The late Ben Bradlee has recently become a posthumous rock star. He is the subject of a new HBO documentary. And he is portrayed by Tom Hanks in The Post, a movie about the decision to print the Pentagon Papers which exposed the lies being told to the American people about the Vietnam War effort. Dear readers, you may remember I too looked to Bradlee for guidance on inauguration day 2017. At the time, I was concerned the press was playing into Donald Trump’s tiny hands every time they erred in reporting the news. Nothing bolsters Trump’s constant cries of “fake news” like occasional inaccurate reporting.
In what should have been the culmination of the best week for the resistance, the mainstream media has done something unimaginable. Three times in five days, they have buttressed the liar-in-chief’s charge the press will do anything, including make up stories, to take him down.
- ABC correspondent Brian Ross inaccurately reported Trump had directed Michael Flynn to make contact with the Russians about lifting Obama imposed sanctions during the transition.
- CNN inaccurately reported an email to Donald Junior with the location and password for accessing Wikileaks’ stolen DNC and John Podesta emails was sent on September 4, the same date Junior tweeted this information to his followers. To their credit, the Washington Post pointed out the email was actually dated 10 days later. But the later date undermined the time line CNN and others were using to build a case for collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives.
- Until today, no media outlet independently checked the veracity of the high school yearbook inscription from Republican senate candidate Roy Moore to Beverly Young Nelson. Although Nelson says she only added the date and location to Moore’s message, not divulging this information at the outset damages her credibility. In a close race, any misstep can turn the tide.
In the first two cases, ABC and CNN preceded their scoops with the word “exclusive.” In an effort to post a story before the competition, the only exclusive thing about their reporting is how exclusively irresponsible they are.
But here’s the good news. The only people who really matter in this national horror story are Robert Mueller and his team. So I again remind all of you who keep asking how long are they going to take, the answer has and always will be, “As long as necessary to get it right.” Despite claims by Paul Manafort’s attorneys Mueller has misinterpreted the facts in their client’s indictment, no one, and I repeat NO ONE, has argued any of the facts are wrong.
The term “all deliberate speed” was first introduced in the Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas which ended the “separate but equal” doctrine contained in the previous Plessy v. Ferguson decision. Sadly, segregationists used the word “deliberate” to claim they were taking their time to make sure it was done correctly. However, in this case, all deliberate speed is EXACTLY what we need.
As Ben Bradlee reminded Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward in All the President’s Men:
We’re under a lot of pressure, you know, and you put us there. Nothing’s riding on this except the, uh, first amendment to the Constitution, freedom of the press, and maybe the future of the country.
Where is the next Ben Bradlee when he/she is so badly needed?
For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP
In this case, the “IT” is the alleged 2013 video of Donald Trump being entertained by prostitutes in the Presidential Suite of the Ritz-Carlton Moscow. Recently, former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele again stated the dossier he authored, which included the salacious claim, is accurate. Yesterday, the leadership of the House Intelligence Committee–chair Mike Conaway and ranking Democrat Adam Schiff–suggested they may go to London to interview Steele personally.