Scotty Come Lately

Seven takes on Scott McClellan's new book:

Take One: What Took You So Long?

In What Happened, Scott McClellan offers withering portraits of George Bush, Karl Rove, Condi Rice, and Scooter Libby, confirms that we went to war in Iraq under false pretenses, and that we were serially lied to about the outing of Valerie Plame.

Interesting stuff, Scott. But about five years too late.

It's George Tenet déjà vu all over again. How many times are we going to have a key Bush administration official try to wash the blood off his hands -- and add a chunk of change to his bank account -- by writing a come-clean book years after the fact, pointing the finger at everyone else while painting himself as an innocent bystander to history who saw all the horrible things that were happening but, somehow, had no choice but to go along?

McClellan told the Washington Post that he wrote the book to "provide an open and honest look at how things went off course and what can be learned from it." And he told Cox News Service, "My job was to advocate and defend [Bush's] policies and speak on his behalf. This is an opportunity for me now to share my own views and perspective on things."

Great. We need all the openness and honesty we can get. But it would have been a lot more helpful if he had taken the "opportunity" when it really mattered -- say before the 2004 election, when it could have potentially saved thousands of lives.

What Happened is page-turning reading. What Didn't Happen -- namely McClellan telling the truth in service to his country rather than in service to his book sales -- is a stomach-turning disappointment.

Take Two: The Rationale for Iraq is Even Worse Than We Thought

McClellan really lets it rip on Iraq. He says that Bush led a sophisticated "political propaganda campaign" to sell the war, was not "open and forthright on Iraq," managed the runup to war "in a way that almost guaranteed that the use of force would become the only feasible option," "largely ignored or simply disregarded" contradictory intelligence on the war, and as the war went poorly responded by "never reflecting, never reconsidering, never compromising."

McClellan's scathing conclusion: "History appears poised to confirm what most Americans today have decided: that the decision to invade Iraq was a serious strategic blunder. No one, including me, can know with absolute certainty how the war will be viewed decades from now when we can more fully understand its impact. What I do know is that war should only be waged when necessary, and the Iraq war was not necessary."

Perhaps the most damning revelation regarding Iraq is McClellan's assertion that the real reason Bush wanted to invade Iraq was the "opportunity to create a legacy of greatness" by transforming the Middle East into a land of peace and brotherhood. Over 4,000 dead U.S. soldiers sacrificed for a neo-con wet dream of democratic dominoes across the region. How chilling is that?

McClellan also tosses in a pinch of Oedipal subtext: "The president had promised himself that he would accomplish what his father had failed to do by winning a second term in office. And that meant operating continually in campaign mode: never explaining, never apologizing, never retreating."

Such is the stuff foreign policy nightmares are made of.

Take Three: The Press Secretary Presses the Press

McClellan points an accusatory finger at the mainstream media -- he calls them "enablers" and says they were too easy on the administration during the selling of the war:

"The national press corps was probably too deferential to the White House and to the administration in regard to the most important decision facing the nation during my years in Washington, the choice over whether to go to war in Iraq. The collapse of the administration's rationales for war, which became apparent months after our invasion, should never have come as such a surprise. ... In this case, the 'liberal media' didn't live up to its reputation. If it had, the country would have been better served."

Great point, Scotty. We and many others made it back in 2003.

It's such a great point, it caused Karl Rove to act like something nefarious has happened to McClellan, transforming him from the lie-spouting sock puppet he has "known for a long time" into somebody who "sounds like a left-wing blogger." Have anyone specific in mind, Karl?

Take Four: Rove More Turd Blossom Than Boy Genius

Speaking of Rove, McClellan's tome continues the obliteration of the Rove mystique, reminding us what an out-and-out liar Rove was and is -- more than willing to assure McClellan that he wasn't involved in the leaking of Valerie Plame's identity when, in fact, he was up to his Turd Blossom in the sordid affair, having discussed Plame with Matt Cooper and Bob Novak in an effort to discredit Joe Wilson.

McClellan also makes it clear that the indelible, says-all-you-need-to-know-about-this-administration photo of Bush looking out the window of Air Force One during his too-busy-to-stop flyover of New Orleans in the wake of Katrina was a Rove special: "Karl was convinced we needed to do it -- and the president agreed."

