The inevitable pushback against Scott McClellan is already underway

May 28, 2008

On those rare instances in which top Bush administration officials leave and denounce their former colleagues, the loyal Bushies have a handful of go-to attacks they rely on to blame the messenger. The options include calling the former official “disgruntled” (used against former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill); “out of the loop” (used against former counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke); “partisan” (used against Rand Beers, a former special assistant to Bush for combating terrorism at the National Security Council); or suggesting the former ally is somehow mentally unbalanced (used against former campaign strategist Matthew Dowd).

Now that former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has written a book denouncing his former colleagues, the Bush gang has apparently decided to go after the president’s former spokesperson with a little bit of everything.

Dana Perino, who succeeded Tony Snow, who succeeded Scott McClellan as press secretary, said today that McClellan’s book about the “culture of deception” at the White House and in Washington is a sign of deep personal disgruntlement.

“Scott, we now know, is disgruntled about his experience at the White House,” Perino said in a statement. “For those of us who fully supported him, before, during and after he was press secretary, we are puzzled. It is sad – this is not the Scott we knew.”

An unnamed White House aide added, “This book has left many of Scott’s closest friends puzzled and shocked … He never expressed any reservations while serving. To do so in a highly publicized book is what makes people lose faith in those who work in Washington.”

Yes, of course. This White House helps bolster people’s faith in those who work in Washington, but Scott McClellan does the opposite. Riiiiight.

Karl Rove, on Fox News, said McClellan was “out of the loop” and said he sounded like a “left-wing blogger.”

Former Homeland Security adviser Frances Townsend went on CNN to blast McClellan for his “self-serving” and “disingenuous” criticism.

And, of course, conservative blogs are going after McClellan in a fairly personal way.

McClellan had to know this was coming. The Bush gang’s response to those they perceive as “traitors” is always the same.

The tricky part, however, is that McClellan may soon find himself with no friends at all. He’ll be treated as a pariah by Republicans, who resent his criticism of the Bush White House, and he’ll be disdained by Democrats, who resent his efforts in the Bush White House and his waiting until it was too late to speak up.

For McClellan’s sake, the book better sell well.

“out of the loop” (used against former counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke)…

That’s a peculiarly unwise attack to have used against Richard Clarke. Surely the fact that the counter-terrorism czar was “out of the loop” was the point Clarke was trying to make.

  • But there is a small bit of truth to the notion that because he is being paid a large amount of money he must “spice” up his allegations. The real point to be made is that Washington lacks men and women of courage who must speak up when the time is right to call attention to wrongdoing. This applies across the board to both parties.

    Until such time as people in public service begin to show this courage then we will be forced to rely upon the spinners and the folks who posture for a living.

  • Once Bush and Cheney have left office, it’s going to be hard to find any “loyal Bushies.” Even their supporters know by now that this administration is a bunch of corrupt slugs, even if they won’t admit it to anyone but themselves.

    Books like McClellan’s won’t be enough to redeem their past sins, but it may be enough to soften history’s judgment on him.

    And they say that confession is good for the soul.

  • With little tidbits like this, I’m sure it will sell a few copies:

    The media won’t let go of these ridiculous cocaine rumors,’ I heard Bush say. ‘You know, the truth is I honestly don’t remember whether I tried it or not. We had some pretty wild parties back in the day, and I just don’t remember.

  • “this is not the Scott we knew”

    This is why I make sure my coworkers know exactly how much they piss me off. So they won’t be surprised when I finally quit and let them know how I feel.

  • Alex Higgins #1: “That’s a peculiarly unwise attack to have used against Richard Clarke.”

    Let’s see… which White House Press Secretary was repsonsible for promulgating that bit of spin? Oh yeah — Scott McClellan. Now we find out he wanted the press corps to be tougher so they could force him to admit how silly that was.

  • What amazes me is the feigned ‘surprise’ of the punditocracy over the allegations in this book, when anyone with an iota of common sense has known about all this bullshit from the get go.

    What we are seeing here is the bursting of the Bu$h bubble. Knowing those goddamned bastards Cheney and Bu$h will soon be out of office, people are finally growing back the testicles that were snipped almost 8 years ago by the Bu$h regime.

