Bikini Journalism

Presidential Paranoia

In the summer of 1972, Washington Post reporter Lou Cannon wrote a largely favorable story -- "Nixon Running Scared Despite Lead"-- that drew the attention of none other than Richard Nixon.

In a detailed memo to his top aide, H.R. Haldeman -- part of a batch of material just released by the National Archives -- the president said the piece was not that bad, but warned: "Even when our most intelligent people are meeting with people like Cannon, they must constantly keep in mind that they are meeting with a political enemy and that everything they say will, therefore, be used against us . . .

"While we know the Washington Post is totally against us it is just as well to have a piece that has some favorable points in it as well as completely negative ones. Therefore, I have no objections to the fact that Cannon was given interviews by the Campaign Committee. On the other hand, it was a stupid mistake -- which must never be repeated -- to allow Cannon to have the run of the White House staff, the campaign staff and the National Committee staff in getting his story together."

As an addendum to my lead story about Amy Jacobson--who did not return my phone call and who blew off a promised appearance with Larry King at the last minute--here's a Chicago Trib column by Eric Zorn:

"In her first radio interview on the Story that Ate Chicago this week, Jacobson told WGN-AM 720's Spike O'Dell that she had become 'very good friends with Lisa Stebic's family.'

"Many of my readers pounced. They pointed out that reporters should never cover stories when they are 'very good friends' with any of the main players. And this, they said, was evidence that Jacobson was oblivious to ethical boundaries.

"I thought I knew what she meant: The constant contact and easy familiarity that arises when you're covering a person or a story for any length of time mimics in some ways the attributes and behaviors associated with friendship, which to me is a long-standing, intimate and reciprocal bond.

"All of us, not just reporters, throw around the word 'friend' without thinking much about it -- applying it at times to bare acquaintances."

In looking at this Peggy Noonan column in the Wall Street Journal, keep in mind that she took a leave to help reelect Bush in 2004--and now seems to have totally soured on him:

"I received an email before the news conference from as rock-ribbed a Republican as you can find, a Georgia woman (middle-aged, entrepreneurial) who'd previously supported him. She said she'd had it. 'I don't believe a word that comes out of his mouth.' I was startled by her vehemence only because she is, as I said, rock-ribbed. Her email reminded me of another, one a friend received some months ago: 'I took the W off my car today,' it said on the subject line. It sounded like a country western song, like a great lament.

"As I watched the news conference, it occurred to me that one of the things that might leave people feeling somewhat disoriented is the president's seemingly effortless high spirits. He's in a good mood. There was the usual teasing, the partly aggressive, partly joshing humor, the certitude. He doesn't seem to be suffering, which is jarring. Presidents in great enterprises that are going badly suffer: Lincoln, LBJ with his head in his hands. Why doesn't Mr. Bush? Every major domestic initiative of his second term has been ill thought through and ended in failure. His Iraq leadership has failed. His standing is lower than any previous president's since polling began. He's in a good mood. Discuss.

"Is it defiance? Denial? Is it that he's right and you're wrong, which is your problem? Is he faking a certain steely good cheer to show his foes from Washington to Baghdad that the American president is neither beaten nor bowed? Fair enough: Presidents can't sit around and moan. But it doesn't look like an act. People would feel better to know his lack of success sometimes gets to him. It gets to them."