McClellan Tells All

Scott McClellan is the latest in the line of ex-Bush aides to publish a book in the last few years. Although the nature of his book has come as a bit of a shock to many in the Grand Ol' Party, as the once extremely loyal McClellan essentially airs this Presidencies dirty laundry for the world to read in his book, due to shelves Monday, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and What's Wrong with Washington". (click here to purchase.) In response current White House Press Secretary Dana Perino has said,

"For those of us who fully supported him, before, during and after he was press secretary, we are puzzled. It is sad. This is not the Scott we knew."

Yes this is not the Scott that Dana knew.... Not the Scott that would blindly follow orders, even lying to reporters based on false information, or in his own words...

"I had allowed myself to be deceived into unknowingly passing along a falsehood," he wrote. "It would ultimately prove fatal to my ability to serve the president effectively."

And that is all according to this article by CNN. Karl Rove has compared McClellan's book to that of a "left wing blogger". (I'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment or not). And in this Washington Post article, Perino speaks on behalf of the President saying that Bush

"is puzzled, and he doesn't recognize this as the Scott McClellan that he hired and confided in and worked with for so many years," Perino said, adding that Bush was "disappointed that if he had these concerns and these thoughts, he never came to him or anyone else on the staff."

McClelland began working for Bush in 1999 when he was governor of Texas, was his traveling campaign spokesman for the 2000 election, later served as Deputy Press Secretary, and then White House Press Secretary starting in 2003.

Let's give the man a break already! He has had to defend one of the worst Administrations in history, including such catastrophes (both in nature and in the White House) as Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq War.

As per the actual CONTENT of the book the Washington Post reports this...

McClellan says he retains great admiration for Bush but portrays the president as stubborn and isolated. Calling the Iraq war "unnecessary" and a "strategic blunder," McClellan alleges that senior administration officials began a campaign in 2002 to "aggressively sell the war," even as he and other officials insisted that all options were on the table.

He also accuses Rove of misleading him about the leak of a CIA officer's name, and he suggests that Rove and former vice presidential adviser I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby may have improperly met to discuss the case. Perino and other officials sharply criticized that assertion yesterday.

This book can be added to the shelf with other similar publications by ex-White House staff such as "Against All Enemies" and "Your Government Failed You" by former counterterrorism adviser Richard Clarke, as well as
former U.S. administrator in Iraq L. Paul Bremer's "My Year in Iraq". We also can't forget former economic adviser Lawrence B. Lindsey's "What a President Should Know" and former Environmental Protection Agency chief Christine Todd's "It's My Party, Too". So while his old pro-Bush friends may be ostracizing him and not RSVPing to his annual 4th of July BBQ, he can at least find some company amongst these other former White House followers turned authors/whistleblowers extroadinaire.