BREAKING NEWS:
As the Bush administration sails further past lame-duck-land, the weather is turning ever nastier.
Following up on the three enticing paragraphs he let us peek at last November, Scott McClellan, Bush's press secretary from 2003 to 2006, is releasing his entire book on Monday, although at least one Washington bookstore was selling it over the weekend.
The title, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception," (Public Affairs) clearly describes what we can expect from its contents.
The information may not necessarily be surprising to most Americans but, coming as it does from a veritable insider, it should make for interesting reading.
Early press reports indicate that the author accuses the president directly of using propaganda to sell the invasion of Iraq to the American public. He also says the liberal press was all to easy on the president and that this contributed greatly to the public's misconceptions about the war.
He states that Rove and Libby intentionally misled him regarding the Valerie Plame affair, and that Cheney may have also been involved in the deception.
He also gets into Hurrican Katrina, concerning which he claims the White House remained in a state of denial for most of the first week, and then acceded to Rove's misguided plan to simply have the president fly comfortably overhead for a photo-op.
McClellan hits Bush precisely where it hurts with this one, zeroing in on the pervasive climate of deception that the administration has imposed on a largely unsuspecting public over the past seven years.
Perhaps the book will also succeed in discouraging more of the same over the administration's final eight months, but that may be too much to hope for.
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Comments: 41
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10649.html
If McCain chooses Sarah Palin, and he very well might then that would be a wise choice for him and one that would be difficult to beat - a blonde, 44-year-old woman Gov. of Alaska from Idaho who is more conservative than McCain.
Then we will have 4 or 8 more years of a bad administration, whether it becomes as dishonest as Bush's, that would remain to be seen.
But I am nearly despondent about the state of affairs in the US.
What better way to line his pockets with a few million dollars than to publish a book about an unpopular President.
You'll complain about the cost of gasoline but spend $25 on a book just so you can say "I knew it!!!"
My own impression of him in the last year of his service as press secretary was that he no longer believed what he was telling the press. That was impression at the time and I mentioned it to people, not simply retrospective memory. It bothered me that if the press secretary didn't appear to believe the President (and Rove, etc) then it didn't bode well for it being the truth.
And I concur with Ivan. I won't be buying the book. I generally stay away from these types of "my days in the white house" writings because of their inherent bias and tendency to be marketed solely to make the author money rather than as an information source.
The whistle-blowers (or those that were "in the know" and for whatever reason refrained from sharing their dirty little White House secrets) are lining up now; waiting to leap behind the book-signing podium. With the long-awaited ending of the Bush/Cheney regime coming into view, the partners in crime are spilling their guts for literary fame and glory.........and cold, hard cash.
Where the hell were they when it would have just been "the right thing to do"?
Next summer when I see "What Happened............" in a cardboard box at a yard sale, I might snap it up for 50 cents. But I'm damned if I'll support these crooks in furthering their financial glory at full rack price. What's printed behind those bound covers would have been better served by sharing them for free over the past eight years.
I would not want to meet my maker with the blood George W. Bush has on his hands.
It amazes me that Dave and his liberal readers would express admiration for such an inept sleaze ball, but it gives conservatives some insight into liberal values.
As with any story, McClellen's must have more motive than mere money. With this he's burning his Repub bridges. Or perhaps there looms in the wing far more devastaing Bush era revelations and McClellen, sniffing the coming storm, makes his distance to avoid the aftermath and position himself on the side of the good guys and not in league with despots, crimminals and traitors.
Just take a look at how many press secretaries this administration has gone through. You can form a basketball team using all the Press Secretaries and Attoney Generals under the Bush Administration. Is that indicative of a law-abiding administration? It's sad that it takes the confessions of a turncoat to rile up a little righteous indignation.
What's it going to take to shut down the Guantanimo Bay prison? Innocent people are being tortured and detained without charge. The evidence is in the Pentagon's paperwork which was analyzed by a Seton Hall study. Do we need a douchebag-insider to write a tell-all book before we realize for ourselves that something isn't right?!
Regarding the comment: Wher
e the hell were they when it would have just been "the right thing to do"?
There is not doubt in my mind that they would have gotten no where and they would have been dished and fired for made up reasons...they would have had less credibility if they were fired to shut them up, than resigning and then letting it rip....
Anyone that thinks someone is gonna make waves while in the Bush administration, is just plain naive ...
Truth is truth....and it makes no difference when it is told...the important thing is it is told....and there are way too many books out there already dishing the Bush administration as deceptive to even suggest Scott is lying...What he did, took major guts...and he knew he would become a whipping boy....no question in my mind...
Frankly I begin to wonder when Bush kept blaming the Iraq's for 9/11 all the while the radio is talking about the Iranians, who they were, how did they ever get thru the gates at the airport, to name a few....no mention at any time was the word Iraq regarding the tragedy...the lies started way before Scott got there...and lets face it...how many of you have decided to get involved in helping or doing some good and then find out it was not all it was cut up to be....I would ask you how many of you stood your ground and made a fuss about it not being what they led you to believe..and you were not going to stand for it....my guess is not too many....
Scott should be given, a Medal of Honor as far as I am concerned....
Aunt Bonie: Right on.
Randy, If you think you gained insite into Liberal values, as a conservative, and based on a "inept sleeze ball Republican's Book, hmmmm...do I dare ask you if there has been any type of human in the whitehouse that is NOT an inept sleeze ball republican over the last 7 years. Nope! I can't say that. (I can, and do think it, however.)
Randy, I do ask you, though, and I want an answer? HOW is it the fault of the dems, or the left, or the libs (whatever label you want to use today?) WHEN ONE OF YOUR OWN TURNS ON YOUR OWN? JUST HOW is that OUR bad?
Rats jump off sinking ships. It is a fact, Jack.
Republican Rats Jump, and sing falsetto--all the way down!
Ba-Da-Ba-Da-BOOM!
Wilka
And Nan. It is NOT too late for impeachment. (Wexler, Florida.)
Nor it is too late to try the whole party, Condi, Dick, Dubya, Hal, Rummy, etc for war crimes against a soverign nation. And I for one, vote that All Profits go to the vets, their wives and children.
Wilka
Cult of Deception
By MAUREEN DOWD