Rogues Gallery: Journalists Throwing Woodward Under the Bus

NOTE: This post will be continually updated… Also, I’m not including open partisans in this list, like Josh Marshal of Talking Points Memo. Those listed below pose as “objective” journalists.

The media stands by its own, at least until one of its own upsets The Narrative. Not even a living legend is immune from this rule. In the case of Bob Woodward, his detailed and lengthy reporting on sequester has resulted in the possible derailing of the most crucial Narrative the White House and media are likely to launch this year. The fate of Obama’s second term and even his legacy rest on it.

The endgame of The Sequester Hustle is to blame the economy tanking on cutting less than 2% of the federal budget. Obama doesn’t want his failed first-term policies blamed for a double-dip recession, so he’s playing Chicken Little with sequester so the GOP and a lack of government largess are blamed. Naturally, the media is as all-in on this con as their Master is.  

This, even though everyone knows it was Obama who suggested sequester, saw it passed, and then signed it into law.

Woodward’s reporting threatens to monkey wrench all of this. His reporting not only confirmed that sequester was Obama’s idea but that Obama moved the goal posts with his demand for tax increases. The original sequester deal did not include tax increases.

Yesterday, Woodward really threw the White House and its media a curve by being the only high-profile reporter willing to say out loud that Obama has the power to choose where the cuts hit. In other words, all this White House fear-mongering is an audacious lie.

Though no one’s disputed Woodward’s reporting, the media’s Cult of Obama began pushing back against the Watergate legend even before he dropped the bomb last night that he had been told by a top White House official he would “regret” his reporting.

But when that news hit, many in media immediately chose to protect Obama by ridiculing Woodward, questioning his motives, and/or dismissing his reporting.

Meet the members of the Cult of Obama…

Politico White House reporter Glenn Thrush:

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BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith:

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Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg:

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Politico’s Maggie Haberman and Alex Burns:

— Slate’s Dave Weigel:

— John Harwood:

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Frum Forum’s Justin Green:

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Texas Tribune editor-in-chief Evan Smith:

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Time Magazine‘s senior national correspondent Michael Grunwald:

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On “The Daily Rundown,” Chuck Todd and Politico’s Manu Raji agree: “Hard to see intimidation” in the White House email.

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Former L.A. Times reporter Steve Weinstein:

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NOTE: This post has been updated. Woodward did not claim to be threatened by the White House. That language has been used by the media. One reference to “threat” has been rewritten in this piece to accurately reflect Woodward’s statement.