Bob Dole unloads on McClellan

The Politico ^ | May 30, 2008 | Jonathan Martin

[Dan Nunn]

Bob Dole unloads on McClellan

Bob Dole yesterday sent a scalding email to Scott McClellan, excoriating the former White House spokesman as a "miserable creature" who greedily betrayed his former patron for a fast buck.

In an extraordinary message obtained and authenticated by Politico, Dole uses his trademark biting wit to portray McClellan as a classic Washington opportunist.

"There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who don’t have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues," Dole wrote in a message sent yesterday morning. "No, your type soaks up the benefits of power, revels in the limelight for years, then quits, and spurred on by greed, cashes in with a scathing critique."

Michael Marshall, Dole's spokesman and colleague at the Alston Bird law firm, confirms the message came from the former senator and presidential candidate. "Yes, it is authentic," Marshall wrote in an email.

"In my nearly 36 years of public service I've known of a few like you," Dole writes, recounting his years representing Kansas in the House and Senate. "No doubt you will 'clean up' as the liberal anti-Bush press will promote your belated concerns with wild enthusiasm. When the money starts rolling in you should donate it to a worthy cause, something like, 'Biting The Hand That Fed Me.' Another thought is to weasel your way back into the White House if a Democrat is elected. That would provide a good set up for a second book deal in a few years"

Dole assures McClellan that he won't read the book -- "because if all these awful things were happening, and perhaps some may have been, you should have spoken up publicly like a man, or quit your cushy, high profile job"

"That would have taken integrity and courage but then you would have had credibility and your complaints could have been aired objectively," Dole concludes. "You’re a hot ticket now but don’t you, deep down, feel like a total ingrate?"

He signs the email simply: "BOB DOLE"

[MNJohnnie]

Oh come on. At least be honest with yourself. Every single accusation made at Bush for the last 8 years has immediately been accepted by the BDS crowd here on FR as gospel truth. For the BDS crowd to complain about “hearsay” responses in others is the height of hypocrisy. They were more then willing to gleefully accept hearsay when it validate their emotion based opinions.

[Enchante]

"every public servant’s loyalty must never be to a person, but must always be to the people he is serving: the good citizens of the United States."

Unfortunately, McClellan is a grossly incompetent public servant. He is terribly ignorant of what he attempts to discuss, especially wrt Iraq, the WOT, Plamegate, etc. He is merely spouting the tired cliches and talking points of the rabid left. He does not provide any useful new information or analysis (in what we have seen so far) -- just a rehash of DailyKosFreaks talking points.

[montag813]

Of course, Andy Card and Pres. Bush and others must bear responsibility for ever employing a weasel like SM in the first place.

It was insane to hire McClellan if only because of his left-wing mother and backstabbing wackjob father, who worked for LBJ in 1964 and then later wrote a book accusing LBJ or having JFK killed in some bizarre scheme to increase oil industry profits. So you see the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Scott McClellan's father is a scumbag, as is he.

[mo]

“I have always suspected that maybe it was a Bob Dole clone who ran, and not the real man....

There are certain things presidential candidates are allowed to do and say....depending upon where their money originates...Bob Dole tanked Newt Gingriches’ term limits in 1995. IMHO, the presidential nomination was his reward.

[okie01]

Actually, Bob Dole was always a pretty good guy—except when he ran for president.

Dole vs Clinton could well be a preview of McCain vs Obama.

Except that Clinton had the advantage of incumbency. But Dole had the advantage of actually being a conservative...

[rod1]

Brilliant by Senator Dole. He only forgot to add that if a McClellan-type had even thought about pulling this kind of stunt on the Clintons, he would be visiting one of the D.C. area’s finer parks about now.

[linn37]

Bob Dole you rock!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

He’d be under some nicely mowed turf.

[Travis McGee]

B!tch slapped!

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Bravo Sen. Dole!

[Earthdweller]

Thank you Senator Dole. The little weasel had it coming. I sure hope he spends his book money wisely. There may not be many people who want to employ a traitor even among the dems.

[adorno]

Bob Dole outranks me, but I had similar comments that I posted in another forum:

He was always kind of slow and late to everything. He always seemed to be so clueless in the press briefings which he held. That’s why I and most other people in another forum (Free Republic) which I frequent, were always asking how he could’ve been selected to be the press secretary to the president. We even went to the point of suggesting that he resign or be fired. I and a few others even went as far as suggesting Tony Snow to replace McClellan. A few weeks later, we got our wish. And McClellan had been replaced with our preferred choice. Even the lady performing in the job right now is many times better at representing the president and doing battle against the press which seems to be always on the attack. McClellan seemed to always be allowing the press to run the briefings and it was like he wasn’t even there to represent the administration. He seemed very dull and oftentimes, clueless about what was happening around him. It’s a good thing that Bush and the administration didn’t give him more material that he could use now to attack them.

And yes, McClellan is a very disgruntled, and bitter and angry person. He is a weasel. He is the lowest form of life in existence. He is scum.

He was very unceremoniously replaced and he felt so embarrassed by the whole episode that he felt that he had to get even. And that’s the reason for the book and the attacks on the Bush administration. He is the proverbial angry postal worker, but without the bullets.

McClellan has now become a “useful idiot” and the left-leaning press is having a field day with his book and his attacks. Eventually it will come out that he sold out and compromised any integrity he ever had for some big bucks from his book sales. It was expected that whatever knowledge he had was not going to sell very many books. But, in order to make the book interesting and sell more books and make more money, he had to sell out his “friends”. No matter how angry one gets, you don’t sell out for big money and become a traitor to the president and former friends. McClellan has just performed the highest betrayal of trust conceivable. He’ll never be trusted again in any position of responsibility. There are suggestions that he was bought by the left-leaning publisher of his book with the aid of Soros. We’ll see if that’s the case, eventually.



Nobody, not even the democrats, should ever gloat about somebody betraying his former friends and especially his former boss who was also his friend for a long time. Anybody that can betray his friends like that could just as easily turn right around and betray his "new friends".

[adorno]

So, Dole is making his remarks based on heresay.

Most people are. They don't have to read the book in order understand what the contents of the book are about.

And why should anybody buy the book and contribute to the sell out by the traitor?

[MozarkDawg]

If McClellan’s book helps the American people better understand the government they have, so that they may have a better one in the future, then he has done the public a service by writing and publishing it.

((snip))) "because if all these awful things were happening, and perhaps some may have been, you should have spoken up publicly like a man, or quit your cushy, high profile job"

"That would have taken integrity and courage but then you would have had credibility and your complaints could have been aired objectively," Dole concludes.

By not doing what I myself say each and every time one of these *tell-alls* gets written (for $$), and as Dole also tells McClellan, it does the American people not one bit of service whatever. If it's going on, if you're there and you have doubt, which McClellan is publicly claiming he gives Bush the benefit of, ergo, then you don't wait years and write a book to sell, you quit your job, remove the stars, etc., and say it then, when something could actually be done about it.

[BigMacGOP]

Bob Dole -—> Class act.

Scott McClellan -—> Ass hat.

[kellynla]

Isn’t it interesting that all these politicians find their spine AFTER they are out office...

Where was this guy for 27 years he was in the U.S. Senate?
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

[Admin Moderator]

Bye-bye, troll boy.

[griswold3]

If you find it pass it on.
I’d like for Scott to produce evidence to his claims, not just reinforce the Talking Points Memo of the BDS crowd.

[A_perfect_lady]

That Viagra seems to be working.

Viagra? If he wrote that with anything other than his hands, I am twice as impressed.

[isrul]

I just heard that Bush says that he forgives McClellan.