(2008-05-28) — Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, who claims in a new book that Bush administration officials used him to promote the president’s policies and to defend top officials, today said he suspects he’s being used unwittingly by his publisher to pass along information “just to sell books.”
“I’m afraid I’ve become the innocent accomplice to another propaganda effort,” said Mr. McClellan. “It turns out that my publisher is engaged in a highly-choreographed campaign to move books through distribution points in cities throughout the country, as well as through internet portals.”
The author of What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception, said that during visits to his publisher’s headquarters he has seen editors and marketing people stepping into offices for “mysterious private conversations as if they were plotting something.”
“I’m concerned,” said Mr. McClellan, “that, like Bush, I may have engaged in self-deception and convinced myself to believe what suits my needs at the moment — mostly my need to convert my undistinguished White House tenure into an endless stream of cash.”
Mr. McClellan said he plans to “ask a lot of questions and get to the bottom of this, as soon as the checks all clear.”
42 responses so far ↓
1 boberinyetagain // May 28, 2008 at 8:21 am
To paraphrase a line from Cassablanca he’s “shocked, shocked to find lying going on here”
It’s the White House stupid…
rules rabbits…the rabbit king of course!
2 Ms RightWing, Ink // May 28, 2008 at 8:46 am
Is that the book George was reading when the Islamic fascists flew into the buildings on 9/11?
No, that is a new book. This must be the book Hillary has been reading when her votes went out the window and crashed
3 onlineanalyst // May 28, 2008 at 8:55 am
Scott McClellan was a mighty ineffective press secretary, unable to get any message out from the White House. He allowed the media hyena pack control the agenda.
Of course, all of the same media will be atwitter with this self-serving tell-all. (Is it true that he was one of the few who refused to sleep with Barbara Walters?)
You will note that Douglas Feith’s book has not been reviewed by any media…because it contradicts their own narrative of events.
4 Fred Sinclair // May 28, 2008 at 9:30 am
o.t. -
Radio weather report; Holland, MI
The highest temperature ever recorded on May 28th, in West Michigan was 92 degrees in 1978.
The lowest temperature ever recorded on May 28th, in West Michigan was 34 degrees in 1977.
The average temperature on May 28th, in West Michigan is 74 degrees.
An increase of 58 degrees in only one year!!
QUESTION: Where was Algore?
ANSWER: Who cares?
Heirborn Ranger
5 joylily514 // May 28, 2008 at 9:58 am
I am completely disgusted with McClellan. There is a name for people like he – traitor.
6 boberinyetagain // May 28, 2008 at 10:02 am
Interesting characterization…traitor…it’s a fine line I suppose
7 Maggie // May 28, 2008 at 10:06 am
Ms Righty….re#2
No!The President was reading “When Pigs Fly” to the children.
8 Maggie // May 28, 2008 at 10:09 am
OT
Joylily514…..love the name.
9 upnorthlurkin // May 28, 2008 at 10:43 am
Yup, if it’s in print and it validates your (biased) views, it’s just gotta be true! I’ve noticed those who put their faith in others’ goodness (read: benefit of the doubt) get burned more and more frequently. I still believe in Dubya’s upstanding character and tend to believe he’s if anything, a bit too trusting of those surrounding him. More at home in Texas than the cesspool that is D. C.
10 Mr.Director // May 28, 2008 at 11:10 am
What is it about Washington that turns anyone named McClellan into a raging incompetent?
11 boberinyetagain // May 28, 2008 at 11:34 am
I don’t think the name is all that important
12 da Bunny // May 28, 2008 at 11:48 am
“Mr.Director // May 28, 2008 at 11:10 am
What is it about Washington that turns anyone named McClellan into a raging incompetent?”
Very well done, Mr. Director!! I was just thinking that very same thing earlier this morning, while listening to Ari Fleischer on FNC. Fleischer, McClellan’s former boss, was pointing out that McClellan had never vocalized these “opinions” during his WH employ, nor had he vocalized them in numerous interviews he’d given during the years immediately following his departure from the WH staff. Hmmm…seems that the prospect of vast sums of “easy money” were just too appetizing for ol’ Scotty to pass up.
If this keeps up, the word “McClellan” may become a synonym for the term “lying, snivelling cowardice.”
13 Fred Sinclair // May 28, 2008 at 12:00 pm
joylily514 – I’m pleased to second Maggie’s #8 assessment – love the name
unl #9 – George W. has the misfortune to be walking in his father’s footsteps. George H.W. could have and would probably have been a good (not great, but good) President. However he made the colossal error of surrounding (or allowing himself to be surrounded by a bunch of misfits. Instead of getting rid of them, he compounded his error by listening to them and acting on their counsel.
