Free Republic

Q. How can Scott McClellan tell he's pushed his turncoat trip a tad too far? A. When even leading media liberals suggest his reputation's in tatters. Say what you will, but I like Joan Walsh, editor of Salon.com. Liberal? No doubt. But also a grownup. On this evening's Hardball, Walsh had the integrity to acknowledge that by accusing Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly of regurgitating Bush White House talking points, McClellan was looking "worse for wear." View video here.

SCOTT McClellan has learned the profound wisdom of the old Groucho Marx line about not wanting to belong to any club that would have him. The former press secretary has written a scathing memoir about his time in the Bush administration - but nothing he says in his book, dully titled (appropriately enough) "What Happened," is as damning as the fact that he spent nearly three years as White House press secretary. Likable, but maladroit and plodding, he was the perfect spokesman for the administration of Harriet Miers, Michael Brown and Al Gonzales. For anyone who doubted that President Bush...

An examination of published reports reveals that Scott McClellan's kiss-and-smell betrayal of George W. Bush is a far cry from the book McClellan started out to write and was shaped into an offensive tome by a publisher with close ties to George Soros. To understand how McClellan's literary knife-in-the-back evolved, one has to know something about the book industry. Unlike fiction, a non-fiction book usually hasn't been written before it's sold to a publisher. The author normally puts together an outline and/or synopsis detailing what the book will be about and how it will be structured, and writes 1-3 sample...