In which the Obama administration threatened to send Bob Woodward to a gulag for thought crimes

Last night, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward told the world that he had become a target of Czar Obama's propaganda machine and thought control army:

WOLF BLITZER (CNN): Share with our viewers what's going on between you and the White House.

BOB WOODWARD: Well, they're not happy at all, and some people kind of, you know, said, look, we don't see eye to eye on this.  They never really said, though - afterwards, they've said that this is factually wrong, and they - and it was said to me in an e-mail by a top '

BLITZER: What was said?  Yes.

WOODWARD: It was said very clearly, you will regret doing this.

BLITZER: Who sent that e-mail to you?

WOODWARD: Well, I'm not going to say.

BLITZER:  Was it a senior person at the White House?

WOODWARD: A very senior person.  And just as a matter - I mean, it makes me very uncomfortable to have the White House telling reporters, you're going to regret doing something that you believe in.

Wow! A tyrannical White House bullying reporters and issuing threats. That's a SCANDAL. It turns out the email in question was from White House Economic Council director Gene Sperling, and as BuzzFeed editor Ben Smith reports, Republicans'and even some reporters'are flipping the you-know-what out:

The email from Sperling to Woodward, which Woodward read to Politico Wednesday, has transfixed Washington, with Republicans and some in the press charging that it embodies a White House lording it over a cowed press corps.

But if you spend twenty seconds reading the email in question, it couldn't be more obvious that Bob Woodward is completely full of it:

Bob:

I apologize for raising my voice in our conversation today. My bad. I do understand your problems with a couple of our statements in the fall ' but feel on the other hand that you focus on a few specific trees that gives a very wrong perception of the forest. But perhaps we will just not see eye to eye here.

But I do truly believe you should rethink your comment about saying saying that Potus asking for revenues is moving the goal post. I know you may not believe this, but as a friend, I think you will regret staking out that claim.

The full email is here. Woodward's response?

Gene: You do not ever have to apologize to me. You get wound up because you are making your points and you believe them. This is all part of a serious discussion. I for one welcome a little heat; there should more given the importance. I also welcome your personal advice. I am listening. I know you lived all this. My partial advantage is that I talked extensively with all involved. I am traveling and will try to reach you after 3 pm today. Best, Bob

So not only was Sperling's email heavier on the apology than on the threats (more specifically, there was an apology, but not a threat), Woodward clearly interpreted it as such. Indeed, he said he "welcomed it." But then he went running to other media outlets to claim he was the target of a White House political attack. The first of those outlets, Politico, failed to report the "as a friend" portion of Sperling's email, nor did they mention Woodward's cheerful reply. CNN was breathlessly intrigued as well. The net result was that there was a political hit job going on: but it was Woodward who was leading it.

Oh, and you know what else? Woodward was wrong. But so was Sperling, because Woodward clearly doesn't regret that fact. He should.

6:42 AM PT: Somewhere in Moscow tonight, Vladimir Putin saw that Bob Woodward was sent a threatening message from the White House...and he smiled.
— @DanaPerino via Twitter for iPhone Having been served in the administration that outed Valerie Plame, Dana Perino is clearly an authority on this topic.