Fresh Air: 'Redeployment' author on; about effects on Marines in Iraq. Then, Jeffrey Toobin
Fresh Air site.
..and speaking of legacies: followed by (more about BHO's) including his pref. "to worry less about USSC and more about politics--as the Court doesn't lead; it follows."
His comments on BHO's style of "incremental progress", also some nuanced views on USSC seem worth the time.. He's decent about credit where due, and is not a dull lad.
GROSS: What was your job as public affairs officer?
KLAY: So I had a group of Marines who worked for me who wrote stories and took photographs, and we organized interviews with press. We handled media embeds. I was an adviser to the general at Taqaddum, which was where I was based, which is a base just south of Habbaniya in between Ramadi and Fallujah.
GROSS: So when you were working with embedded journalists, what was it like for you? Because, you know, like, you're a writer. I'm sure you respect good journalism. And, you know, there are war reporters who are really like heroes to me because they're extraordinary writers and reporters and risk their lives to, you know, bring us the story. So I'm wondering what that relationship was like for you. And I don't know what kind of pressures are put on you by the military itself, you know, by the Marines to be very protective and not show certain things to reporters.
KLAY: I was interested in good journalism, right? If things aren't going well, it does the military no favors to have a press that is not reporting accurately on the situation - right? - because ultimately the American people are supposed to be holding our elected leaders accountable for the decisions that they're making and for the conduct of military policy. And they're not going to be able to do that without accurate information about what's going on - good or bad.
So I was less frustrated by, you know, good or bad press necessarily than press that I felt was unduly partisan or not interested in what was happening. And I met a lot of really good, good journalists and also very courageous journalists while I was over there. I think it's, you know - people talk about the media as this abstract entity, but, you know, there are good journalists and bad journalists.
..and speaking of legacies: followed by (more about BHO's) including his pref. "to worry less about USSC and more about politics--as the Court doesn't lead; it follows."
City Arts & Lectures
Jeffrey Toobin
Jeffrey Toobin has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1993. Well known for his ability to illuminate the complexities of our judicial system, Toobin has covered some of the country's most sensational news stories and high-profile cases such as the Starr investigation of President Clinton, Martha Stewart's legal battles, the O.J. Simpson trial and many Supreme Court cases. He is a senior legal analyst at CNN and the author of "Too Close to Call," "A Vast Conspiracy," "The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court" and "The Oath: The Obama White House vs. the Supreme Court," a gripping insider's account of the ideological war between the John Roberts Supreme Court and the Obama administration.
His comments on BHO's style of "incremental progress", also some nuanced views on USSC seem worth the time.. He's decent about credit where due, and is not a dull lad.