Tiny Little Chipmunk B*lls: Scott McClellan Comes Clean (Sort Of)

What I'm about to say will sound terribly hypocritical coming from someone who continued to draw a paycheck from CNN long after coming to the realization that television news as a whole was a largely unsalvageable proposition. Maybe the only mitigating factor can be that it didn't take getting fired to put me in a position where I felt comfortable enough to complain about the condition of the business; I was doing that for quite some time before losing my job.

The same can't be said about Scott McClellan.

Prepare yourself, because the chorus of "ooohs," "aaahs," and "told you sos" has already begun in response to the supposedly revelatory bombshells that McClellan is dropping on the White House in his new, obligatory tell-all book, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception. Admittedly, the former White House mouthpiece -- for those lucky enough to have suppressed the memories of McClellan's tenure and are having trouble recalling him, think of a perpetually befuddled chipmunk lying its ass off -- does have some interesting inside information regarding his time in George Bush's inner sanctum, as one might expect. But to claim, even for a moment, that the dirt McClellan is dishing now that he's comfortably outside the Pennsylvania Avenue blast zone is shocking or of monumental significance would be horseshit of the highest order. Disclosing that Bush is out of touch and stubborn, or that he relied on propaganda to sell the war in Iraq to the American people -- or even that the White House press corps spinelessly ignored its responsibility to investigate the facts during the run-up to the war -- is truly the definition of old news, even if Scott McClellan is the one disclosing it. You can add to that the fact that McClellan did, actually, wait until now to make his reservations known -- long after they might've done some good -- and that we are talking about the same guy who essentially lied for a living (albeit very badly) for three years. I'm not saying he can't be trusted these days, but it's more than a little amusing that some on the left now seem ready to give him a pass -- this seemingly dimwitted rube who functioned as their public whipping boy for so long -- if not go so far as to lionize him, all because they consider his information so fundamentally damaging to the Bush administration.

The fact is, it isn't -- not one bit.

It's damn easy -- if not downright fashionable -- for Scott McClellan to bash his former boss when the latter has already been leveled by his own bald-faced incompetence and now flounders under the weight of a pathetic approval rating. McClellan should've said something a couple of years ago, when it would've mattered.

These days, the only proper response to Scott McClellan's book is to say, "So what?"

Related: Scott McLellan, Former Press Secretary, Attacks Bush's White House

Comments

[gevan]

Unfortunately, we can't yet waterboard Dick Cheney to get HIS confession of sins. So I guess Mr. McClellan's little scribble will just have to do (for now).

[alkamm]

McClellan thought Bush would be a uniter and not a divider, but the momentum of the perpetual campaign led into partisanship and bullying of the Democrats and the larger world. It's easy to see why McClellan would have a compassionate conservative idealism and become disenchanted, but a job's a job.

McClellan is adding more than footnotes to history, and any time insiders reveal what outsiders know or surmise, that's a win-win situation for the country. They can smear him and spin his book any way they want, but the real response will be when history determines that Bush lied and we bought it on the faith that Bush would be more conciliatory and less partisan in his approach to both domestic and foreign policy.

[Devver]

We bought it on faith? You mean we had a choice?

[NetProphet]

Can we all remember the book O'Neil had when he left Bush's office..... or Clark...or even Wilson.....special key men - - - all said the same thing 'bout the administration and all wrote books in at specific intervals. It's just Scott's turn to be able to time the publishing correctly.

.....maybe, prior November, another will come along and put the Bush-McSame presidency to REST!

[moorfam]

First things first. If this is ho-hum , so what , information how come the msm didn't share these findings with us? Or, by sharing the information how come nothing was ever done about these traitors in our White House? Did the press find the information so boring that they didn't bother to pressure the powers that be, to do something about it? So maybe McClellen is right msm doesn't do anything but decide what they think makes for interesting news. I don't believe that. MSM has been bought by the powers that be and they have no intention of letting the people know what is going on. Time to search out non-main stream news and go to on-line sources. Meanwhile back at the ranch, Robert Wexler is calling for hearing on these issues. He has asked that Mr. McClellen be questioned by the Senate to ascertain exactly what and how many crimes have been committed. He has also asked for the impeachment of Cheney etal., No one in the Senate is listening. They are ignoring thier constituents again as usual. E-mail your reps and demand hearings and/or impeachment.

[itmaybetoolate]

McCllelan may be a day late and a dollar short but he at least has forced the MSM to discuss their role in the propaganda campaign to sell the war. For example, Katie Couric admitted the truth about corporate and government pressure to shut down honest discussion of the evidence. On CBS and NBC. That is worth something.

[Lane]

Well said too late:
Did anyone ever consider that gazillionaire oilman Bush and family probably told McClellan
that he would be well taken care of for his service in the Bush administration and when Bush didn't keep his word, McClellan had to fend for himself? Sounds plausible to me!

