Woodward could always be counted on to find the truth
Times Union reporting that North County is already preparing for tourism decline
Please consider supporting The Front Page with a paid subscription: HERE
The young man behind me in line was excited in a way only the young can be excited.
"I can't believe I'm going to meet Bob Woodward," he said, his gaze directed at me. He seemed to be in his late 20s. There was a certain innocence in his smile, his enthusiasm that you lose as you get older and never get back.
He told me he was once a reporter at small "beach newspapers" in Florida and California. I told him I worked in newspapers for for nearly 40 years. He told me he was doing public relations now. The way he said it sounded like an apology.
What I was hiding was I was just as excited. I was just hiding it better.
Bob Woodward, the famed Washington Post journalist of Watergate fame, had just spoken at the New Orleans Book Festival and we were both in line to get our books signed.
I hadn't planned on getting in line. I'm not much for autographs, but this was different. If there was a hero in my life who stood the test of time, it was Woodward.
The veteran newspaper journalist and author played to a packed house of 1,800 at Tulane University Saturday. He delivered timely insights and analysis about the state of our country repeatedly during his hour on stage, especially about the current president.
Woodward took us back to 1989 and a dinner party in New York City.
Carl Bernstein rushed over to Woodward and told him excitedly, "Trump is here."
At the time, Trump was a real estate guy in New York. This was before he was a TV personality and politician. Woodward did not share Bernstein's enthusiasm.
"But over 50 years, I learned Carl had great instincts," Woodward said.
Woodward and Bernstein found a side room, pulled out a tape recorded - only Woodward and Bernstein would have a tape recorder at a dinner party - and talked to Trump for quite awhile. A few years ago, they found the tape.
"One of the lessons I've learned about people is that they fundamentally don't change," Woodward said. "One of the things he said was, `Never fold, never quit.' Of course, he doesn't fold ever. That's Trump."
Woodward remembered finding a note in Richard Nixon's handwriting after Watergate that said, "A man is not finished when he is defeated. A man is only finished when he quits."
Woodward said he sees parallels between Nixon and Trump.
With 19 interviews with Trump under his belt, Woodward has become an expert on Trump.
On Jan. 28, 2020, Trump was warned about Covid-19. He was told it would be the biggest test of his presidency and that some 650,000 might die.
"Trump just kissed that off," Woodward said. "I call it a moral felony on his part. If he had shared that information, he would have been re-elected, he would have been a hero. But he downplayed it."
More than a million Americans died.
But even the legendary Woodward can't figure out this president.
"It's amazing, the executive orders, the plans," Woodward said. "What's the goal? It almost seems like it is a plan to destroy the American economy. Why would you want to do that? It's kind of a self-destructive madness. It is frightening."
It was one of many sobering moments during the talk, especially when Woodward talked of the brutality of Trump's politics.
"Clearly what is driving him is emotional," Woodward said. "The political execution is truly savage. This is predatory. The job of the president is to protect the people. Is he protecting the people now? I can't explain that."
Woodward found a note Trump wrote to himself - "Trade is bad" - that seems to go to the heart of his economic policy on tariffs. Woodward wondered if his plan was to wreck the global economy so that manufacturing could be resurrected in the United States.
"That's not going to happen," Woodward said. "We are in a crisis. The motives and goals are not clear. Over 50 years of reporting, I always ask myself, `What don't I know?' In this case, the list is endless."
It was a frightening conclusion.
During his 50 years or reporting, Woodward has written 23 books. Nine of them have become No. 1 bestsellers.
At 82, he is working on a memoir - not a personal memoir, but one on reporting - where he shares how he did his important reporting over the years.
"I can finally disclose sources," Woodward said. "I'm so old most of them are dead."
It is quite a legacy.
By now, I'm sure he knows that Bob Woodward is a legend, a hero for those of us who labored mostly in obscurity for most of our lives. Why else would the line be so long at Tulane?