    I look forward to seeing many more tell alls about the Bu$h regime, so much so that even the staunchest supporter will have to tuck tail and run in shame, lest they be mocked for all eternity for their defense of the indefensable.

    I also look forward to Bu$h or Cheney leaving the US and getting arrested by Interpol for war crimes. I sincerely hope both of these two shitstains get their day with the hangman.

  • I was having some trouble getting my thoughts together on McClellan. Then I saw this picture of little girl in Bagdad at Sullivan’s place today, accompanying a completely unrelated story, I just about lost my shit, but found my focus.

    I could alternate several other words between the stream of obscenities that would flow from my fingers, but it pretty much boils down to this: Scott McClellan, you stood before the country and knowingly told lies on behalf of The Worst Administration Ever. On every possible topic. Untold thousands died as a result. And you did nothing to stop it. You are a coward of the first order and the fact that you admit this now, only in order to make a buck off it, repulses me even more.

    Many writers have referenced the death of American troops and the debt McClellan owes them and their families—don’t get me wrong, he is an accessory in every one of their deaths—but they are soldiers…This innocent little girl and thousands like her, never enlisted for what you helped unleash upon them.

    Scott McClellan, take a good look at that child and realize that you personally helped put every single one of those sutures in her face.

    Your punishment should be a tour as an IED scout in Iraq. Not so you can die, but so you can shit your pants every f–king day that you might. All the while I hope that girl’s horribly mangled face haunts you every single night. And when you make it through your tour in Iraq, you return home only to be crushed to death by a palette of your unsold books.

  • “Quick, man the swiftboats! We’re under attack!”

    The White House is nothing if not predictable in its responses. After January 21st, expect a flood of these books to come out.

    McClellan may have burned some bridges, but the other side is torching the remaining moorings as well. More will come out and other gloves may yet come off.

    What’s interesting is the media is caught off-guard in this too. Charges of having gone too easy on the Prez are not being taken well by the Villagers. To have a former Press Secretary say that is pretty damning stuff.

    One gets the feeling that Scotty and Bushie won’t actually be finding the time to sit in their rocking chairs together on porches in Texas, as Bush mentioned in Scotty’s last presser.

  • For McClellan’s sake, the book better sell well.

    Ha ha.

    I notice that Karl says he isn’t passing judgement on the book until someone buys it and gives him a copy to read.

    No doubt Karl is cheap and stiffs the help a lot… but obviously that was a clear attempt to put McClellan’s book in cement boots.

  • Over at The Corner they are saying McClellan hearts hamas.

    He wouldn’t have said this if if didn’t:

    Hamas, they were business professionals. They were people that ran on talking about improving the quality of life for the Palestinian people and addressing their economic needs and addressing other needs that are important to them—not terrorists.

    So if McClellan loves hamas for all the good work they do, then he must HATE America. That settles this.

  • is there a diiference between PUTIN and the deception we have had in the past 7
    plus years of pre.dick Chent!

  • Dear Mr. McClellan,

    I too have made mistakes in my life. Big ones. I’ve said things that I kind of had to convince myself were true. Over time my life slowly became a nightmare. That’s the funny thing about slowly. It’s hard to catch. I can understand that we on the outside have a different perspective, and that, from all descriptions, inside the bubble sounds almost orwellian.

    I’m sure you must have been affected, and I can believe that it was hard to admit that you had been living a lie.

    But,
    and this is the million dollar but.
    As the mouthpiece for the administration, you participated willingly in deceit of a nation, which, among other thing, has cost a great many innocent civilians their lives. It has ruined the lives of untold others.

    It sounds to me that you might have one of two agendas, (perhaps a combination of both. I should remember that things that look black and white are almost always really some shade of grey.)

    a: This is a plea for amnesty, having recognized your role in a global catastrophe, you are trying to make some good. I might be persuaded that your “awakening” was real, and your intention is to inform, and caution.

    b: Having a great deal more knowledge about what actually happened for a great deal of the presidency (and before), you are aware of the proverbial shit that is about to hit the fan, when someone else opens the filing cabinet in the white house. And this is a protective measure.

    perhaps time will tell.

    unfortunately, if you profit from this book, the message is weak.
    imagine if you donated all the profits to a worthy cause. GI’s, war orphans.
    You might be credible. Perhaps even heroic?

    imagine.

