening to Mush Limpballs, Neil Buttz or Fux Nooze. Intentionally misleading, manipulative and false. Feel free to add your own distasteful right wing propaganda organization to the list.
But ugh- getting crap from Santorum and his ilk.
Dirty Socialist
(3,252 posts)Probably the laziest. It takes ZERO brains to utter such ignorant bullshit.
Haveadream
(1,630 posts)Surgical. Nuclear. Strike
Thank you, Nance!
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Rocked it again, Nance!!!!
Oh please mail this to him!
NanceGreggs
(27,817 posts)And thanks!
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)That's what I'm talkin about
Wish we could see his face.
Send it to NY Times op eds page, Washington Post, etc. too!
major debacle
(508 posts)SusanCalvin
(6,592 posts)I've always thought Bernstein carried him.
ladym55
(2,577 posts)On a day when all the M$M BS was really getting to me, your letter to Bob ("I was a journalist way back in the day" really hit home.
Thanks for calling out the stupid.
Buckeye_Democrat
(14,856 posts)WiffenPoof
(2,404 posts)As usual...
But I think the quote is "What we have here is failure to communicate." Not "What we have here is a failure to communicate."
-P
still_one
(92,382 posts)abbeyco
(1,555 posts)UtahLib
(3,179 posts)spooky3
(34,475 posts)bravenak
(34,648 posts)madamesilverspurs
(15,806 posts)on steroids!
.
madaboutharry
(40,219 posts)Send him a copy.
Gothmog
(145,553 posts)calimary
(81,458 posts)That false equivalency shit drives me nuts! It's a lazy asshole's attempt at alleged "journalism" - to do the "Both sides! Both sides! Both sides do it!" WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!!! Both sides DO NOT do it!!!
I remember watching Rachel Maddow make that point almost to the point of ridiculousness - that sometimes there IS NO "opposing view," and to elevate "both sides" to an equal footing is really a dereliction of journalistic duty. She gave, as an example, how you do NOT invite someone from the Flat Earth Society to opine about something NASA just did in Earth orbit, okay? You just don't do it. There is no justification for it whatsoever. But too many people on the air these days feel the need to prove their graduation from the Chuck Todd School of "Journalism" - wherein you've "done" your "job" by inviting opposing representatives in, and representative A says blah-blah-blah and then cue the representative B who says blah-blah-blah, and then you the host wind it up with your trusty-musty "well, we're gonna have to leave it there." Yay. You've given equal time. So you're done, right? WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!!!
DAMMIT! Any wonder why the public is so abysmally ill-informed? THERE'S your answer. Right there.
oasis
(49,406 posts)amb123
(1,581 posts)and gone forever. Now he's a mere talking-head just like the rest of the MSM.
Hey MSM (now including Bob). I've got some news for you: EQUIVALENCY IS NOT FACT!
glennward
(989 posts)world wide wally
(21,754 posts)blondie58
(2,570 posts)And please- send it as an op Ed to the NYT or the Washington Post. It would be a shame to keep this from so many eyes.
Nice to see you again!
BooScout
(10,406 posts)marble falls
(57,187 posts)mdbl
(4,973 posts)Become complacent with things being much worse.
marble falls
(57,187 posts)UCmeNdc
(9,600 posts)MyOwnPeace
(16,937 posts)What I've missed from Nance is the marvelous way she weaves her arguments - until the spider has completely entrapped the prey in the web - as has been done SO well in this tome.
SESAME STREET (who didn't start singing the song after reading the first few words!) - just a fantastic way to drive it home.
Welcome back, Nance - I've missed your brilliance!
TrishaJ
(798 posts)Bob Woodward is a Bush stooge.
voteearlyvoteoften
(1,716 posts)And this op is why.
StrictlyRockers
(3,855 posts)He's such a freaking tool. He gets access by writing self-serving drivel like this that the powers that be want to hear.
"What we in the MSM are doing is fine. Our false-equivalencies are fair and balanced. I'll add to it with my well-reasoned piece on 'excessive rhetoric'".
cleveramerican
(2,895 posts)To my thinking the campaign season brings it on every time
niyad
(113,550 posts)campaigns have called for foreign interference? how many campaigns have called for the assassination of an opponent?
the worthless piece of filth that is donald trump has gone far beyond "excessive rhetoric", and NOTHING the democats do or say comes even close. so no false equivalencies, thank you.
cleveramerican
(2,895 posts)With each cycle it ramps up and we are never ever going to see it return to polite exchange of ideas
Of course we've taken a few huge steps downward, We always do
niyad
(113,550 posts)cleveramerican
(2,895 posts)" Cause it ain't me your looking for,babe"
leftofcool
(19,460 posts)kstewart33
(6,551 posts)Woodward wrote glowing books about GW Bush when he was popular. They read like overly long press releases issued from the White House. Then Bush's popularity died, and Woodward followed suit with a negative tome. Whatever direction the wind blows, Woodward follows.
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill.
bearssoapbox
(1,408 posts)Well Stated!
With the work that Woodward has done since WaterGate has made me wonder how much of WaterGate was his work.
Always love reading your posts.
niyad
(113,550 posts)that letter to that bloviating jerk in a manner befitting his behaviour.
Hekate
(90,788 posts)I've wondered for a long time whatever happened to the hero of Watergate. He should be so ashamed.
ffr
(22,671 posts)Nailed it!
WhiteHat
(129 posts)It's been literally decades since Bob Woodward, a one-time hero of mine, has demonstrated any interest in the literal truth.
He's been simply going through the motions for over 20 years. How sad. Once I thought Woodward was a hero. Now it's obvious he's just "mailing it in," filling column inches with wordswordswords that have no value whatsoever.
SharonClark
(10,014 posts)Cary
(11,746 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)The old "both sides do it", huh?
Sure, Bob.
Mike Nelson
(9,966 posts)...Woodward hasn't published a negative Hillary "hit" book about now. Either he's slipping or knew it wouldn't sell in the Trump coverage.