Posted on 05/28/2008 4:58:05 PM PDT by Kaslin
The Presidency: We're no longer surprised when a longtime confidant of a president comes out with a tell-all book. It's almost de rigueur. What's sad, however, is when so much of what the book tells is, in fact, false.
Even the title — "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception" — suggests meretricious, tawdry behavior on the part of the White House.
McClellan, recall, was let go in 2006 after working seven years for Bush. He was fired because, to be blunt, he was one of the least effective press aides in recent White House history. In McClellan's defense, it didn't help that he succeeded Ari Fleischer and preceded Tony Snow, two of the best to have ever plied that trade.
One doesn't need to be a fan of President Bush to understand this book is little more than a settling of scores by McClellan, who quite obviously felt abused by the White House.
Nor do you need to support the war on terror to reject this book's central claim — that President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Karl Rove and a host of others — intentionally misled the nation into fighting an "unnecessary" war. It just ain't so.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
>> I own a backhoe and 5 acres....er, I mean if it were legal.
If it were legal (instead of merely just and right :-) ) I was thinking of feeding the remains to animals.
But we could grind the bones up and fertilize your acreage. If it were legal, that is.
Feed him to Mr. Wu's pigs (circa HBO Deadwood series)
If ONLY he was so clever he'd still have the damn JOB!! He's a DOLT....he reminds me of a David Brock....SOMEONE has FLIPPED him!!
UGH. This just makes me sick.
What a total LOSER. He just sold his soul, as far as I’m concerned.
Scott IS the dog crap in your yard.
Hey Wexler—bring it on!
>> Feed him to Mr. Wu’s pigs (circa HBO Deadwood series)
Not being plugged in to the “culture”, I had to google this up and educate myself.
I think you’re on the right track.
The rest is my favorite, and going on Olbermann just takes the cake!
McClellan writes: “History appears poised to confirm what most Americans today have decided — that the decision to invade Iraq was a serious strategic blunder.”
In fact, “history” is poised to do no such thing. Al-Qaida is on the run, and the U.S. is on the cusp of victory in Iraq (for another view of our success in the War on Terror, see “Verbatim,” page A11). Years from now we think Americans will see this as a turning point in history, a time when an American leader stood up to protect Western Civilization following the barbarous attacks of 9/11.
We don’t have space here to refute everything. But one charge in McClellan’s 341-page tome stands out, so we’ll focus on that: The Bush White House conducted a dishonest “political propaganda campaign” to sell the war to the American people.
Start with the obvious: Wasn’t it McClellan’s job to resign in protest if he thought the American people were being misled? If so, this was his own failing, not Bush’s.
Moreover, contrary to the common wisdom, Bush’s rationale for taking out Saddam Hussein was about many things — not just one.
Yes, he expressed concern Saddam would get a nuclear weapon with which to blackmail both his neighbors and the West.
But Bush also wanted to halt the spread of terror, deny a possible haven for al-Qaida, and promote democracy in the Mideast, among other things. As ex-Pentagon official Doug Feith recently noted, Bush delivered 24 major speeches on Iraq from Sept. 2002 to Sept. 2004. In them, he made a wide-ranging, nuanced case for getting rid of Saddam. It wasn’t only about WMD.
Yet, McClellan claims Bush was “shading the truth.” Well, what truth did he shade? WMD? In fact, the CIA assessment of Iraq that Bush used was made during President Clinton’s final year in office. It said that Saddam had a WMD program and, quite possibly, a nuclear weapon. Every major intelligence agency — Britain’s, France’s, Russia’s, Germany’s, Israel’s, even the U.N.’s — agreed.
Yes, as it turns out, some of that intelligence was wrong. Even so, reasons for getting rid of Saddam were too numerous to ignore. In October of 2002, Congress cited no fewer than 23 reasons when it overwhelmingly gave Bush the right to remove Saddam.
Bush was clear from the start, and dead honest: This was about defending our nation from the insane jihadists who had declared war on us from their safe-havens in the Mideast. McClellan, blinded by his anger, can’t see this. The American people someday will.
bump
Wexler is a rung smarter than Maxine Waters!! BRING IT ON!!! Hey Scotty......you will be under oath, but it won’t matter what you say as long as it’s ANTI-BUSH!! Lie with IMPUNITY if you want!
OSNOS, PETER
GREENWICH, CT 06831
PUBLIC AFFAIRS/PUBLISHER
DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE
09/17/2004 2000.00 24991276977
“Wexler is a rung smarter than Maxine Waters!!”
That would make most people suicidal.
Just in time to attempt to derail any action on Iran in the last 6 mos. of the President's term.
The reason that the Repubs are losing at the ballot box is that they cower before the dems like ball-less wimps. If GW had slapped Plame, Wilson, Berger, the NYT and various demonrats in the brig as traitors early on we'd be far better off.
From this link...
Obama's Unique Appeasement Style
Peter Osnos, Obama's former publisher told the Times that Obama's meteoric rise to the pinnacle of politics is due in large part to his gift as a storyteller...
That I can believe....
I was dumbstruck. Going on OLBERMANN? No one -regardless of politics - can take Olbermann as a serious commentator.
I don’t even care at this point whether McClellan is telling the truth or flat out lying. That he would have the gall to publish this while our GI’s are STILL FIGHTING and DYING in Iraq is all I need to know about Scott McClellan. Those of us who have family members who have fought, been injured or died in Iraq could instruct Mr. McClellan about loyalty.
God forgive me, I hate him.
Scotty picked an interesting publisher. Or maybe vice versa.
Deadwood was a really funny and entertaining series. Evertime Al Swearengen (and he swore good), the proprietor of the local watering hole/whorehouse, and his thugs had a body to dispose of, they just threw it over a thug’s shoulder or put it in a cart, and hauled it over to Deadwood’s Chinatown and gave it to Mr. Wu’s pigs.
The series was a howling success and a hoot. Supposed to be a Deadwood movie — don’t know if they’ll ever get around to it.
McClellan always seemed to me like a not quite on board, piss poor spokesman for the administration from the get go.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.