McClellan Book's Real Message: "I'm a Loser"
Was it satisfying to learn that even George Bush's staffers think he lied the country into the Iraq war? Yes. Should we admire former press secretary Scott McClellan for telling us this now...as he prepares to launch a national book tour?
No.
Stabbing former colleagues in the back is a loser move, especially when you were complicit in the behavior and especially when you do it for personal gain in the context of pitching a book. If Scott McClellan knew he was telling lies for the White House, he should have just quit. If he decided to pass on lies at the time but regretted it later, he should written a short mea culpa focused only on himself--and one that was given away, not sold.
See Also: $130 Oil Clinches It: Bush Really Is The Worst President Ever
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There's nothing brave or noble about covering up for serial killers, for the biggest criminal enterprise in the history of the world. The Bush Regime has killed hundreds of thousands, possibly over a million people. They have undoubtedly been well compensated for their international war crimes. They have allowed their friends to loot our treasury. They have engaged in treason by turning the assets and resources of this country over to foreign interests. They are directly responsible for ending public education (see California and its budget cuts), letting business walk away from pension obligations, supporting drug companies in selling deadly drugs without any consequences, destroying the lives of working people. It's so incredibly silly to suggest there would be something noble in defending these people.
No, the noble thing is to stand up, maintain the silence for the small, the powerless, the weak, when being interrogated or threatened by those who control everything. You've got this all backwards. But then many people in the upper levels of society convince themselves that there was something noble in their own self-enriching behavior which caused losses to others. It's how people rationalize. It's how people sleep at night. "Well, I may have done wrong, but I was noble because I didn't rat out Ken Lay." No, that's not noble -- that's just taking money to keep your mouth shut.
Well said.
Hows that kool aid taste? There was no backstabbing here, it is called whistleblowing. As others have pointed out Bush stabbed us in the back, but you don't see it that way. Your position is pretty transparent. Could you tell me a story about the Scotty you know? or is it used to kow? maybe you never actually knew him. In any case I will beiieve Scott now especially when I watch all the people he accuses scramble for cover.
Bush's level of response regarding this matter will reveal how true Scott's book is. As of now it looks like you could swear an oath on it. In any case Bush should be happy he now gets to have a new war,
The War on Scotty.
America was stabbed in the back. The greater outrage should be directed at those who fabricated the American people into a war that was not necessary and has resulted in the deaths of innocent soldiers. They want to call McClellan "disgruntled"? I'm the one who is disgruntle
It is standard procedure for anyone who has ever been in the public eye and who has fallen out of it, to write one book while their name is still familiar, so that they may capitalize on their experience and get something out of the ashes of their reputation. In the case of national political figures it would now seem abnormal not to. The fact that he has a monetary motive may imply a bias, but it does not diminish the unique insider perspective and previously hidden information that he brings forward. America will spend a generation trying to understand how this Presidential disaster could have happened to a supposedly enlightened and democratic state. We need to have the secrecy of this administration penetrated by as many people as are willing to do so for the sake of history and the health of our democracy.
I applaud Mr. McClellan for the courage to write this book and to endure the devastating personal attacks that he will receive from his powerful ex-friends for the rest of his life.
And Mr. Blodget, if you ever chose to write a personal memoir of your time at the center of the Internet bubble I would be happy to read that as well.
Scotty: "I need some money. Hey, I can write a book about my time with Bush. I'll tell everyone what a great guy he really is. But, wait, his poll numbers... But if I write a book bashing him, during an election year.... "
As an ex- White House Press Secretary in the eye of a storm Mr. McClellan had his choice of publishers willing to take his book and give him a generous advance. Instead he chose a small publishing house (PublicAffairs) known for its editorial integrity and the smallness of its advances. Compared to the lifetime of lost employment opportunites that Mr. McClellan will now suffer, this advance will not begin to cover his losses.
Moreover, he joins a long and consistant line of ex-staffers who have trashed this administration once they were released from their obligations. Are they all telling lies just to make money? If so they seem to have gotten their stories straight. A more rational view is that they are all people who are describing a shared truth and who are brave enough to stand up to their peers to do so. We need more people who are brave enough to face the formidable shunning of the Republican establishment and tell us the truth.
McClellan was stabbed in the back and merely survived his attack to identify his attackers. I remember the news briefings when he was pressed on the CIA leak mess. He said he would find out if anyone in the White House was iinvolved. He came back days later to assure the media and the American people that he had received assurances first hand from Rove and Libby that no one in the White House was involved.
When the truth came out, he had lost all credibility, looked like a patsy, and had to resign in public disgrace.
We owe loyalty to those who are loyal to us. Bill Clinton violated his loyalty to Al Gore by letting him go out publicly and defend his president in the wake of the Lewinsky episode. Gore, from there forward, owed nothing to Clinton. McClellan owes nothing to Bush.
Who is Henry Blodget to lecture anyone on morality? He took money from companies to hype stocks and as a result millions of investors lost their shirts. Does Blodget ever consider the morality of his own actions?
I'm a little worried about the backlash over this. Yes, we all feel like he should have come out with this a long time ago. But he's human. But if we keep calling people like Scott McClellan "sleazy" (Tucker Carlson's word) or a "loser" or that he's "stabbing coleagues in the back" then perhaps others will decide not to do the right thing and tell the truth.
Well, that depends on how much money is to be made, doesn't it?
Recall, these ARE Republicans.
I have a different view--he's an American.
He may have taken him a while, but whatever.
As an American telling the truth here is what he OWES us.
His higher loyalty is to his country--not to his former boss.
Please---
His highest loyalty is to his bank account.
We ARE talking about a Republican.
I have a different view—he's trying to sell books.
Nothing wrong with a little whistle-blowing. It's behavior we should be encouraging.
The real story of the Bush administration everybody made money, nobody went to jail.
Scott McClellan clears his conscience and the republicans rush to the press stating that
“that is not the man we knew.” But when Obama states the identical phrase about Rev. Wright, Obama is called untruthful. The Republicans that are shocked by the former Press Secretary are attempting to save face. The statements by Wright were outlandish, but the statements of Scott McClellan are not the same as Wright. The Republicans are shocked not as much by what he said; rather they are shocked by the mere fact that he is an insider speaking his mind in disagreement with the party line. If the Republicans can use the statement that, “he is not the same man they knew” and be believed why can they not extend that same respect to Obama when he rejects the statements of Rev. Wright? I smell a double standard.
Oh well, ol' Puffy McMoonface is simply engaging in a little self-rehab
Hyperbole is awesome . . . I mean, its funny . . . I mean, its useless.
Will people never tire of Nazi analogies?
Just to change things up a bit---maybe next time try using the "Boogie Man" or the "Wicked Witch of the West" or maybe "Dracula."
Example: "Of the sort the Shark from Jaws no doubt would have done if Police Chief Brody hadn't shot him first and he could have gotten out of the water in time to write a book."
See what I mean? Sure it doesn't make any more sense, but at least we haven't seen it a 1000 times already.
think of a perpetually befuddled chipmunk lying its ass off --
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