Take Five: Truthiness in Government

Stephen Colbert satirized the Bush approach when he coined the concept of "truthiness": the truth we want, in our gut, to exist, without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts.

McClellan reveals how much the joke matched the reality, saying that Bush's "leadership style is based more on instinct than deep intellectual debate." Citing Bush's assertion that he honestly couldn't remember if he'd ever done cocaine, McClellan says he felt he "was witnessing Bush convincing himself to believe something that probably was not true, and that, deep down, he knew was not true."

But who needs reality when you have faith? Who needs truth when you have truthiness? As George Costanza put it on Seinfeld: "Jerry, just remember, it's not a lie if you believe it."

A fantastic philosophy for a sit-com character. A disastrous philosophy for a sitting president.

Take Six: Truth in Government

According to McClellan, the Secret Service code name for the White House press secretary was "Matrix."

As any Keanu Reaves fan will tell you, the Matrix is a simulated reality used to pacify and subdue the human population in a dystopian future.

Who knew Secret Service agents have such an arch sense of humor?

Take Seven: Heckuva Job, Scotty!

On the day McClellan resigned as press secretary, Bush pictured a time down the road when he and his former aide would "be rocking on chairs in Texas, talking about the good old days and his time as the press secretary. And I can assure you, I will feel the same way then that I feel now, that I can say to Scott, 'Job well done.'"

Maybe not. Although, since, according to McClellan, Bush "has a way of falling back on the hazy memory to protect himself from potential political embarrassment," who knows?

I can already see the blurb on the back of the paperback edition of What Happened: "Heckuva job, Scotty!" - George W. Bush, 43rd president of the United States

***

Schedule Alert: I'm going to speak at this year's Personal Democracy Forum (PdF), on June 23rd in New York City. I was at the first PdF in 2004, and HuffPost has signed on as one of this year's co-sponsors. It's a great event; a chance for those involved in Internet-powered politics -- and who isn't these days? -- to get together to talk shop and trade notes on what is coming next. We are expecting 1,500 people to attend this year's Forum. If you'd like to be there, go to www.personaldemocracy.com/conference.

Comments

[Raymondf]

Arianna his career is over , unless you hire him. I think he would make a good columnist for you. H e would also maybe get a job with Move-on.org or media matters. or the ACLU,their pretty radical.

[jrosenb1]

On the one hand, I agree with Arianna H. and others who are saying that we must always remember how much Scotty McClellan aided and abetted crimes of the Bush White House. On the other hand, a sincerely repentant Bushite, as McClellan seems to be, should be treated with respect and his revelations taken seriously and kept in the public eye. Keith Olbermann set the tone for this approach in his thoughtful 50-minute interview with McClellan several days back on MSNBC's "Countdown." It's especially important that McClellan has indicated a willingness to testify before the House Judiciary Committee.

For every McClellan who comes forward, there might be ten other disillusioned present or former employees of the Bush administration who haven't yet spoken up. McClellan's revelations will empower and encourage them to come forward. It's all too easy for us to view such a transition as a case of rats deserting a sinking ship. There should always be a place, even a place of honor, for a public official to be repentant about his or her service to a corrupt and criminal presidency. Consider the admirable career since the 1970s of former Nixon attorney John Dean, who is now one of our foremost legal analysts of governmental miscreancy.

So much of what we know about the abuses of government, Constitution, international law, and the public good during the past eight years we owe to the whistleblowers. So, in that spirit, I say: Go, Scotty!

[Zankee]

Hats off to you.., well said....

[Dari]

I COMPLETELY agree with you!

There have been others from this Bush/Cheney/Rove administration that have just slipped away and sat back quietly.

Letter to Move On.Org regarding Scott McClellan's book and petition:

I respectfully disagree with the campaign/petition and any ad AGAINST McClellan.

Why?

I believe that he has demonstrated REMARKABLE courage in coming forward and revealing and confirming what many of us have suspected and believed about the Bush administation.

From the news report today, I read that Mr. McClellan will receive $75,000.00 for his book unlike the millions that the Clintons and Senator Obama have received for their books.

