Scott McClellan Publishes “Bash Bush Book” - With Rove Video
What I find funny about this book is that even AFTER he left the administration, he was still in support of the War in Iraq…
I wonder who changed his mind…..
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The spokesman who defended President Bush’s policies through Hurricane Katrina and the early years of the Iraq war is now blasting his former employers, saying the Bush administration became mired in propaganda and political spin and at times played loose with the truth.
In excerpts from a 341-page book to be released Monday, Scott McClellan writes on Iraq that Bush “and his advisers confused the propaganda campaign with the high level of candor and honesty so fundamentally needed to build and then sustain public support during a time of war.”
“[I]n this regard, he was terribly ill-served by his top advisers, especially those involved directly in national security,” McClellan wrote.
McClellan also sharply criticizes the administration on its handling of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.
“One of the worst disasters in our nation’s history became one of the biggest disasters in Bush’s presidency,” he wrote. “Katrina and the botched federal response to it would largely come to define Bush’s second term.”
Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino said the White House would not comment Tuesday because they haven’t seen the book.
Frances Townsend, former Homeland Security adviser to Bush, said advisers to the president should speak up when they have policy concerns.
“Scott never did that on any of these issues as best I can remember or as best as I know from any of my White House colleagues,” said Townsend, now a CNN contributor. “For him to do this now strikes me as self-serving, disingenuous and unprofessional.”
Fox News contributor and former White House adviser Karl Rove said on that network Tuesday that the excerpts from the book he’s read sound more like they were written by a “left-wing blogger” than his former colleague.
In a brief phone conversation with CNN Tuesday evening, McClellan made clear that he stands behind the accuracy of his book. McClellan said he cannot give on-the-record quotes yet because of an agreement with his publisher. Watch further details emerge from McClellan’s book »
Early in the book, which CNN obtained late Tuesday, McClellan wrote that he believes he told untruths on Bush’s behalf in the case of CIA agent Valerie Plame, whose identity was leaked to the media.
Rove and fellow White House advisers Elliot Abrams and I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby were accused of leaking the name of Plame — whose husband, former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson, had gone public with charges the Bush administration had “twisted” facts to justify the war in Iraq.
Libby was convicted last year of lying to a grand jury and federal agents investigating the leak. Bush commuted his 30-month prison term, calling it excessive. At the time, McClellan called the three “good individuals” and said he spoke to them before telling reporters they were not involved.
“I had allowed myself to be deceived into unknowingly passing along a falsehood,” he wrote. “It would ultimately prove fatal to my ability to serve the president effectively.”
McClellan wrote he didn’t realize what he said was untrue until reporters began digging up details of the case almost two years later.
A former spokesman for Bush when he was governor of Texas, McClellan was named White House press secretary in 2003, replacing Ari Fleischer. McClellan had previously been a deputy press secretary and was the traveling spokesman for the Bush campaign during the 2000 election.
He announced he was resigning in April 2006 at a news conference with Bush.
“One of these days, he and I are going to be rocking in chairs in Texas talking about the good old days of his time as the press secretary,” Bush said at that conference. “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.”
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Nothing like being Shot in the back!!!
May 28th, 2008 at 6:47 amSources close to the publisher say McClellan was given an advance of thirty pieces of silver.
May 28th, 2008 at 6:57 amthis guy is a liar
i remember him being on Fox news after his job at the white house had ended and was still supporting the Iraq war and supporting the President. I hope nobody buys this little shit peddlers book.
May 28th, 2008 at 7:01 amWatch the lefties. This will be fun! They never believed a word Skippy McClellan said before, but now he will be hailed as an oracle.
May 28th, 2008 at 7:16 amTrying to make a buck.
He had to be very disingenuous to “come forth” with these “revelations” right after the book deal. HE IS WHAT’S WRONG WITH WASHINGTON.
Tony Snow was a saint, terrible he had to suffer from cancer.
May 28th, 2008 at 7:16 amHe is no better than a street whore.. Anything for a buck, he would sell his soul to the devil. Low life scum sucking shithead. That goes for everyone who sells out the person/s who made them who they are today.
May 28th, 2008 at 7:19 amI know this is now going to sound like sour grapes in hindsight, but did any of us really ever think this Scott McClellan worthy of his position?
Between Ari Fleisher and Tony Snow, didn’t McClellan seem like a rank amateur? A fraternity President with a ‘C’ average? A lightweight? A Pillsbury doughboy who kissed enough ass to become part of the inner circle but when thrown into the MSM wolf den, was in over his head?