George W. only had two Aces “Scooter” Libby and Donald Rumsfeld. He folded on each of them, counseled, I believe by some of his own misfits.
He let “Scooter” fall prey to the Liberal’s witch hunt and when Scooter was convicted by what amounted to a Kangaroo Court (the verdict was sealed, signed and delivered, before he ever set foot in that courtroom). On trumped up charges about Joe Wilson and his trophy wife Valerie Plame.
When I believed he should have granted Scooter a full and unconditional Presidential pardon the next day….he didn’t.
He allowed Runsfeld to resign in the face of Liberal attacks. “Big mistake, Big, Huge Mistake.” as Julia Roberts said in “Pretty Woman”.
When McCain is sworn in next Jan. He’ll be quite happy to get back to Crawford, TX.
I’m praying that he won’t leave the three Border Patrol Officers in prison.
Heirborn Ranger
14 da Bunny // May 28, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Since my comment at #12 is “awaiting moderation,” I’ll also say that the last line of Scott’s article pretty much “sums up” the entire situation. $$ cha-ching, cha-ching $$
15 da Bunny // May 28, 2008 at 1:59 pm
In the vein of “raging, incompetent” McClellans, here’s a fine example:
Lincoln was famously quoted as saying, “If General McClellan does not want to use the army, I would like to borrow it for a time.”
History repeats itself. Lincoln was viewed as a backward idiot by the elitist adversaries of his time, too, but if he’d left G. B. McClellan in charge, the Union would not have been preserved. And, George Brinton McClellan went on to stab Lincoln in the back after being removed from his incompetent command of the Union forces. Is Scott McClellan a descendant of G.B.? Hmmm….
16 JamesonLewis3rd // May 28, 2008 at 2:57 pm
There is no “fine line,” you’re either a patriot or not.
17 boberinyetagain // May 28, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Is it patriotic to lie?
18 Ms RightWing, Ink // May 28, 2008 at 3:23 pm
re:7
Are you talking about DC Comics?
19 onlineanalyst // May 28, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Maggie: No!The President was reading “When Pigs Fly†to the children.
Hey, Maggie, funny you should mention that expression. I am wearing a “when pigs fly” pin as I post. (It’s a good ice-breaker that catches how observant people are.)
WV: flowers weekday
Nah, the occasional bouquet will do though.
20 Beerme // May 28, 2008 at 4:10 pm
boberin,
We’re not really going to attack that little gem again, are we?
McLellan obviously has no problem betraying the people he once worked for, at the suggestion of some goodly amount of shekels. Does that make him a Democrat or just a bad person?
21 Beerme // May 28, 2008 at 4:12 pm
OLA and Maggie,
When the wife and I saw a news broadcast that said a pig farm was hit by a twister last week in Tennessee (I think), she said that that was the day everyone had all been awaitin’ fer…
22 boberinyetagain // May 28, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Beerme, I saw that story and had the same thought.
As for lying, the question is…was he lying then or is he lying now. Either way he’s a liar I suppose. Then again, has there ever been one in his position that did not lie?
Very doubtful, quickly approaches impossible would be my guess. As such, is he not compelled to confess his “sins”?
23 onlineanalyst // May 28, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Try this on for size, boberinyetagain: Debunking the Received Wisdom on the Iraq War Policy-Making
Now, Douglas Feith, you may say, was simply covering his own tracks in writing the book, but it was based on extensive notes and memos that he kept at the time. Additionally, he does not whitewash his own or the administration’s roles when he judges where blame or responsibility rest.
The whole “Bush lied, people died” meme was created/accepted by the media (particularly when huge caches of WMD were not found even though most nations’ intelligence services had indicated their existence), and it became the received wisdom of the events.
The fact is that there were multiple reasons for the liberation of Iraq from Saddam’s tyranny, all presented to Congress, and there were equally multiple resolutions before the UN for Iraq regime change.
Feith’s book covers all of the debate in pre-planning and post-planning. You would be surprised at some of the positions of the major players in the decision making.
None of the major media, in print or on the tube, will review Feith’s book because it contradicts their narrative.
Contrast that treatment of one man’s opinion of the truth to McClellan’s, and how the media are hopping on the latter’s bandwagon, shilling his tell-all as if he doesn’t have an axe to grind.
WV: that watchdog
C’est moi! Woof!
24 onlineanalyst // May 28, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Say there, are you fellow Scrapplers up for a Face2Face reprise, same venue but perhaps mid-September to late September? Or even over Labor Day weekend again?
