Et Tu, Scottie?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Et Tu, Scottie?

May 27, 2008 7:36 PM

Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan's memoir about his time at the Bush White House turns out to be far more scathing than predicted, Politico's Mike Allen writes.

In his "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception" (Public Affairs, $27.95), McLellan writes about the war in Iraq that President Bush "and his advisers confused the propaganda campaign with the high level of candor and honesty so fundamentally needed to build and then sustain public support during a time of war. … n this regard, he was terribly ill-served by his top advisers, especially those involved directly in national security."

The White House "spent most of the first week in a state of denial" after Hurricane Katrina, McLellan writes. "One of the worst disasters in our nation’s history became one of the biggest disasters in Bush’s presidency. Katrina and the botched federal response to it would largely come to define Bush’s second term. And the perception of this catastrophe was made worse by previous decisions President Bush had made, including, first and foremost, the failure to be open and forthright on Iraq and rushing to war with inadequate planning and preparation for its aftermath."

He hammers former senior presidential advisers Karl Rove and Scooter Libby for having "at best misled" him about their roles in the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's name as retaliation to a negative op-ed against Bush from Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson. "(T)he top White House officials who knew the truth – including Rove, Libby, and possibly Vice President Cheney – allowed me, even encouraged me, to repeat a lie," McLellan writes. "I had allowed myself to be deceived into unknowingly passing along a falsehood. It would ultimately prove fatal to my ability to serve the president effectively. I didn’t learn that what I’d said was untrue until the media began to figure it out almost two years later."

Sounds like a remarkably candid book. Guess McLellan won't be invited to the Crawford ranch for that lesbian wedding Jenna Bush told Ellen DeGeneres she could hold there.

ouch

Edited May 28, 2008 by Mr. Big Dog

[Teacher Mark 53]

and he calls Vice President Cheney "the magic man" who steered policy behind the scenes while leaving no fingerprints.

Get this back up front where it belongs!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24848910/

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

You can't help but laugh at this - Scotty is a dirty Judas to be sure, but he is pretty much confirming what many members of the general public have been saying all along. Unfortunately - I (and I suspect a lot of people) have pretty good memories - I find it hard to buy the idea that he was some sort of well-meaning conscientious objector in all of this.

The problem with this (very dirty) administration is that no ####### has the balls to stand up and take responsibility - as much as point the finger of blame in every direction but their own. In this case - so they can make a fast buck.

Disgusting.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

You can't help but laugh at this - Scotty is a dirty Judas to be sure, but he is pretty much confirming what many members of the general public have been saying all along. Unfortunately - I (and I suspect a lot of people) have pretty good memories - I find it hard to buy the idea that he was some sort of well-meaning conscientious objector in all of this.

The problem with this (very dirty) administration is that no ####### has the balls to stand up and take responsibility - as much as point the finger of blame in every direction but their own. In this case - so they can make a fast buck.

Disgusting.

I thought it was interesting how Rove dismissed the whole book - that he hasn't even read yet - saying how McClellan was so out of the loop. Hard to imagine seeing that McClellan didn't just walk into the White House coming from the nearest bus station but was close to Bush back when he was governor in Texas. Rove's reaction and the whole blasting that's coming out of 1600 Penn Ave over the book tells me that this isn't all invention.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I'm sure it isn't - have you seen the evening news coverage on this? No-one is discussing the substance of the book's claims (not unpredictably perhaps) as much as trying to divine McLellan's motivations for writing it.

Just goes to show what a bunch of dirtbags we have in and around high office.

[almaty 19]

bump..

i saw the gentleman interviewed...then, that gay azzkisser, condi...with a rebuttal

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I'm not surprised - these guys don't waste any time in stabbing each other in the back.

[almaty 19]

that condi rice is such a azz kisser..(waiting for charles)..also, gay

[Ban Hammer 14,674]

that condi rice is such a azz kisser..(waiting for charles)..also, gay

you're just mad cause you can't get any of that fine lady