[abluevoice]

Hey Chaz, when is Lying us into a failed war, obstruction of justice in the outing of a CIA agent, and corruption during a natural disaster as validated in writing, by a Republican insider and direct source from a Bush loyalist such as McClellan, "old news" and cause for "so what"? I call it EVIDENCE, and "THE SMOKING GUN", we've all been waiting for to hold Bush, Cheney, and Rove, accountable for criminal abuse of power.

You should be encouraging Dems, and liberal bloggers to embrace this guy for finally comming clean, and you should be plodding Congress along with all Dems and liberals to get him under oath and testifying before Congress. And we should all be screaming at Pelosi at the top of our lungs,
"What more do you need to put impeachment back on the table"?

[wrabbitt]

The rats are always aware of a sinking ship, and all bail out as a group. We knew the administration was half a bubble off ,thinking no one will ever kiss and tell! We haven't heard the end of this yet, but, books sell better when Bush is in office, than when Mcbush is caught in the business end of a landslide. Clinton,who?

[onelife1]

Better late than never. I enhoy seeing the republicans eat their own.

[abluevoice]

this is much more than Republicans "eating their own" or "old news' or "so what". It is EVIDENCE AND VALIDATION from a true friend of Bush and Republican loyalist, of what the Democrats have been accusing the White House of all along......."high crimes and misdemeanors" such as lying to Congress and obstruction of justice and corruptness! The Democratic leadership and liberal media pundits, and bloggers need to embrace McClellan, not trash him, and encourage more like him to cross over and free their conscious as he has.
He must be put under oath immediatly and testify before Congress If the Demos in Congress blow this smoking gun and fail again to live up to their oath's of office, they are not fit to lead.

[Lemeritus]

As I quoted Edmund Burke yesterday: "All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." To do nothing or to wait for a book deal.

Still, I must admit that McClellan was an improvement over Ari Fleischer who I will always remember for saying that Americans "need to watch what they say, watch what they do." (Now, there are some Fleischer apologists who will argue that those words were taken out of context, but I saw that press conference and I'll tell you, no matter the context, it made my blood run cold.)

[Driver125]

"It's damn easy -- if not downright fashionable -- for Scott McClellan to bash his former boss when the latter has already been leveled by his own bald-faced incompetence and now flounders under the weight of a pathetic approval rating. McClellan should've said something a couple of years ago, when it would've mattered."

Is it easy? As easy as keeping your mouth shut while living a comfy existence within the sheltering embrace of some right-wing think tank?
As for his former boss, 'floundering' might be a better description of someone who was fighting impeachment, but since he's not he still appears pretty spry to me. For all the talk about how 'lame' he is I still don't see much 'distancing' going on.
"McClellan should've said something a couple of years ago, when it would've mattered."--So should they all--starting with Colin Powell, but they haven't, have they? Do the others deserve more respect because they have kept their mouths shut?

[peorgietirebiter]

chipmunk balls! perfect - i'm guessing the washington post would have given scott some space. i remember him well - when scotty was out front you subconciously thought that nobody's policy could be as bad as this clown makes them sound... of course it turns out they were worse

[Georgiadude]

Maybe McClellan's will help prevent an attack on Iran?

[feminancy]

My thought, exactly, Georgiadude.

The McClellan critics are focusing on the wrong issues.

I say, "Better late than never.." and this book may, indeed, help to prevent an invasion of Iran.

Thank you, Scott McClellan, for your contribution.

[EngineerBill]

Excellent post. As Ariana has pointed out. George Tenet did something quite similar. Tenet, Bremer and now McClellan all do the same thing. Write memoirs that blame everybody but themselves for the mess this administration has made.

[normathumb]

Interesting, all these guys articulate a different vision once outside the tent. That old team spirit is like a pair of blinders. Once off the team, they begin to express misgivings about the plan, say they had them all along. You have to marvel at Cheney's ability to compel the team to suspend their values and support such heinous activities. Were they all thinking they were the only one with misgivings? What would have happened if someone spoke up and said the emporor has no clothes? How different things might be today had someone broken the ice. How many of the team never read the PNAC website and didn't know this was the plan long before they took office? This is the groupthink that has led the nation into a stupidly unnecessary war. Thousands dead, a nation laid waste, a wrecked world economy, our destroyed reputation, all the while turning the Constitution into a museum relic because they couldn't see through their own hubris. Now, their defense is, 'the world is a better place without Saddam' as if he was going anywhere. they say they weren't the only ones to believe Iraq had WMD. This is particularly true of the people they fed phony intelligence to. They, then, would turn around and site that same 'intelligence' as further proof. Criminal liars responsible for tens of thousands of deaths while lining the pockets of themselves and their buddies. They have plundered the world and need to be held accountable.

[epotruchyeahright]

This of Bush's first Treasury Secretary, who resigned because he could not support the radical right-wing propaganda machine.

[johntal]

A man is paid to lie as part of his job description, this is (sadly) nothing new in any part of the world ; people do what they must. Having a moral fit after he no longer works for that employer is priceless.

[Bobrobert]

Scott - you go boy.

Little losers are jealous that you are making it big while they are beneath notice.

It is good to hear you laughing all the way to the bank!!!

:-)

Great book. Cannot wait for the next one.

:-)