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).<\/p>\n
Now that former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has written a book denouncing his former colleagues<\/a>, the Bush gang has apparently decided to go after the president’s former spokesperson with a little bit of everything<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n “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.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n An unnamed White House aide added<\/a>, “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.”<\/p>\n Yes, of course. This White House helps bolster people’s faith in those who work in Washington, but Scott McClellan does the opposite. Riiiiight.
\n
\nKarl Rove<\/a>, on Fox News, said McClellan was “out of the loop” and<\/i> said he sounded like a “left-wing blogger.”<\/p>\n