In Defense of Scott McClellan

Right now Scott McClellan has no friends, and that's a shame. His former friends on the Republican side are trying to bury him. The rest of us are still skeptical of him and what he did when he was still in the Bush White House. And the press is trying to be tough on him specifically because he called them out for not being tough enough when he was press secretary.

So, we have this ironic situation that in a time when McClellan is finally being honest, he has no defenders. I'm afraid this is going to lead the public to the false impression that the world is united in thinking he is a calculating opportunist who is trying to make a buck by turning on his friends. When, in fact, the reality is that the man finally grew a conscience.

Throughout the book and his interviews, McClellan talks about how he grew uneasy throughout his time with Bush and finally his conscience got the better of him. I believe him. Why?

Would it have been better if he dramatically stepped to the podium one day while he was still White House press secretary and said, "We have been doing an organized propaganda campaign to deceive the American people and I resign!"? Yes, that would have been better. But 99 out of a 100 times that's not the way the real world works. You get caught up in whatever subculture you're in and it's hard to untangle yourself.

Have you ever been in a situation where you wound up doing something you were uncomfortable with because of societal pressure and then later wondered -- what the hell was I doing? I don't know about you, but I certainly have.

Now, this was no little thing. This was a gigantic mistake that eventually costs thousands of lives. And yes, I would have loved if he admitted his mistakes and pointed out the lies of the Bush administration without the publicity surrounding a book. Yes, I wish he had the courage to recognize this earlier (as some like Richard Clarke and Paul O'Neill did -- but remember, they too were pilloried anyway).

But right now, the bottom line is that McClellan is clearly telling the truth. Everything he says matches with what has been reported and suspected before. It is an amazing insider look at the deception that went on in the Bush White House. Even his explanation of how Bush convinces himself of his own lies rings so true. His details on how Cheney and Rumsfeld ran the White House while Condoleezza Rice bowed her head matches every report we have from within the administration.

And remember, he didn't have to be this harsh to sell books. A couple of juicy details would have done the job. This was personal. Not as in a personal attack against Bush and the others in the administration. More like an attempt at personal redemption.

As McClellan says throughout the book, he liked Bush and looked up to him, so he wanted to believe what he was saying. And in the end, after so much evidence piled up -- with the final coup de grace being Bush's own admission that he personally authorized the CIA leak -- he couldn't do it anymore. Once outside of the Washington bubble, he began to reflect on all of the transgressions, his and those of his cohorts, and realized he had to write a truly honest account of what happened. That should be commended, no matter what came before.

One final note. People should not overlook what McClellan said about the press. That's the real lesson to take away from this book. While the Bush administration was complaining loudly about the liberal media, they were internally snickering about how much they had intimidated them. That lesson should never be forgotten. The way the Bush administration cowed the press should be an everlasting shame on the media. I wonder if instead of reacting angrily to this, whether the press corps will take away anything from this when they step out of their bubble and come to terms with their own conscience.

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Comments

[burnt]

I would not claim him as a "friend"... and I'm not really feeling too badly for the way he is being treated. His collusion led directly to death and injury for perhaps hundreds of thousand of people. No exposé (for whatever underlying intent) absolves that... especially since he was an integral part of the big lie.

However... I will give him credit for making the rest of the war criminals cry and caterwaul in such a distressed chorus. If we don't show *some* support for Scott's action, the concerted effort to discredit him will at the very least, discourage others who have been complicit... from also coming forward with credible evidence.

We should not be as overly concerned with his participatory guilt at the moment. The overriding focus should be on the need to construct an airtight case for prosecuting those others who continue to desperately stonewall the lie. As it is essential to bring the war criminals to trial, we should concurrently make some provisions for insiders who will provide substance and evidence. We must also bring reform to MSM and punish the abusers by insisting that Congress weigh the evidence and act accordingly.

To do any less would act to reinforce the outrageous belief that these crimes can be committed with impunity.