Years ago, my colleague, City Editor Bob Condon, printed out a Bob Woodward quote and placed it on the bulletin board in The Post-Star newsroom to inspire our reporters.
"I wake up every morning and wonder what the bastards are hiding?"
- Bob Woodward, Washington Post
Woodward said it again during his talk Saturday. I related the story to my young colleague just before he said again, "I can't believe I'm going to meet Bob Woodward."
When I got to Woodward, I slid my book across the table and said, "Bob, I'm a retired editor from a community newspaper in upstate New York. On our bulletin board we posted your quote, "I wake up every morning and wonder what the bastards are hiding" to inspire our reporters.
Woodward paused a second and looked up at me.
"Really?" he said. "That's pretty cool."
It was a remarkable moment for me. I always feel a little better about the world after hearing Woodward talk. There just aren't enough of him
Tourism tanking
It appears that Trump's tariffs will hit the North Country tourist industry hard this summer according to the Times Union's story, "Trump's trade war roils upstate tourism."
Consider this reporting when the Times Union asked how bad it looks:
How bad? Ask a Canadian whose livelihood relies on Canadians wanting to travel to the U.S.
Cindy Tobin, manager of Travac Travel and Tours out of Ottawa, the Canadian capital, told the Times Union in an email that requests to book travel tours to the U.S. have fallen off a cliff. They have always been in huge demand, Tobin said, until this year.
“The day the tariffs were announced, the inquiries totally stopped,” Tobin said. “Not one call. Not one booking.”
The Quebec Tourism Industry Alliance, known as the Alliance de l’industrie touristique du Québec in French, found in a recent study that 45% of Quebecois who had planned vacations in the U.S. this year were now canceling those plans, leading to $3 billion in lost revenue for U.S. businesses.
The tourism group, based in Montreal and Quebec City, said half of those people will vacation in Quebec instead.
Specifics, please?
When it was announced that Rep. Elise Stefanik was returning to finish out her term as our representative in the 21st Congressional District, state representatives, Sen. Dan Stec and Assemblyman Matt Simpson, hailed it as a good thing.
"I have seen firsthand the incredible leadership Congresswoman Elise Stefanik has brought to our region and to the Republican Party,” Simpson posted in a statement. “While she would have made an outstanding United Nations Ambassador, her voice in Washington fighting for the North Country and her role in shaping the future of our nation remain invaluable.”
It would be helpful if Simpson or Stec pointed to specifics of what Stefanik has done to make the North Country a better place above and beyond what other congressional representative have done with constituent services.
2026 race
If you're wondering what the future holds for the Democrat Blake Gendebien, then check out Maury Thompson's update on the 21st Congressional District that he wrote for the Plattsburgh Press-Republican this past week.
Are we safe?
As we review the fifth anniversary of the Covid shutdown, it's worth noting that if it happened again, well, we're screwed.
Of note was the resignation of Dr. Peter Marks, a top vaccine official with the Food and Drug Administration.
In his letter of resignation, Marks said he was "willing to work" to address Robert Kennedy's concerns about the safety of vaccinations, but concluded it was not possible.
"It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies," Marks wrote.
The Washington Post reported that Marks expressed concern over the measles outbreak in the Southwest where more than 450 cases have been reported, warning that the outbreak “reminds us of what happens when confidence in well-established science underlying public health and well-being is undermined.”
That should be chilling to every citizen in the United States.
Ken Tingley spent more than four decades working in small community newspapers in upstate New York. Since retirement in 2020 he has written three books and is currently adapting his second book "The Last American Newspaper" into a play. He currently lives in Queensbury, N.Y.
WHAT on God's green earth has Stefanik ACTUALLY done for her district???? She's had her nose so far up trump's rear-end, it's a wonder she can even SEE! She's been dissed TWICE now by the orange idiot. How stupid do you have to be???????
Bob Woodward proves that there are still folks we can admire for their courage and integrity.