Bush critic, journalist to speak at library

Seymour Hersh, whose talks are sold out, says he won’t flinch in conservative Newport Beach.Ask investigative journalist Seymour Hersh what the biggest problem in the media is, and he’ll say, “George Bush.”

Lest you think he’s one-sided in his criticisms, the Pulitzer Prize winner and professional iconoclast has harsh words for the press too.

He may share some of those thoughts next weekend, when he kicks off the Newport Beach Public Library Foundation’s always provocative Martin W. Witte lecture series. Hersh’s Feb. 10 and 11 appearances are sold out, but the library has a waiting list.

Hersh first made his name breaking the story of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam in 1969. His most recent book is about the run-up to the Iraq war and the prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib, a story he was first to report in the New Yorker magazine.

President Bush is a problem for the media, Hersh said in a phone interview, because “he scares us, he intimidates us. All presidents do -- he’s just better at it.”

Bush has controlled the dialogue about issues to such an extent that he’s managed to turn around the issue of wiretapping without warrants, Hersh said. Most people call it domestic spying, but Hersh said Bush has framed the issue as a choice of supporting him or Osama bin Laden. He added, “He says we don’t torture in the face of hundreds of examples of torture.”

But part of the problem, in Hersh’s opinion, is the media itself, which doesn’t go after Bush the way it pursued President Richard Nixon.

“The rational people in the government knew that the chances of ... [weapons of mass destruction] being in Iraq were nil.... Why did we go along?” Hersh said. “That troubles me. After 9/11, the press became jingoistic. That’s not our job; our job is to be cold-blooded.”

Hersh told CNN in January he believes the Bush administration is preparing for possible military action against Iran, which has refused to end its nuclear program. When asked whether Bush plans to attack, Hersh downplayed the issue but said Bush would love to see Iran stripped of its nuclear capabilities.

“My guess is, if you ask me, that Bush instinctively doesn’t care about the risk. There’s a huge risk in attacking Iran. It could backfire totally,” he said.

One of the risks is oil being taken off the market to the tune of a 6-million-barrel-a-day shortage, Hersh said.

Such controversial topics seem to be part and parcel of the library speaker series.

The 2004 series featured retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, who criticized the Pentagon’s handling of the Iraq war. Last year some parents of high schoolers complained about author Eric Schlosser, who came to talk about his expose of the fast food industry but who has also advocated decriminalizing marijuana.

Their straight-laced reputation notwithstanding, Newport Beach residents flock to see the speakers, however liberal they may be, said Jene Witte, a member of the committee that puts on the series.

“The people that seem to raise flak are the ones who do it on hearsay,” she said. “My answer is usually, have you heard them? Have you read their books?”

People usually have to admit they haven’t, she said. But few people complain.

This year’s series includes photojournalist Ron Haviv in March; writer Robert Thurman, who identifies himself as a personal friend of the Dalai Lama, in April; and playwright Edward Albee in May.

“I think that Newport is not what Newport was,” Witte said. “I think that Newport is becoming more mainstream, because the series sells out. What more can I say?”

Asked what kind of reception he expects in typically conservative Newport Beach, Hersh said he doesn’t generally worry about his audience.

When he was covering the Pentagon years ago for the Associated Press, Hersh said, he realized one day he was free to dislike the Vietnam War as much as he wanted, and “it doesn’t matter. And that’s the good thing about America.”

Regardless, he added, “I promise I’m not going to flinch when I’m there.”20060202itxjtyncMATT DELLINGER(LA)Library speaker Seymour Hersh