[bsc]

Right on, Cenk. I am worried that the media will start feeding into the "disgruntled ex employee" line that the White House is pushing due to McClellan's statements re the media not doing their job. I think it is important for the media to see this as a chance to make up for the past 8 years....could be wishful thinking, but that is one positive out of this mess. btw, you finally convinced me to become a TYT member- I signed up last week and will never look back! Keep up the good and important work.

[LoRiseAntlers]

I am all too afraid if it had been me working for a Democratic president,I might have found myself doing exactly what McClellan did.It's a very hard thing to come to the understanding that someone you believe in with all your heart is a monster(and I don't think Mr.McClellan realizes that even now.

[TRex86]

I think the highest form of integrity is to break ranks with a respected leader over a matter of principle. I remember a similar lesson from the Vietnam war when LBJ was president. He engaged in the same kind of lying, deception and bullying to keep the MSM in line. Nonetheless, a lot of accurate and timely reporting got done. We got real time pictures of the horrors and the flag draped coffins. Finally, when Walter Kronkhite said the war was lost (after Tet) the real journalists came out of hiding. Unfortunately, by that point the country was so fractured--made worse by Mayor Daley's police riots during the Democratic convention--that Nixon had a real shot at winning despite having no plan whatsoever to deal with the wrenching problems that divided the nation. The rest is our sad, corpse strewn modern history, our flirtation with authoritarian fascism in the New Gilded Age. We must change the tone and tenor of public life. Get the money out of it. Stop the politics of destruction and demagogery. It's not too late.

[zaneblue]

I couldn't agree more! Bravo!

[fedupcitizen]

McClellan is late with his confession; however, the press still have an obligation to question all the players, Bush, Cheney, Rove and company and hold them accountable for every lie they told.
If not the press will fail again and pat themselves on the back for ripping McClellan.

[GurkenheimerLouie]

Excellent post!! This why I always read Cenk's posts. I coouldn't agree more, but could never express it so eloquently!

[Henry]

I think the NeoCon Cabal believed (In the wake of the Cowboy) that a prezidency could be managed like a play. The President could be scripted, managed if you will, by Cheney and the goals of the Cabal could be scripted and stage-played to the public. Little George appears to be a willing half-wit and Scotti seems to be the naive loyal partisan for the right. It does appear to me that the frost has come off the pumpkin for each of these Texas bumpkins, George and Scotti and that we're only at the beginning of what really has been a hi-jacking of the American Democracy. Devious Dick the wyoming wonderboy was the understudy of the Nixon crime family. Add rummi to the list, don't forget frist...they've all profited nicely. I get this nagging feeling that little George looks like a boy who has figured out he has been used. And he does not like it. In that sense, he's in the same boat with Scotti. And whaddaya think big George thinks about all of this??? It's going to be ugly.

[hopeless277]

All this information is worth about 1/2 bucket of warm spit until we get a Speaker who will follow the constitution and hold impeachment hearings. That should be in about 30 years.

[milo9]

Right on point, Cenk!

[RickO]

Now he needs to appear before congress and testify under oath to his claims, offer himself as a witness for the prosecution (should congress decide to do it's job), and ask the American people to forgive him for his complicity in the worst fraud ever perpetrated on them by their government. He would become a hero and a patriot at that moment. For now, he's a guy selling a book.

[RavagesOfTime]

As on point as Cenk almost always seems to be, I think a few people in the blogosphere may have a problem with grasping the whole "In the real world..." part.

It's easy to be a revolutionary sitting at your keyboard.

[itmaybetoolate]

Good post! Kudos to Katie Couric who agreed with McClellan's view of the media on both the CBS and NBC morning shows. She specifically disagreed with Charlie Gibson who was refuting McClellan and actually said it was shameful and that they had been pressured by both the WH and their corporate bosses to tone down the questioning. She even gave an example of the WH threat to block access if they didn't change the tone of their interviews! I was speechless. Good for you Katie!!

[peterg76]

There's a good point: McClellan was doing his job; the media was not. Still, redemption will mean testifying, not a book telling us what we already knew.

[Corneille]

I'm with you, Cenk.

[aceholiday]

applause. thank you for this.