by Mark Silva
Dan Bartlett, who ran the "rapid response'' operation in George W. Bush's first campaign for president, was ready with the word on Scott McClellan this week when the former press secretary slammed Bush between the covers of a tough new book:
"This is not the Scott we knew.''
The words echoed those of the sitting press secretary, Dana Perino, who reported later that the president himself had uttered the same sentiment about the aide who had started with him in Austin in January 1999 and served in the White House intol 2006.
In a town where friends are made and lost in lightning speed, Ari Fleischer, the president's first press secretary, suggested that McClellan may have found some fast friends in the Left, where his inside criticism for the White House is welcome, but those friends will discard him in a day as the news moves on and McClellan is left without the friendship of those who, as they say in Texas, "brung him to the dance.''
McClellan asserts in his book that the pursuit of truth, a cause enshrined in a familiar statue on the campus of his University of Texas, was abandoned in the interest of political convenience in the Bush White House. He maintains that he is seeking that truth today, in the interest of yet more "lessons learned'' in Washington.
Bartlett, for one, said today on the Today Show that he still considers McClellan a friend. McClellan, who has struck out on his own with a book that explores both the inner workings of the president's mind as "an instinctual leader'' who "follows his gut'' and the misrepresentations about the case for war in Iraq that the president presented to the public in one big campaign of political "propaganda,'' will need all the friends he can find in the months ahead. -- the Bush administration's final months.
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Comments
NEVER too late to GROW a conscience.
Posted by: Have you heard of group think? | May 29, 2008 10:39 AM
Did anyone see who the "Fair and Balanced" Fox News had for commentors on the book yesterday??
Karl Rove, Dan Bartlett, Dana Perino, Ari Fleischer and Trent Duffey.
All Republican hacks. Where was the "balance" on this one?
Posted by: Bob "Hussein" inAtlanta | May 29, 2008 10:54 AM
Why is it that all the defense against the book is just an attack on McClellan and not the issues he brings up? It's because they can't refute it. All they can say is Scott is bad, Scott should not talk like this. Scott was not like this. Scott should sit in the corner and be in time out.
Posted by: SS | May 29, 2008 11:11 AM
Pain makes man think. Thought makes man wise. Wisdom makes life endurable.
Thanks, Scottie.
Posted by: mark white | May 29, 2008 11:19 AM
Re: SS
You start with an interesting question. One that Paul O'Neill, Richard Clarke and a host of others are still trying to answer.
Posted by: timhowe | May 29, 2008 11:19 AM
Scotty wasn't the first former Bushie to blow the whistle on them. O'Neil and Clarke also documented the same propensity for propaganda and lying. Unfortunately, our lily-livered mainstream media corporations are afraid to call the president a liar and unwilling to invest the money and resources required to do any real investigation of their own.
Posted by: Tom O | May 29, 2008 11:21 AM
While I'm not going to comment on a book i've not yet read,I will say I find it funny that the current press secratary said that McCellan must have had a mental breakdown to say such things..
Posted by: Dan | May 29, 2008 11:22 AM
This post and the hard-copy Tribune story this morning sure lean heavily on push-back from the Bushies, when in fact isn't the book the news? Just because the push-back happened second, that doesn't automatically make it the most newsworthy thing about the story.
Posted by: Tom | May 29, 2008 11:28 AM
Another example of the 'liberal media" myth, exploded:
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think the press corps dropped the ball at the beginning. When the lead-up to the war began, the press corps was under enormous pressure from corporate executives, frankly, to make sure that this was a war that was presented in a way that was consistent with the patriotic fever in the nation and the president's high approval ratings.
And my own experience at the White House was that, the higher the president's approval ratings, the more pressure I had from news executives -- and I was not at this network at the time -- but the more pressure I had from news executives to put on positive stories about the president.
I think, over time...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: You had pressure from news executives to put on positive stories about the president?
YELLIN: Not in that exact -- they wouldn't say it in that way, but they would edit my pieces. They would push me in different directions. They would turn down stories that were more critical and try to put on pieces that were more positive, yes. That was my experience.
Posted by: A Cynic | May 29, 2008 11:44 AM
Better late than never. Exposing these criminal swine for what they are is an act of courage. Thanks Scott for confirming what we already knew. The GOP sold it's soul to special interest and corporate malfeasance. One can only hope the next administration doesn't take up where this one left off. In the case of John McCain it is almost a certainty. McCain sold whatever principles he had down the river along time ago. Certainly even the most brainwashed republican has to have doubts about McCain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GPzIrxZ0QA&feature=related
Posted by: =S= | May 29, 2008 1:11 PM
"SCOTTY SPEAKS"
THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT!
THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT!
MARTIN LUTHER KING MADE ME DO IT!
NO MY "MAMA" MADE ME DO IT!
ALL TRUTHS ARE WILL BE SELF-EVIDENT!
I'M NOT THE "CHICKEN THAT CAME HOME TO ROOST"
I DIDN'T GET INVITED!
KARL DID
STEVEN HADLEY DID!
DAN BARTLETT DID!
HECK, "TONY SNOW" DID!
THE DEVIL MADE US DO IT!
THE DEVIL MADE US DO IT!
GEORGE BUSH COMMITTED "TREASON" YES I SAID IT!
THE DEVIL MADE HIM DO IT!
KARL ROVE MADE HIM DO IT!
DICK CHENEY MADE HIM DO IT!
THE GOP MADE HIM DO IT!
DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER! WHAT'S YOUR QUESTION!
"LONG LIVE NANCY PELOSI"
Posted by: Roger Morris | May 29, 2008 1:48 PM
"WHISTLEBLOWERS SPEAK"
IT'S A SAD TIME AT "WHITE HOUSE HIGH"
THE "WHERE ARE THE BOYS" FLAG IS BURNING BRIGHT!
THE GOP IS 88 MILLION DOLLARS IN THE WHOLE!
THEY ALL SHOULD BE CENSORED!
What's so bad about it all, is this Administration just continues to cover up the "Culture of Corruption" it has manifested and kept quiet to ensure "political influence" across the Country, and the Middle East.
This Administration knew and continues to know about the days before September 11, 2001.
This Administration knew and manipulated the American Spirit, the American Constitution, and the American Judicial System.
This Administration, and all their "TRUTH TELLERS" are definitely HEARING THE VOICES, BECAUSE THEIR FEET STINK AND THEY DON'T LOVE JESUS!
REMEMBER BUSH IS THE DECIDER, AND WHEN HE DECIDED TO BE A "DICTATOR" AND CATAPULT WAR PROPANGA BY COMMITTING TREASON NEEDS NO DISTRACTION, HE JUST NEEDS "IRAN"
IMPEACHMENT IS NOT AN CONSTITUTIONAL OPTION!
"LONG LIVE NANCY PELOSI"
Posted by: Roger Morris | May 29, 2008 1:57 PM
They hired the man, and NOW he is crazy??? McClellan got them scrambling like roaches when the lights come on! Time to fumigate!!!!! And dont forget that old rich 71 year old roach!
Posted by: Keith Lifetime Chicagoan and Southsider | May 29, 2008 2:52 PM
Keith: YES!!! Very true!!
Posted by: MLD | May 29, 2008 6:30 PM
The Bush adm. finally had to release the findings of scientists today (under court order, no less) showing JUST HOW MESSED UP THE EARTH IS. Since he had it supressed for so long, it seems he doesn't give a rat's a** about THAT, either!!! Yeah...keep on defending the "prez", you right-wingers!!!
Posted by: MLD | May 29, 2008 6:43 PM