  • The response from the Bush administration and its amen corner to the blistering charges in former press secretary Scott McClellan’s new book has been quick, brutal and predictable. Of course, it wasn’t always this way. Once upon time, Scott McClellan was the perfect mouthpiece for the Bush administration and its right-wing allies.

    Here, then is:
    “A Look Back at Scott McClellan’s Greatest Hits.”

  • I wonder if Perino should be using the word “disgruntled.” It has become such a standby smear, used particularly by corporations and the Pentagon, against whistleblowers and those with hard evidence. People who do little, unpatriotic things such as talking about bad tires, tortured prisoners, contaminated food, or poisonous toys are making the word “disgruntled” a badge of honor.

  • There’s no such thing as too little, too late. We need every ally we can get. The only requirement for membership in the pro-constitutional republic coalition is “do you oppose George W. Bush?” All those halfwits so full of themselves who say McClellan hasn’t told them anything new manage to forget all those out there who don’t know that stuff – or didn’t believe it when they heard it from us – who might just finally see what’s what. Being a fire-eating Anti-Bushie is fine and good, but we need the people who don’t want to stand at the front of the crowd in order to fill the square to overflowing when we demand Fuckwit-in-Chief’s head.

    Thank you Mr. McClellan for taking on a thankless task.

  • in a perfect world, snotty’s book will be released next monday and be in the remaindered bins by wednesday.

    btw, is it me or does scott mclellan look like the kid in first grade who always ate the paste?

  • For ages, McClellan didn’t open his mouth without tellling lies. Anytime you listened to McClellan you came away with a net loss in knowledge, because he’d increased your ratio of BS to secure information. Therefore, I don’t believe him now, even when he’s saying stuff I’d like to believe. He is likely to be speaking with just as much spin now as before, just that now he’s taking a buy-his-book, cover-his-own-ass perspective.

  • Whatever Scottie’s motives are, I’m just glad he did it. Now when the Bush leaves office and the spin machines goes into full tilt to rewrite history, there will be books by one or more whistleblowers, traitors, etc. to set the limits on the rewrite. May truth ultimately prevail!

  • I am glad he wrote the book too.

    Look the guy ain’t the sharpest knife in the drawer and has been riding shotgun with ShrubCo for 15 years or more. It could be that it took this long for the kool aid to wear off.

    Whatever the reason, a book that demonstrates that Bush Sux, BIG Time, if you will, is a ok with me.

    He best hope that this book sells.

  • The good news is, a poll at msnbc.com asked: Do you believe his [McLellan’s] claims that the Bush White House misled the country before going to war with Iraq? With around 14K responses so far, here’s what they’re getting:

    Yes: 87%
    No: 11%
    Don’t know: 2.1%

    The bad news? If these numbers are even remotely realistic, that would mean that half of the people who approve of the job Bush is doing also believe he lied us into a war. There’s that brain-dead 10% again — just like yesterday.

  • Which is it, better late than never, or he should have done something when he could.
    In a weird way I’m reminded of David Brock. Let’s see what Scottie does next.

    BTW, as far as Richard Clarke being “out of the loop,” well, he probably thought that a massive attack within the U.S. would be a BAD thing, so he didn’t fit in with Bush, Condie, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Pearle, and the rest of the Neo-Cons.

  • I wonder if our representatives in Congress will see that Scott said the White House used propaganda to sell the war, and perhaps actually do something to END the war instead of perpetually dishing out our tax money to support it??

  • Question about “disgruntled”.
    Is it necessary to become “gruntled” before one becomes “disgruntled”? If yes, by what process does one become “gruntled”? Are there various grades of “gruntlement”?
    Once one is “disgruntled”, is it possible to become “regruntled”?
    If one has never been either “gruntled ” or “disgruntled”, does that mean one is “agruntled”? Or “nongruntled”?
    If one doesn’t know if one is “gruntled” or “disgruntled”, does that mean one is “aggruntled”?

