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I Knew It All Along [Scott McClellan]
NYT ^ | May 29th, 2008 | Editorial

Posted on 05/29/2008 9:38:42 AM PDT by The_Republican

There are several kinds of Washington memoirs: “I Reveal the Honest Truth,” a kiss-up-and-tell designed to settle scores (nod to honesty optional). “I Was There at the Start,” designed to make the author appear to be the linchpin of history. And, most tedious: “I Knew It Was a Terrible Mistake, but I Didn’t Mention It Until I Got a Book Contract.”

Scott McClellan’s memoir is the latest entry in the latter genre. Among his far-too-late admissions, President Bush’s former spokesman reveals that he knew the war in Iraq was “a serious strategic blunder,” but the White House decided the best course was “to turn away from candor and honesty.”

This is the same Scott McClellan who presumably had a big role in creating the White House’s communications strategy and joined in the “culture of deception” with such zeal that we lost count of the times he ridiculed critics of the war and questioned their patriotism.

Mr. McClellan also knew that the White House’s handling of Hurricane Katrina was a disaster. No doubt he misspoke when he sneeringly accused those who questioned the administration’s serial failures of playing a partisan “blame game.”

The president’s retired mouthpiece now admits that it wasn’t true when he said that Karl Rove and I. Lewis Libby Jr. were not involved in leaking the identity of a C.I.A. operative, Valerie Wilson. But he blames Mr. Rove, Mr. Libby and “possibly” Vice President Dick Cheney for deceiving him. He says they also lied to the president.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: blamegame; bookreview; bush; mcclellan; memoir; schadenfreude; scottmcclellan

1 posted on 05/29/2008 9:38:42 AM PDT by The_Republican
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To: The_Republican

NYT: “Where was this cockroach when we needed him?”


2 posted on 05/29/2008 9:41:01 AM PDT by Sender (Never lose your ignorance; you can never regain it!)
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To: The_Republican

Does Scott McClellan need money? Is that why he wrote the book?


3 posted on 05/29/2008 9:41:49 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: The_Republican

I’m hoping to write a book about how I thought it was a mistake for Scott McClellan to write this book.


4 posted on 05/29/2008 9:42:16 AM PDT by Question Liberal Authority (DRILL HERE. DRILL NOW. PAY LESS!)
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To: The_Republican
I Knew It All Along [Scott McClellan]

Payback payday: Hell hath no fury like a spokesman scorned.

5 posted on 05/29/2008 9:43:11 AM PDT by snarks_when_bored
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To: Question Liberal Authority
I’m hoping to write a book about how I thought it was a mistake for Scott McClellan to write this book.

You need to disparage President Bush or have a sex scandal to get a best seller these days... Which is it? :)

6 posted on 05/29/2008 9:44:23 AM PDT by John123 (Obama said that he has been in 57 states. I will now light myself on fire...)
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To: The_Republican

We live in such media frenzied times. Everyone doing thier part to get face time and be/feel important. What happened to humility and graciousness under fire? What happened to confidentiality? What happened to morality and respect?
What happened to loyalty and dedication to Country?....WTF happened?


7 posted on 05/29/2008 9:44:32 AM PDT by oust the louse (Terrorists are salivating over a Clinton or Obama White House.)
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To: oust the louse
WTF happened?

One word: LIBERALS

8 posted on 05/29/2008 9:46:51 AM PDT by Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I shall defend to your death my right to say it)
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To: John123
You need to disparage President Bush or have a sex scandal to get a best seller these days... Which is it?

I had sex with President Bush AND he was lousy in bed?
9 posted on 05/29/2008 9:47:55 AM PDT by Question Liberal Authority (DRILL HERE. DRILL NOW. PAY LESS!)
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To: Question Liberal Authority

Michael Brown’s book is coming out after the election. He said that he didn’t want to seem political (Katrina). He’s going to claim that he wanted to airlift people out of La but was over ruled by TSA. He even suggested placing armed marine on board for security.


10 posted on 05/29/2008 9:48:35 AM PDT by Perdogg (Four years of Carter gave us 29 years of Iran; What will Hilabama give us?)
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To: The_Republican
The president’s retired mouthpiece now admits that it wasn’t true when he said that Karl Rove and I. Lewis Libby Jr. were not involved in leaking the identity of a C.I.A. operative,

Pants on fire.

It seems like a lot to ask, for a writer to string truthful sentences together. Is there not one honest writer working for the Times?

11 posted on 05/29/2008 9:49:39 AM PDT by marron
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To: Dilbert San Diego

In my opinion it’s the ultimate chicken-sh*t sell out. While I have never particularly been a big fan of Bush’s compared to somebody like President Reagan, to cash in and stab the person who made you is weak. This guy would have been a nobody without Bush.

