[emersonbiggins]

Well, someone's off the White House Christmas card list...

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'E')x-Bush Aide McClellan Says President Misled Public on Iraq

By Edwin Chen and Holly Rosenkrantz

May 28 (Bloomberg) -- Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan says in a memoir that President George W. Bush manipulated public opinion through a ``political propaganda campaign'' to justify going to war in Iraq.

McClellan, a longtime Bush loyalist from his Texas days, also writes that the news media largely failed to critically examine the administration's justifications for invading Iraq, according to an advanced copy of the book obtained by Bloomberg News. The book is scheduled to be sold in bookstores next week.

The memoir, ``What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception,'' adds to the record of critical examinations of Bush and his administration as the president nears the end of his term in office. It also will bolster Democratic and Republican opponents of the war.

The contents of the memoir were described to Bush and he isn't expected to comment, administration spokeswoman Dana Perino said today.

``Scott, we now know, is disgruntled about his experience at the White House,'' Perino said. ``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.''

McClellan didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
...

[gampy]

Without having read his book, all I can think is that he is cashing in on his White House gig.

I suppose he could have stated why he resigned in his resignation letter (and CC'ed it to the Washington Post), instead of hunting for a book deal. His insights, and shock at the behavior of senior White House staff would have carried much more weight if he had said something while still on the job.

I don't think he is saying anything new here, most folks see through the B.S. that the administration involves itself in.

I can only imagine that most people who aspire to work for a president are thinking about how they can parlay it into a nest egg.

[cowuvula]

It is interesting how they never write about things the people don't already know about.

This may even be a WH setup saying, SEE, this is as bad as it gets.
But all this was in the news already.

[Bman4k1]

Richard Clarke's Against All Enmies wasn't any different. I read that before I read Crossing the Rubicon, then I read a bunch of other books after that. The book was basically a bad synopsis of what happened. The mainstream made it sound like some huge critical book, but the WH reveiwed the book and edited it before it even came out. So most of these books are a bunch of bull.

[Plantagenet]

Its disgraceful how Bush brainwashed all those democrats in the Senate into voting to authorize the Iraq war.

Even more disgraceful is the sad fact that the democrats continue to vote more and more money for the war, even after they control Congress and even after all the facts have come out.

Someone should send Nancy Pelosi and all of the Senate dems a copy of McClellan's book----maybe they'll finally keep their 2006 campaign promise and end the war at last.

[ALBY]

meh

the book says more about scott than it does about bush.

he knew all this was going on, did it anyway, and now he's writing the tattletale book to pay the bills.

obviously, a man of conviction.

for what its worth, i measure a man by one single quality: loyalty. it is the defining character trait of a man.

all these stupid books by ex administration hacks make me want to puke.

[Denny]

I am wondering if he had some kind of true epiphany. His former boss and those who knew him well say the words in the book do not remind them of the Scott they knew.

But, maybe that Scott was a phony, and he came to realize it upon reflection. And, came to see that he was used. Some fo the press claim that the Karl Rove affair really got him down, when he came to see that Rove point blank lied to him. Let's face it, aren't the political spokespeople basically hired shills? How many of them really care about what is true, as opposed to what gets them through the day and keeps them in good with the boss?

So, maybe its true, maybe Scott is a changed man. And, maybe that is for the better.

[BigTex]

McClellan is just a sad clown who wandered away from the circus and now has a round and hungry belly he needs to fill.

I used to enjoy watching him at press conferences just getting pummeled by the press because he was saying things that just didn't make any sense day after day after day.

I've never seen a more frightened looking, off-balance and poorly informed White House press secretary than McClellan. That job needs someone cool who can think on their feet and entertain the press a little too.

Maybe he can get a job playing one of the PC's buddies in those Macintosh commercials.

[mos6507]

He's still going straight to hell for being the mouth of Sauron.

[PrairieMule]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BigTex', '
')
Maybe he can get a job playing one of the PC's buddies in those Macintosh commercials.

[seldom_seen]

Are there really douche bags out there that would buy this book?

How many doods have bailed from the "Bush Administration" to write their "tell all" books. This guy's wasting away at a dead horse.

I work for bush, I quit, he bad, me good. fck what a joke.