I have some professional/personal responsibilities that prevent my attending the full weekend of September 6. That is a weekend when Mt. Craft Days (Somerset), Flax Scutching, and the Highland Games take place. I believe that there is a Blue Grass Festival at Ohiopyle that same weekend.
We’d have more success getting cabin accomodations if we don’t choose Labor Day weekend– family reunions and all.
WV: 1st one– prior convent
2nd one– joint lit
I don’t think that I want to touch those.
25 Darthmeister // May 28, 2008 at 5:33 pm
I guess McClellan was getting a little lonely not getting invited to all the Beltway parties. I guess this will do it. But what do you expect from a Beltway bimbo like that?
He is smart. He knows there are any number of left-wing moonbats who are going to make him a millionaire many times over. Follow the money. Rove is right, McClellan sounds like a far left blogger since more than a few of his talking points were apparently ripped right out of the Daily Kos and the rest of the nutroot blogging whores.
Also, McClellan’s account of the Niger yellowcake episode parallels the warped media meme that the Select Senate Committee Report on Intelligence shot down multiple times with regard to the “findings” of one Joe Wilson … yawn.
If you remember, CIA intelligence analysts contradicted Wilson’s public claims that his report undercut the British and Bush Administration’s claim that Saddam had sought to acquire Niger yellowcake. These analysts said that Wilson’s (verbal) report at the time it was given bolstered the claim, it didn’t undercut it.
Senate Select Committee On Intelligence Unanimous Report: “Conclusion 13. The Report On The Former Ambassador’s Trip To Niger, Disseminated In March 2002, Did Not Change Any Analysts’ Assessments Of The Iraq-Niger Uranium Deal.†(Senate Select Committee On Intelligence, “Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Assessments On Iraq,†7/7/04) “For Most Analysts, The Information In The Report Lent More Credibility To The Original Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Report On The Uranium Deal, But State Department Bureau Of Intelligence And Research (INR) Analysts Believed That The Report Supported Their Assessments That Niger Was Unlikely To Be Willing Or Able To Sell Uranium.†(Senate Select Committee On Intelligence, “Report On The U.S. Intelligence Community’s Prewar Assessments On Iraq,†7/7/04) CIA Said Wilson’s Findings Did Not Resolve The Issue to the extent he publicly claimed. “(The report) was given a normal and wide distribution, but we did not brief it to the president, vice president or other senior administration officials. We also had to consider that the former Nigerien officials knew that what they were saying would reach the U.S. government and that this might have influenced what they said.†(Central Intelligence Agency, “Statement By George J. Tenet, Director Of Central Intelligence,†Press Release 7/11/03)
So already McClellan’s accounting of the facts is very suspect. It’s more of “facts as he saw them” (or more precisely, how he sees the “facts” now because he wants to be loved and accepted by the Beltway whackos. He’s the kind of “fat, sleek-headed men and such as sleep o’ nights” that a Caesar surrounds himself only to be stabbed in the back by said wolf in sheep’s clothing.
McClellan was always an unimpressive, barely competent press secretary and thought it was good riddance when Tony Snow replaced him. But you have to give Scotty boy his due, he’s clearly an opportunist extraordinaire … precisely the kind of characterless gadfly moonbats like neverthink slobber over when it conveniently dovetails with their endless layers of conspiracy theories.
26 Darthmeister // May 28, 2008 at 5:33 pm
… puuuuuush!
27 RedPepper // May 28, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Darth: I’m not sure “push†is effective against the new batch of Gremlins …
I recommend fasting and prayer. Good for the body, and the soul! As for the comments … Que sera, sera !
28 JamesonLewis3rd // May 28, 2008 at 6:26 pm
No one is “compelled” to “confess” anything.
And, besides, who cares? Only an imbecile would buy McClellan’s book.
29 Libby Gone // May 28, 2008 at 6:30 pm
It’s the current moral sickness of this country that enable people like McLellan and Liberals everywhere.
30 JamesonLewis3rd // May 28, 2008 at 6:56 pm
After perusing the links provided by Scott, I say there isn’t a single item in McClellan’s book that is the least bit revelatory—just more recycled Bush-Hatred based on “feelings”. It’s pathetic the way the traitorous liberal loves that kind of lame crap.
31 Darthmeister // May 28, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Here’s the real “backstory” on Scott McClellan’s payback book. The folks at AmericanThinker nailed it down.
Apparently in the last election for Texas governor, Republican Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn ran as an independent Republican against incumbent Gov. Rick Perry. Keep in mind Perry was Bush’s Lt. Gov. and became Gov. when Bush moved to D.C.
