My Editor Made Me Do It

The Paul O’Neill backlash now features material from — wait for it — Paul O’Neill:

O’Neill told the “Today” show he was guilty of using some “vivid” language during his hundreds of hours of interviews with Suskind for the book. “If I could take it back, I would take it back,” he said of the blind man quote.

Asked if he plans to vote for Bush in November’s presidential election, O’Neill said he “probably” would. “I don’t see anyone who is better prepared or more capable,” he told NBC.

Ouch.

UPDATE: Reader James says maybe we should have expected all this:

This pattern of saying something, being surprised by the reaction, and wanting to take it back is why he got fired in the first place.