1. The @nytimes opinion piece by Deep Wrote has raised a lot of controversy, mostly about the wrong things. Who wrote it, what should that person be doing, everything about the writer, little about the message. And then the misplaced attacks on the NYTimes. Let's discuss...
2...start with @nytimes. Having worked there for 20 years, I know how it works and I know the standards of those involved. This would never have been "Oh! We have a damaging Trump piece! Run it!" Despite the popular imagination of non-journalists, that is not how things work...
3...this was an unprecedented decision - running an anonymous op-ed. This communicates several things: That this was discussed at the highest reaches of the newsroom, that a lot of thought went into it, and a decision was made. The term "senior official" would not have been...
4...used willy-nilly. I have been engaged at the Times in lengthy debates about how to identify anonymous sources, requiring debate with them pushing them closer and closer to who they really are. I made a mistake in my earliest days when I allowed Donald Trump to anonymously...
5...feed me information about his company (which proved to be false) and I agreed to his designation of anonymity that was mostly true, but deceptive. This was in my first week as a reporter. I was lectured by an editor, and never did that again. So, in this instance, you can....
6...be guaranteed that the Times did not casually say "senior official." They also know that this official will likely identify him/herself someday. Deep Throat did it. And Daniel Ellsberg did too. Technically, the times has never confirmed Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers...
7...but it is true. Someday, Deep Wrote is almost certainly going to self-identify. Or the Times knows that is probably. They would not call some low-level schmuck "senior official" both out of journalistic rules and because - if that fiction was true - once it emerged years...
8...from now, the impact on Times would be massive. However, from my experience, the consequences of such a misidentification would never have been considered - because inflating the identification would never have been considered. Why did the Times run it? Because it was news...
9...if someone deemed credible and influential came out of the Obama White House with a similar story, the story would have run. When the Bill Clinton pardons scandal began, I was set loose along with a team of others and we tore apart every pardon done by that White House. The..
10...reality is that newspapers have ONE responsibility: Not to influence policy, not to spew their own opinions, but to report news. The very creation of this article was news. A refusal to print it would have been a dereliction of journalistic standards, so long as the source..
11...was of sufficient authority to be deemed credible. The Times did absolutely the right thing - journalistically. No real journalist would make any other choice.
Now, the person who wrote it. For those who dont remember, think back to Richard Clarke. He was the terrorism...
Now, the person who wrote it. For those who dont remember, think back to Richard Clarke. He was the terrorism...
12...expert in both the Clitnon and Bush White Houses who knew more about al qaeda than most anyone in government. He came out with a book saying he had told Bush that invading Iraq was the very type of thing bin Laden hoped for, that doing so was reckless, and tons of other....
13...bad things. ALL proved true. What happened when Clarke publicly stated this? The GOP tore him to shreds. This patriot responsible for saving untold numbers of Americans was labeled by the Limbaughs, Hannitys, and GOP congress folk of the world as a loon, a liar, a fool....
14...and the incredibly important message he told was lost for years. Go back and read what he said - everyone now knows it was the truth. But at the time, his facts were politicized into personal attack.
Some dems think Deep Wrote should self-identify. For what purpose?....
Some dems think Deep Wrote should self-identify. For what purpose?....
15...it might satisfy curiosity, just like the identification of Deep Throat did, but what would it do? The GOP would tear this person to shreds. The President and his allies would attempt to use the levers of government to destroy this person. Fox would run 24-hours a day....
16...about why this person is a liar, a fraud etc. Look what Trump Admin is doing with Bob Woodward. Bob Frigging Woodward! And Fox is slobbering it all out, people who aren't fit to shine Woodward's shoes. Deep Wrote would be destroyed, out of the White House, and silenced....
17...worse, this person clearly is communicating that there is something wrong with the president. If true, then why would everyone prefer this person be out of the loop, unable to help manage the situation? Finally, by staying anonymous, Deep Wrote is communicating a very....
18...strong message to the GOP. Every one of them who kowtow to Trump in public, but worry about his sanity in private (yes, there are many) are now at risk of exposure someday. They can either do their jobs, or be at risk of destruction. I believe that was Deep Wrote's real....
19...message and real audience. He/she is not there, as some liberals say he/she should be, to undermine conservativsm. That is clear from the op-ed. But it IS clear that he/she believes the Congress has abandoned its constitutional responsibility of oversight....
20...nothing - NOTHING - has led to Republicans to start focusing on potential dangers presented by a president who sabotages alliances and cozies up to enemies, who launches trade wars with our allies that benefit our enemies. This is not about tax cuts. To see everything he....
21...has done that will have a long-term damage to the United States global trade and national security alliances, and to hear from Deep aWrote that other things he wanted to do are even worse, makes me happy he/she remained anonymous. If all in the op-ed is true, we are in a....
22...crisis of unprecedented proportion. The idea that one of the hurdles preventing it from getting worse - that being, people inside who are jingling their keys until the President forgets what reckless action he wanted to take - should be taken down so that people can have....
23...their curiosity sated, or can self-righteously demand Deep Wrote should be joining the cable news circus as a commentator with power to accomplish nothing, just shows people dont understand or didnt read what he/she said.
So Kudos, @nytimes. And stay anonymous, Deep Wrote.
So Kudos, @nytimes. And stay anonymous, Deep Wrote.