This is David Brock and Ariana PuffHo reincarnated. McClellan has obviously been spurned by real men and has fallen into the trap of latching on to anybody that will give him 15 minutes of fame and 30 pieces of silver. He’s no different than the phony soldiers who couldn’t cut it and have to look for something or someone to blame.
Enjoy your short-lived worth Scotty boy. You’ll be cast out and learn the hard way that your reputation is worth more than its weight in gold. It is something you will never recapture.
May 28th, 2008 at 7:26 amI always thought that he was a shitty press secretary that couldn’t verbalize words or fight back against an outright hostile press corps. He did nothing to defend the White House and its policies whatsoever. The first time this douche took the podium was the first time I questioned Bush’s judgement. Your my boy GWB, but what were ya thinking?
May 28th, 2008 at 7:26 amyou’re exactly right. he did always seem like he was in over his head. The press used to have their way with him. its definitely a damn shame Tony Snow couldnt stay around and Ari Fleischer moved on
May 28th, 2008 at 7:37 amHe’ll probably get more money from his pay-offs than from the book itself.
May 28th, 2008 at 7:43 amI just love Karl Rove. I appreciate him specifically pointing out that Armitradge leaked the name. You never ever ever hear the MSM say that. I especially liked the fact that he said he would read the book if someone else bought it and gave him a copy. Scott was definitely “a deer in the headlights” speaker, big let down after Ari. I don’t think there will be a lot of sales on this outside the media.
May 28th, 2008 at 7:44 amThis dweeb got his job because his mommy was friends with Bush. He was in way over his head, unqualified. He takes the job and doesn’t say a peep when he supposedly has “issues,” then he turns around and backstabs his former employer. What a low life. Anything for money. And he sucked as a spokesperson. Everytime he got on camera, I winced.
May 28th, 2008 at 7:52 amI wonder which Sunday morning talk show he is angling for? What a putz!
May 28th, 2008 at 7:59 amWe will see what the whole book is like, but it appears at this point that he is a major coward.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:10 amOh, and another thing: is this guy a conservative, a Republican, or just a self serving Pilsbury doughboy (I like the description!)? If he had to write a “kiss and tell” book, which is dubious, then he should have waited to publish until after the election. Why would you betray your boss, then your party? Judas Iscarot couldn’t have done a better job. What does this guy value? Even if he believes what he writes is true, there is a time and a place for it. When he was press secretary, his demeanor was amateur and untrustworthy. I now know why. P.S.: that’s what Bush gets for his cronyism in job appointments. His buddy Gonzalez did him no favors either.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:16 amAnother book telling us “What Happened”.
Just what we need.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:18 amNatalie,
That’s exactly what I was thinking - he was always a wimp and seemed out of his element as Press Secretary.
It sounds like he’s trying to ingratiate himself with the Washington Press Corps now that he’s out as Press Secretary.
What a worm.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:25 amI think there is a good chance this book was ghost-written by some leftist nutjob and McClellan took a payoff to allow his name to be on the cover. This is all part of a plan to sabotage the election in November. Anyone else got thoughts on this?
May 28th, 2008 at 8:57 amI don’t see how it hurts Bush that much. His approval ratings are in the gutter anyway (yet still not as bad as Congress) and the Fed reaction to Katrina DID suck as did Bush’s ‘efforts’ to bring the country together behind the war effort. The MSM has gotten away with mis-characterizing (putting it mildly) the Bush Administration and the war since 2004 and he doesn’t start bitching till 2008?
May 28th, 2008 at 10:05 amWTF W?
That said, McClellan is a POS for revealing ANY of the details of his service to Bush and the US.
Forget for a minute that he should return the loyalty shown him. Don’t they make these fucks sign non-disclosure agreements? That’s a primary consideration of high level managers in most major corporations. Simple… you’re gonna learn stuff the rest of the world doesn’t know…. STFU about it.
Unless it’s ‘criminal’ activity, I agree.
Political skank …
Nothing new here.
A “pro” Bush book would NOT sell. And wouldn’t get him on Olbermann or Matthews ABC/CBS/NBC/CNN/NPR/MTV, or a NYTimes ‘great’ review …
May 28th, 2008 at 10:32 amBenedict Arnold wasn’t very well liked when he got to England. I don’t know what this idiot thinks he’s going to get in the end. The left is going to chew him up and then spit him out. He’s got noowhere to go. Poor sap. Hope George Soros paid him well.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:32 amI already looked at leftwing blogs at NYT and they hate him already. Man, those lefties are vicious. He’ll just go back to work for mommie.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:36 pmIsn’t his mother Carole Keeton McClellan Rylander Strayhorn? No wonder he’s confused.
May 28th, 2008 at 1:41 pm