Deepening State [View all]

[H2O Man]

“So full of artless jealousy is guilt, it spills itself in fearing to be spilt.”
Shakespeare; Act IV of Hamlet


Former federal prosecutor John Flannery made reference to the above quote Tuesday evening on MSNBC, during a discussion on Bob Woodward's new book. It is the second time that he has referenced Queen Gertrude's famous line, I believe, the last time being on CNN. The quote sums up the manner in which a guilty person's paranoia saturates their thought processes, and is projected upon everyone around them until it spills over.

Though less often quoted, the queen's previous line is essential for understanding this: “To my sick soul, as sin's true nature is; Each toy seems a prologue to some great amiss ….” This identifies the paranoid thinking that makes every new thing seem hostile and threatening. And that includes every report on CNN and MSNBC, every report in the New York Times and Washington Post, and every new book that exposes the dysfunction and corruption that defines Trump's presidency.

Hence, Trump becomes the second president to claim that Woodward is wrong – even lying – about how the people around him actually view him. Reagan was the first to go there, a place that Nixon never journeyed. Yet Reagan's outburst was limited to but one person who Woodward documented recognized Reagan as corrupt.

Woodward is a curious character. I have never found him to be as open and honorable a journalist as Carl Bernstein, his partner in helping to expose the series of crimes known as Watergate. The concept of “Deep Throat” being one person – Mark Felt – requires the long arm of rational thought to wrench itself out of socket. Woodward, as an Officer in Naval Intelligence, met regularly with Felt in the basement of Nixon's White House, shortly before taking Felt's recommendation to “retire” and become a journalist. Felt despised the press.

To believe that Felt alone was Deep Throat not only requires one to believe that the assistant director of the FBI fiddled with newspapers on Woodward's porch, but totally ignores Donald Santarelli. But this is the ancient history of my youth. Fair to say that Bernstein's famous report on intelligence assets in the media influenced my understanding of that era.

While I do not particularly like Woodward, I absolutely respect his work, and recognize that he is influential in the world of politics. His four books on the Bush-Cheney era were important reads, if only because they documented Woodward's unusual access to various levels of information. Hard to believe a mere journalist would enjoy such access. Very hard, indeed.

Last week, I was invited to dine with an old friend, who was a professor at a “radical” west coast university way back when. The other guest was a retired “energy” engineer, who had spent years in prison as a consequence of his activities as a member of the Weathermen. Though you really don't need an old Weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing, I agreed with this fellow's firm belief that Trump is going down in 2019.

The strength of Woodward's new book isn't that it will confirm what three aging members of the Democratic Party think about Trump. Each of us is already engaged in activities to promote our party's candidates in November, and recognize that this is essential for insuring that the various investigations bring about justice. Rather, the book will reach those who are the “undecideds.” Some might have voted for Trump in 2016. Others might be independents, who are recognizing that only Democratic candidates can put Trump in check. The more attention the book gets in the media, the better for us. I look forward to buying the book next week.