  • T [26] All I know is:

    1] If someone is both “gruntled” and “disgruntled” simultaneously, they are said to be “bigruntled,” unless they are equally “gruntled” and “disgruntled,” then they are “ambigruntled.” [“Bigruntled” should not be confused with “begruntled.” This is a person who is flamboyantly “gruntled.”

    2] And of course, if someone was once “disgruntled” and is now “gruntled” they are said to be “discongruntled.”

    3] One who acts as an agent of change to another’s state of “gruntocity” is called a “grunt.”

    4] However, in the Hip Hop world, a “grunt” who achieves a certain level of “gruntaciousness” is known to his posse as a “Bad Mother Grunter.”

  • You’d think there would be an onsite cleaners in the White House to deal with all these disgruntled suits and make em look starchy crisp again before they leave.

  • Is that despite all of the obvious criminal – and in my mind Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld, et. al are criminals and deserve the harshest punishment imaginable – misdeeds of this administration, beyond the lies and deceit and thievery, behind all of the hackneyed political tricks, there is still a better-than-average chance that the Republicans will win the election in November. This thing is by no means locked up. Further, the corruption and incompetence of the Republican government in this decade should be enough to destroy their party. Instead it’s simply emboldened them, and the Moron Majority will continue to accept their actions and vote for these cretins for decades to come. Were I not so hopeful that it could change I would have left already. Our country is further down The Dark Path than any of us know.

  • The only person I hate to listen more in this administration than Bush is that blond bimbo Perino. I believe Bush was looking for someone who could make him look smart when he chose her.

  • When it has been clearly showed the American President lied to the American people does that even equal a misdemeanor under the law?

  • This is typical of Texas politics.

    McClellen’s decision to spill the beans was brought about by his dismissal from the White House. His dismissal was pay-back for his mother’s decision to run against Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s re-election (Shrub’s former Lt. gov. and handpicked successor). Carol Keeton Strayhorn, a (former) loyal Bushie and mucky-muck in the Texas GOP, wanted to run as a repub, was ostracized for her “disloyalty”, ran as an independent, and was summarily punished by having her baby boy’s job taken from him (you know…the one he got BECAUSE his mamma was a Texas bigwig).

    In writing this book, Scott is only covering his (and mamma’s) rear end in order to save face in Texas political circles. I saw this one coming.

  • The administration eats its own:

    “It appears to be more about trying to justify personal views and opinions than it does about looking at the results that we are achieving on behalf of the American people.”

    “Well, why, all of a sudden, if he had all these grave concerns, did he not raise these sooner? This is one-and-a-half years after he left the administration. And now, all of a sudden, he’s raising these grave concerns that he claims he had.”

    Spoken by McClellan. When it suited him.

    http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/05/28/historical_quotes_of_the_day.html

  • Whether McCain wins or Obama wins, Washington won’t change. The organizational structure will sustain the same game we’re playing now that Scott reveals in his book. Just like Scott is on the book circuit hawking his book for bucks, Washington’s power brokers will move on to hawk their causes to line their pockets. That’s not negavtive talk. It’s completely adult realism of what we have become in America today, based on what we do instead of what we say. Scott has burned a bridge now and cannot go backward for a reference. He will find out that he also can’t go forward because the truth on the other side is the same lie he left, just with a different momentary spin that will greet him with open arms so they can shove him in the face of those on the other side.

  • Here’s what bothers me…if you didn’t like what was going on, why didn’t you just resign? How about just a shred of integrity? Scott McClellan has none. I guess it is just symptomatic of people in Washington – military people, administration people, congressional people – they enjoy being a ‘hanger-on’ and part of the action instead of exercising personal and professional integrity and leaving when you disagree with your boss.

  • OK, how about some proof, here.

    We knew most of this stuff anyway, on some level. We need the information that will render impeachment impossible to forestall.

    McClellan, you are a little late with this.

  • I really wonder how many of the above comments came from people who applauded the first two or three weeks of our Iraq invasion. Remember, George had about an 80% approval rating at that time, but when things get tough the weak slide or sneak to the other side. As an ex and retired football coach, I know how good the Saturday or Sunday morning qb’s are. Remember the quote of the great Teddy Roosevelt about the man who is actually in the arena and not on the sidelines whining foul.

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