Scott McClellan is Still a Loser
Scott McClellan was the White House press secretary who always gave stone-faced “answers” to reporters’ questions without ever showing the kind of charisma that marked Ari Fleischer’s and Tony Snow’s tenures. Now he’s revealing in a new book that he was hiding his own doubts about the Bush Administration and that the President’s advisers used every trick they could think of to make the Iraq War happen. It is another insider tale of a White House destined to be remembered as one of the most deceitful and unprofessional ever. All the President’s men (and women) are shocked. CNN gives us a few quotes:
- “Scott, we now know, is disgruntled about his experience at the White House. 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.” (Dana Perino, the current press secretary)
- “Part of the role of being a trusted adviser is to honor that trust. It’s not your place now to go out and criticize the president. What did he really believe when he was serving as press secretary?” (Dan Bartlett, former White House counselor)
- “For 2 1/2 years Scott and I worked shoulder to shoulder at the White House. Scott was my always reliable, solid deputy. Not once did Scott approach me — privately or publicly — to discuss any misgivings he had about the war in Iraq or the manner in which the White House made the case for war. If Scott had such deep misgivings, he should not have accepted the press secretary position as a matter of principle.” (Ari Fleischer, former press secretary)
Karl Rove told FoxNews that Mr. McClellan sounds like a “liberal blogger”. These people feel betrayed, which should give them an idea of how many Americans feel after seven years of this administration. Listening to Mr. Fleischer not even admitting that something was wrong about how the White House made the case for war makes you wonder in what universe he’s living. He’s quit now, he can afford to be honest.
Mr. McClellan also blames the White House press corps for not doing their job properly; they were right but wouldn’t go far enough to expose the administration’s propaganda tricks, he argues. The YouTube clip does on the other hand show an amusing (or sad) occasion where the reporters attacked Mr. McClellan ferociously during the Valerie Plame controversy, so he wasn’t let off the hook too easily all the time. His performance here is truly pathetic.
I’m glad that Mr. McClellan has decided to tell the truth now about his experiences at the White House, but he’s still not a person to be admired. Mr. Fleischer is right about the fact that McClellan never should have become press secretary if he felt this way, and spend hour after hour in front of the press corps telling the reporters “facts” he didn’t believe in. That makes him more than just the robot he was famous for during his years as press secretary – it makes him as deceitful as the administration.
politik usa politics scott mcclellan karl rove tony snow dana perino
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