To become the darling of the media - coupled with the desire to cash in is just so weak and pathetic. It’s a person who is easily manipulated and lack self assurance and self confidence. He really has no principle or integrity.


12 posted on 05/29/2008 9:50:25 AM PDT by Reagan79 (Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys)
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To: The_Republican

I think McClealan was given a good payday for the rights to his book and the publisher provided a virulent ghost writer suffering from BDS.

I don’t think scott actually wrote the book. I think this DOES demonstrate why he is among if not THE worst press secretary ever.

It is a sad end to his political career.


13 posted on 05/29/2008 9:52:46 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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Comment #14 Removed by Moderator

To: longtermmemmory

“The president’s retired mouthpiece now admits that it wasn’t true when he said that Karl Rove and I. Lewis Libby Jr. were not involved in leaking the identity of a C.I.A. operative, Valerie Wilson..”

Richard Lee Armitage leaked Valerie Palme’s name and no laws were broken. Get over it.

The NYT printed an op ed by her husband that was a lie. Wilson has been exposed as a lying liar.

Data

What I Didn’t Find in Africa,” written by Wilson and published in the New York Times the previous week, on July 6, 2003. In his op-ed, Wilson stated that the George W. Bush administration exaggerated unreliable claims that Iraq intended to purchase uranium yellowcake from Niger to support the administration’s arguments that Iraq was proliferating weapons of mass destruction so as to justify its preemptive war in Iraq.


15 posted on 05/29/2008 10:00:29 AM PDT by y6162
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Comment #16 Removed by Moderator

To: The_Republican
Is anyone else as totally flabbergasted as I am at the weight the risible Valerie Plame case seems to get inside the Beltway and the utter lack of caring it recieves anywhere sane? Even the NY Times seems finally to be getting a little curious about that now that it no longer appears to be impeachment material.

Absolutely nothing happened to this woman or to her husband other than a great deal of enrichment. Nothing. This thing is a non-scandal, a non-issue, and it always was. Contrived. Made up. Woven out of fairy-dust. Inside the Beltway it appears to be regarded as the Bay of Pigs and the Aldrich Ames case rolled into one. Some of those folks really need to step outside that sinkhole for a little fresh air now and then.

Major bleating from a drama queen with a book to sell, IMHO. I think I've given this jackass as much time as I'm going to.

17 posted on 05/29/2008 10:04:31 AM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: All

Truly a Nelson Muntz moment.


18 posted on 05/29/2008 10:05:46 AM PDT by dighton
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To: The_Republican
Mr. McClellan also knew that the White House’s handling of Hurricane Katrina was a disaster. No doubt he misspoke when he sneeringly accused those who questioned the administration’s serial failures of playing a partisan “blame game.”

More pants on fire.

The governor of Louisiana refused to send in the National Guard because it "wasn't safe". Ambulances and relief supply trucks were held up by a cordon surrounding the city because the governor would not allow them to go in because "it wasn't safe". National Guardsmen from neighboring states were mobilized and ready to go but the governor would not allow them in because "it wasn't safe".

The situation didn't get set right until the president federalized it, something he didn't have to do in Texas, Alabama, or Mississippi.

The Navy was in place before the wind stopped blowing, FEMA was in place before the hurricane landed, everything on the federal side was ready to go. The disaster occurred because the governor and mayor were hopelessly incompetent. The president was eventually forced to bypass them. Its not supposed to work like that, and no where else did he have to bypass the local authorities the way he had to do there.

For that matter, no where else was a cordon put around the city to keep the victims locked inside the disaster zone, and the rescuers locked out. Only in Louisiana.

McClelland seems not to have noticed any of that. Bush ought to have fired this guy fifteen minutes into his first news conference.

19 posted on 05/29/2008 10:07:04 AM PDT by marron
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To: Dilbert San Diego

I think it is pretty obvious he used a publisher provided ghost writer given the amount of BDS talking points that have found their way into this hit book.

I think the REAL story is “WHO is the ghost writer?”


20 posted on 05/29/2008 10:07:11 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: Billthedrill

What I don’t get is why was this bimbo nobody considered a threat?

The entire media is critical of war every day for 5 years.

What makes Valerie Plame a threat?

I mean I don’t know who is guilty of what. Yesterday Ari Fleischer and other WH officials threw Scooter Libby under the bus. Said he was indeed guilty.

Let’s assume for a moment he was.

How did he reach the conclusion that Valerie Plame can alter the course of the War? A nobody. Why make her famous and a martyr?

They tried to kill a little fly with a Stinger and did lots of damage to themselves.

My 2 Cents.


21 posted on 05/29/2008 10:08:18 AM PDT by The_Republican (Ovaries of the World Unite! Rush, Laura, Ann, Greta - Time for the Ovulation!)
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To: The_Republican

Bush is on his way out, so why bother?

I see this as the work of the B. H. Obama & Co. machine to eliminate Bush as a McCain fund raiser. Instead, Bush now becomes a DNC fund raiser.


22 posted on 05/29/2008 10:09:23 AM PDT by hsrazorback1 (To get what you had, do what you did.)
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To: The_Republican

What a disgrace this man is.

President Bush and the Bush family let him into their family and circle, they gave him everything he has. They stood by a clearly underperforming man for far longer than should - mostly because of the Presidents great loyalty.

He has betrayed them all for money. May god forgive him for his treachery.

I hope that when he is done counting his dirty money, he will stay awake at night regretting what he has done in selling his soul.

May god also bless President Bush, who has endured one hell of an onslaught from socalled friends and the most hostile media campaigns in history. I know many like to find fault with some of his policies, but he has got it right on many things and hasn’t taken the bait from his opponents.

That is the difference between a quality President (and man), and a snivelling bitter demagogue like B.J. Clinton (amongst others).


23 posted on 05/29/2008 10:19:02 AM PDT by UKrepublican
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To: The_Republican
There are several kinds of Washington memoirs: “I Reveal the Honest Truth,” a kiss-up-and-tell designed to settle scores (nod to honesty optional). “I Was There at the Start,” designed to make the author appear to be the linchpin of history. And, most tedious: “I Knew It Was a Terrible Mistake, but I Didn’t Mention It Until I Got a Book Contract.”...

Left out was the actual category Scottie fell into..."Will accept money if someone wants to write a book with my name on it, no matter what it says."!

24 posted on 05/29/2008 10:22:50 AM PDT by CRBDeuce (an armed society is a polite society)
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To: The_Republican

When even the NYT is sceptical, McClellan’s hope to be the new John Dean is doomed.


25 posted on 05/29/2008 10:22:57 AM PDT by wildbill
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To: oust the louse
What happened to loyalty and dedication to Country?....WTF happened?
Jimmy Carter set the new standard when he allowed the draft dodging scumbags to return from Canada.
He also set a new standard when he refused to respond when our embassy in Tehran was attacked - an act of war.

26 posted on 05/29/2008 10:27:32 AM PDT by oh8eleven (RVN '67-'68)
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To: Question Liberal Authority
I had sex with President Bush AND he was lousy in bed?

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

do you have an agent yet? :)

27 posted on 05/29/2008 10:46:50 AM PDT by John123 (Obama said that he has been in 57 states. I will now light myself on fire...)
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To: The_Republican
On Wednesday's CBS Evening News, Ari Fleischer related that “Scott told me that his editor did 'tweak,' in Scott's word, a lot of the writing, especially in the last few months.”From another FR thread.
28 posted on 05/29/2008 11:09:45 AM PDT by rawhide
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To: hsrazorback1

The left HAS TO KEEP ATTACKING GWBush.

They only have Bush as an issue.

They can’t attack McCain because McCain is a Democrat.

They need a boogy man. Even when they do run against mccain it is only with McCain=GWBush.


29 posted on 05/29/2008 12:17:44 PM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: Dilbert San Diego

imho David Brock at Media Matters FLIPPED Scott with George Soros’ money!!


30 posted on 05/29/2008 1:08:47 PM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion.....The Human Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: Dilbert San Diego

imho David Brock at Media Matters FLIPPED Scott with George Soros’ money!!


31 posted on 05/29/2008 1:09:02 PM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion.....The Human Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: Billthedrill
Is anyone else as totally flabbergasted as I am at the weight the risible Valerie Plame case seems to get inside the Beltway and the utter lack of caring it recieves anywhere sane? Even the NY Times seems finally to be getting a little curious about that now that it no longer appears to be impeachment material.

Some talk show host talks about how a person can take a GRAPEFRUIT and with enough HYPE, foolish people will FLOCK to see it and read about it!!

32 posted on 05/29/2008 1:12:07 PM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion.....The Human Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: oh8eleven

Great Cartoon!


33 posted on 05/29/2008 1:49:18 PM PDT by oust the louse (Terrorists are salivating over a Clinton or Obama White House.)
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To: snarks_when_bored
Payback payday: Hell hath no fury like a spokesman scorned.

Or a media-slut out of the limelight.

34 posted on 05/29/2008 5:17:18 PM PDT by the invisib1e hand (The road to hell is paved with euphemisms.)
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To: The_Republican

35 posted on 05/30/2008 3:09:57 PM PDT by Wolverine (A Concerned Citizen)
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