Strayhorn started her campaign with a flurry, faded fast, and got trounced in the election, receiving vitually no support from the GOP. McClellan is Strayhorn’s son.
Is it any wonder then that the lefties gravitate toward people like this as their source of “truth”? People who stab their former colleagues in the back with thinly-sourced innuendos, whose diatribes read like a distilled version of the New York Times, and who now sounds like the unholy troika of Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, and sHrillary Clinton. You see, liberals know when someone is “telling the truth” (whatever that may be from day-to-day to serve their national socialist cause) when that person regurgitates back to them exactly what they want to hear.
Before the release of his book, Scott McClellan was a lying, neo-con scumbag … but now he’s their new darling, a veritable Oracle of Delphi! They’ll suck it all down without question, which effectively demonstrates the degree to which these howling jackals are infected with the anti-Bush Derangement Syndrome.
32 RedPepper // May 28, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Ah, there’s your comment, Darthmeister! I knew it was in there somewhere …
Is it just me, or is there something about Scott McClellan that reminds y’all of the actor Ned Beatty in Deliverance ?
( cue Duelling Banjos … )
Mr. McClellan? It’s your fellow journalist, David Brock. Says he’s here to take you on a camping trip?
Yes, Mr. Brock – since you mention it, Scott does have “a real pretty mouth on him … â€
33 Libby Gone // May 28, 2008 at 10:43 pm
JL3 #28,
Maybe it’s a combination of the stimulus checks and a lull in Britney Spears sightings, but the imbeciles are out in herds.
Big suprise, this self indulgent psychogenic pabulum sells.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books/ref=sv_b_3
34 Clemente // May 29, 2008 at 3:53 am
My profuse apologies if I’m breaking rules (I’m new to posting here!) but an interesting delineation of “six degrees of corporate soros” is up at LGF. Well, maybe 2.5 or 3 degrees…
35 JamesonLewis3rd // May 29, 2008 at 5:39 am
RE: #34~~
Clemente~~
Welcome to ScrappleFace!
I agree: As soon as I learned yesterday that Soros was a player in this non-event there really wasn’t any further need to wonder about McClellan’s motives—”6 degrees of separation” is a perfect analogy.
36 Darthmeister // May 29, 2008 at 7:24 am
Thus says Obamessiah: “I will meet with any tinhorn dictator or radical Islamist ruler … but I won’t meet with American generals in Iraq.”
37 RedPepper // May 29, 2008 at 7:51 am
Darthmeister #36: Yes. Odd, ain’t it?
Perhaps some things are simply too … uh, foreign to Barack to just rush into all at once. I mean, give the devil his due – Obama did finally appear on Fox News Sunday, although he has yet to keep the promise that he made to Bill O’Reilly (back in New Hampshire) to appear on The Factor. Maybe President Obama will meet with General Petraeus before we declare defeat in Iraq and come home.
Then again, maybe he won’t …
38 Hawkeye // May 29, 2008 at 8:35 am
Me-thinks McClellan’s career was going nowhere and he went over to the “dark side”. He impresses me as a political “hanger-on” that rode G.W.’s coat-tails all the way to the White House. With the President’s current low approval rating and the prospect of a disaster for “neo-cons” in the coming elections, McClellan is simply positioning himself for a career in the brave new world of a lefter-leaning Beltway Bureaucracy.
39 Hawkeye // May 29, 2008 at 8:40 am
P.S.– I think McClellan will find he made the wrong move. I believe history will be kinder to G.W. than the current crop of liberal hacks.
40 Libby Gone // May 29, 2008 at 8:50 am
Hawkeye,
One thing for sure,
In 100 years the history books will name G.W. Bush.
McClellen will be forgotten, as will most of the Libs.
41 Maggie // May 29, 2008 at 9:45 am
Clemente….#34….WELCOME
There are no “rules” except to keep it clean .Scott will let us know when we become inappropriate.
42 prettyold // May 30, 2008 at 6:08 pm
I’m wondereing if this is the “final evidence ” the Dems have been looking for to start the Impeachment proceedings against Our President George W Bush.
My Congressperson recently sent me a little update (bragging)on how she has been helping the Committee to prepare the Case for Impeachment. I think I recieved it by mistake ,because that was the first I had heard of Mz Baldwin being involved in any such thing,or had ever heard from her before.
All one has to do ,is look at how smug and happy bober is,to understand how all the rest of the radical Liberal Leftists are feeling about this.
Remember ,Democrats don’t bring charges on whether their information is true , only on the seriousness of the charges,or unless they can get enough idiots to swear to it.
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