Scott did NOT need to speak up. He could have gone quietly, like Colin Powell and kept his thoughts and confirmations to himelf.

Also, he is already receiving GREAT censure from the Right and does NOT, in my opinion, deserve equal censure from the Left.

I believe that he wrote this book because he cares about this country and like I myself have experienced, it often takes time away from a situation (the Bush Bubble, in Mr. McClellan's case) to come to a clear and objective perspective or viewpoint.

PLEASE re-consider your position and WITHDRAW this petition.

Mr. McClellan has an unalienable right to feed his family and in my final analysis, has done our country a great service by being courageous enough to speak out and speak out NOW versus AFTER the upcoming General Election this November.

[americanalien]

Thanks for this great post Miss Huffington. I appreciate everything that you are doing for America and I applaud you for reclaiming this country from the right wing lunatic fringe. I recently join HuffPost and I am really happy for the opportunity to have a direct say in our nation's political discourse. I agree that Mr. McClellan is late in coming with his tell all book but I think he's making a significant impact anyway. Let's not forget that we are only a few months out from the election. The stunning revelations in McClellan's book will only cement in people's mind why this country cannot afford a third Bush term. It could not come at a worse time for John McCain. If McClellan had released his book two years ago, how much of a difference would it have made? Bush had already lost his credibility with the American people. If Congress go ahead with hearings and McClellan does testify, it will be blessing to the Democratic Nominee and very bad news for McCain who has made it clear that he wants to give George Bush a third term.

[EbonBear]

There's one other possibility here, Arianna: That McClellan is gradually re-evaluating his life and his views and will eventually come around. David Brock did it, so did you. In time, so may Scott McClellan.

[oldcitizen]

I think it is more fitting that McClellan make a bundle from sales of his book than to let retired generals make money as "expert" war propagandists, or fired/retired Bush/Cheney officials like Karl Rove or Tony Snow get paid by the mass media to spout their lies in order to keep the "truth" hidden and and protect themselves and all the other power abusing !*#$$#*! parasites that are part of this unethical, dishonest, inept, and dangerous administration. And, whatever McClellan earns from trying to speak truth to power will be more honestly gained than the blood money that is still pouring into the secret bank accounts of all the corporate war profiteers and corrupt politicians who are still looting the public treasury and trying to steal Middle Eastern petroleum reserves.

[evekendall]

I don't think we should be looking a gift horse in the mouth.

[RnR]

I'm glad he wrote the book in spite of the slam job he's getting from the "left". The "left" leading the charge has an agenda. Wake up people.

[americansheep]

Without knowing, I'm just writing, I believe that McClellan is motivated by guilt, not greed. With his background he should have nothing but contempt for money whereas the flack that will be thrown at him from der neggersidden will follow him for the rest of his life. He has just shown more courage than the so called left has in the last two decades.

[MrTrailSafety]

Too late? Hell, anybody with a functioning brain could see that the war was avoidable. Here's a satiric, prophetic visual from 2002: http://www.flickr.com/photos/larrygassan/2119900568/

[research]

Thank you McClellen!

We need to protect and defend the whistle blowers!

This could be the tipping point.

His KO interview explained the timing very believably, more believable then his uncomfortable lies when he was press secretary.

[noneIn2008]

Scott - I have no backbone. I have no ability to influence. I consistently lied to you in the past.
Bush is bad, buy my book.

[Raymondf]

I understand the publisher is a good friend of George Soros, So lets have some hearings, and call Georgee boy, and see what he has to testify too. May be something about the rewrite of the book, after the first draft.

[957]

Well point your finger at the american people, its us that allow this to happen and to continue, we continue to vote those very people back in that could and should take action and we vote those back in the voted for the war and we vote those back in that won't do a damn thing about insurance/oil/or the bush administration so don't look past your own noses we are the problem, we need to flood washington with busloads of protesters and demand government work for the people.

[sikantisearth]

Im' always very careful with every third opinion. It's so difficult to decide if the words are true or not.

[bennettw]

Who is the real Johnny-Come-Lately?
Passages of the McClellan book were released last November that should have commanded the attention of the public and, more importantly, our representatives.
MCClellan should have been subpoenaed 6 months ago when there may have been enough time for his story to have a real impact.