The Orbis

On Thursday, Oct. 14, author and journalist Ron Suskind spoke at Vanderbilt’s Ingram Auditorium. In a speech entitled “In Search of George W. Bush: Informed Consent in the Age of Spin,” Suskind discussed his newest book, “The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O’Neill,” and his time spent working with staff members in the White House.

In an entertaining speech filled with caricatures of Bush administration officials, Suskind described his experience as “thoroughly unexpected” and felt he had “backed into the role of opposing the White House.” He was also particularly critical of the relationship between the Bush administration and the mainstream media, which he feels “is under attack.”

Clearly, the country was very scared after Sept. 11, and was asking itself, “who are we now and how are we different.” He recalled the quote by Thomas Jefferson, “were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter,” and responded to it saying that people do not necessarily agree with Jefferson anymore. Today there are “consequences for reporting reality.” He continued by saying that the White House treats the media like a special interest and that there is a real penalty for reporting the truth. A reporter, whose career is based on their ability to attend meetings, can be completely blacklisted from the White House and consequently ruined. Thus, there is impetus to report exactly what the administration wants.

Suskind talked about his interaction with Paul O’Neill and how he came to write his book. Approached by Suskind at a meeting of the D.C. Women’s Eating Club, O’Neill considered himself an old guy with little to lose if he was to go public about the kind of activities going on in the Bush White House. What struck Suskind was not that O’Neill was so successful but that he was a true believer in transparency. O’Neill offered 19,000 documents to Suskind, to which he was entitled to as former Secretary of the Treasury. As Suskind began his investigation, he noted how quickly people responded when he possessed documents plastered with their names.

Scared of the consequences of the Suskind book, the White House accused him of absconding classified documents, hoping to make an example of him. He described it as one minute you are watching the news and the next you are on it. Quick to get his lawyers involved, Suskind was able to argue successfully that there was no precedence to recall any of the documents and went ahead with his book. He has made many of these documents available on his Web site for viewing because he believes these are all public documents that are extremely important to all. One can access his website at http://www.ronsuskind.com.

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