The White House and the Press....Perfect Together

The story of Watergate legend Bob Woodward receiving a little "Chicago-love" from an unnamed White House aide (but thought to be Gene Sperling) has the chattering class of Washington aflutter.  Woodward's as big a fish in the Press Corps as they come, and you don't trifle with him lightly.  But there are an awful lot of miraculous conversions going on as Conservatives leap to Woodward's defense.  Conservatives should be careful not to get too caught up in all of this.  So the White House threatened Woodward--what's the big deal (keep in mind, I'm not one of those people who deny that he was threatened)?  Access is the coin of the realm, and the White House gets to control it.  Although it works to conservatives' advantage now to be aghast at his treatment from the White House, in general, we should be careful about running to the rhetorical rescue of Mr. Woodward.