But Ron Suskind is no pamphleteer. He is a serious author, and his new book has serious things to say, both good and ill about the Administration.
The problem is now we have two Administration Sources quoted in the book who are saying that they were either taken out of context (that old chestnut) in the case of Anita Dunn, or misquoted entirely in the case of Christina Romer. Book publishers are so hell bent on providing juicy nuggets in advance of a book sale that they tend to overshadow the rest of the damn book. And worse if there is any reason to doubt said nuggets, it tends to throw the rest of your book into question; all while under a harsh media spotlight.
This is a long way of saying, yes, I think Ron Suskind fucked up, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the rest of the book is crap. He didn't help himself any, thought.
This is also a long way of saying Jon was right to give the man an interview on the Daily Show and did a credible job, though I am starting to doubt whether or not he's helping in the long run. Undercutting the President may be noble and honest in his eyes, but how does that help the country if all it does is get Rick Perry or Mitt Romney elected President?
That aside, Jon said one thing that did actually bother me in the interview: "Geither's tied to Wall Street", which is true and in some ways very much not. Remember, this is a meme spread by the Huffington Post, and we know what great experts they are.
Geithner has had only one job outside of Government, and that was working for a Think Tank run by (shudder) Henry Kissinger. He has never worked in Wall Street. Never! (Never evah? Never evah!). In his position as Chair of the New York Fed, Geithner has worked with Wall Street, and has represented their interests, which is kinda what you expect the New York Fed Chair to do.
When the Huffington Post says what its been known to say, and when Jon makes his crack like he did in Part 2 of the Interview, it makes it sound like he's Hank Paulson, going from the Head of Goldman Sachs right into the Treasury Building, and that part is just not true.
Part 1:
Part 2:
