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A Matter of Loyalty
Townhall.com ^ | May 29, 2008 | Michael Reagan

Posted on 05/29/2008 3:43:25 AM PDT by Kaslin

t's amazing what some people will do for 30 pieces of silver.

Scott McClellan was given the signal honor of being the spokesman for the president of the United States, a distinction few Americans have ever achieved. Being the spokesman for the world's most powerful political figure is no small thing, and I'm sure that the men and women who have held the post view their service as an honor more given that deserved.

It doesn't appear as if McClellan sees it that way. He is not the first press secretary to be forced out of the job, and he won't be the last. But he'll be the first to sink his teeth into the hand that gave him the job in the first place.

It is a tough job, especially when the spokesman of a president the liberal media despises wears a large bull's eye on his chest. It's an even tougher job when the person who holds the job is clearly not up to it, as was the case with McClellan. He was an easy target for the nastier members of the largely hostile White House Press corps.

His lack of competence is what cost him the job, and it is now obvious that he left the White House burning with resentment over his forced departure. The fact that he had held the job as long as he did obviously created no sense of gratitude for his having been given the post to begin with.

His act of vengeance has delighted the media who once excoriated him. Their onetime foe is now their hero, an ally in their never-ending campaign to portray George Bush, a good and decent man, as a bumbling fool if not an outright criminal.

They greet his alleged revelations with none of the skepticism with which they once treated his pronouncements from the White House press room podium, accepting, for example, his attempt to lay the blame for what Richard Armitage did in leaking the name of Valerie Plame on his old friend and Texas colleague, Karl Rove, and Scooter Libby.

They let out a great cheer when he joins the chorus of Democrats and their media henchmen attributing the Iraq war to sleazy, dishonest and hugely deceptive White House maneuvering when the real facts show otherwise

As David Horowitz and his co-author Ben Johnson write in "Party of Defeat," George Bush acted solely to enforce a United Nations ultimatum blatantly ignored by Saddam Hussein.

Wrote the authors: "The United States went to war because it had concluded that Saddam Hussein could not be trusted to observe the arms agreement embedded in the UN resolutions. Twelve years of defiance and obstruction leading up to, and including the December 7 deadline had established that fact. Even then, the Bush administration was prepared to forego war if Saddam and his sons left the country and went into exile, thus allowing the terms of the UN resolutions to be met."

Scott McClellan surely knew this but chose to ignore it, preferring to give ammunition to those who want to advance a false view of the conflict's genesis.

In the end, it's all about money. An honest book about his experiences wouldn't sell. If he wanted to sell his book, it had to dish up dirt, even when there wasn't any underfoot.

When I wrote my first book, "On the Outside Looking in," I had publishers waving huge royalties in my face if I would only sling mud at my father. They couldn't understand that there was simply no mud in his life and work, and I wasn't willing to create any for them for the sake of big bucks.

Too bad Scott McClellan, blinded by the glitter of those 30 pieces of sliver, didn't see it that way.


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 05/29/2008 3:43:27 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

REMINDER... KEEP TONY SNOW IN YOUR PRAYERS.


2 posted on 05/29/2008 3:51:01 AM PDT by FES0844 (FES0844)
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To: Kaslin

The most despicable thing about this is that McClellan is trying to cash in on BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome) in the msm right before the election, while this President still has seven months to go in his term.
If he had a shred of concern for the U.S., he could have waited until Feb. to release this book, but of course, sales wouldn’t have been as good.
I certainly hope he is treated as a pariah in Texas, where real men have a code of honor.


3 posted on 05/29/2008 3:55:43 AM PDT by kittymyrib
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To: kittymyrib

His book needs to be a best seller. It will be the only source of income for the rest of his life. No one in his or her right mind will ever hire him (not even a liberal).


4 posted on 05/29/2008 4:05:32 AM PDT by myuhaul
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To: Kaslin
To me, this is a reminder of the difference between the last two administrations. Even seven-plus years later, practically nobody's come out of the woodwork from the Clinton administration for fear of Arkancide.

GWB would never even think of doing anything remotely like that.

5 posted on 05/29/2008 4:08:26 AM PDT by hunter112 (The 'straight talk express' gets the straight finger express from me.)
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To: kittymyrib
From what I've seen of Scott's mother when she was running for Texas Governor, she is a total nut. Maybe the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree....
6 posted on 05/29/2008 4:13:35 AM PDT by Coldwater Creek
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To: kittymyrib

I call it the “Mommy Dearest” syndrome that has so infected this society. Knocking people of honor off of pedestals has become a national past time, and a spectator sport. While no one deserves to be placed on a pedestal, by engaging in this sort of behavior only smacks of sour grapes by “cry-baby” McClellan. He was fired, get over it!


7 posted on 05/29/2008 4:17:04 AM PDT by GWMcClintock
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To: myuhaul
His lack of competence is what cost him the job,

Unfortunately not soon enough, as I recall. This clown really hurt Bush.

I note also that the book is now a number one best seller. He had to write it with a liberal slant, since no one but liberals and true political junkies reads these boring Washington insider tell all books.

8 posted on 05/29/2008 4:23:28 AM PDT by Hardastarboard (I have Zero Tolerance for Zero Tolerance policies.)
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To: FES0844

what’s been going on with Tony......he’s been hospitalized at least once and cancelled two appearances in the last few weeks that I know of....


9 posted on 05/29/2008 4:40:46 AM PDT by cherry
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To: Coldwater Creek
From what I've seen of Scott's mother when she was running for Texas Governor, she is a total nut. Maybe the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree....

That is a total insult to all


10 posted on 05/29/2008 5:33:05 AM PDT by Arrowhead1952 (Typical white person, bitter, religious, gun owner, who will "Just say No to BO (or HRC).")
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To: Kaslin

McClellan has every characteristic of a dog except loyalty.


11 posted on 05/29/2008 5:37:42 AM PDT by wildbill
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To: Kaslin

I hope that paper route on Main Street is still available.


12 posted on 05/29/2008 5:45:21 AM PDT by Inwoodian
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To: wildbill
Loyalty? If McClellan is a liar, the documentation has to occur, in public and via the media. I am reading a lot of “harrumphing” on many conservative sites. If this man is a dissembler, then provide exposure. His motivations are a matter of guessing. Guessing wastes time, and takes up space.
13 posted on 05/29/2008 6:06:49 AM PDT by airforceF4
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To: airforceF4

I am unclear as to when Scott became a spokesman but I believe it was well after the invasion had occurred. Was he on staff prior to the invasion? Would he have been involved in any material way if he was a junior staff member? If not how would he know much of anything?


14 posted on 05/29/2008 6:38:56 AM PDT by learner
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To: airforceF4

The book isn’t actually released yet, I don’t think. And I haven’t even seen many excerpts.

Everything we’ve been reading have been things other people have said about the book.

I did see a couple of direct refutations of points from someone who had an advance copy of the book.

Once the book is in general circulation (for me, that means I can get it from the library, because I’m not paying a penny for it), we will desconstruct it.

My guess though is that what he has written will be a lot less inflamatory than what is being SAID about what he has written.

For example, I bet the information on Rove and Libby won’t say they talked about the case, it will have all the correct weasel words to note that they were MEETING at the time, and that they COULD have spoken, and that Scott thinks it was wrong for them to leave that IMPRESSION.

If he actually lied, I’ll be a bit surprised.


15 posted on 05/29/2008 10:33:12 AM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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