On Demand
McClellan' It All
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan's new book does not come out until next Monday, but it's already causing quite a stir. Washington Post staff writer Michael Shear goes through some of the highlights from the memoir.
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Surprise, surprise! And? You know it's sad that this administration got away with--and continues to get away with--the illegal, immoral actions and policies it promotes and follows. If people were REALLY honest and true to themselves they'd have--and would still--get away from these sleazy folk and "tell all" when it counts. Keeping in line with W's own recent kick...if the German people acted sooner, Hitler might not have got so far as he did. (So too Italians and Mussolini.)
I'll read this book, or at least excerpts, but why did McClellan wait so long? His delay gives this an air of "nothing-new-but-let-me-cash-in-on-it".
Richard Clarke had the fortitude to write his expose before the majority of the nation saw this war for the farce it is.
I wonder if he's pulling this stunt because he feels the need to rehabilitate his reputation of having worked in the Bush Administration.
Let's see if Gonzales comes out with a book.
a Gonzales book? egad!
i hope we are planning more than 10 minutes on this.
i'm giddy as a school girl over this.
Of course he's trying to "repair" his reputation. He should be thrown in jail with the rest of them, he participated.
Beware of those who believe in and are inspired by other people, especially GWBush. Oh my god how sick is that!!
I recall a lot of noise in conservative ranks about McClellan and a lot of rejoicing when he was replaced by Tony Snow. However, that doesn't mean he isn't telling the truth.
Too late for the McClellatron 3000 - he worked with the administration and participated in the lies that resulted in the Iraq War. He has blood on his hands. Thousands of dead soldiers, hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis, and trillions of dollars wasted. This did not have to happen. Mr McClellan should send every dime he makes from the book to those poor families in Iraq whose lives he helped destroy.
dear world
this is american version of a truth and reconciliation commission
enjoy the show.
Sounds familiar... using 'disgruntled' to minimize McClellan's criticism is how Team Bush dismissed Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill's criticism
I'm so sick of the buyer's remorse from these guys. The list gets longer, Paul O'Neill, Matthew Dowd etc., etc. None of them spoke up when it would have made a difference (Colin Powell!!). I guess Robert MacNamara provided a model for them. Ugh!
He really shouldn't make money off this. If you feel compelled to read it get together with 10 or more friends, chip in, buy one copy and pass it around; or get it from the library do what you can to not let him make a killing with this.
Taking into account this story, let's update the GWB legacy scoreboard...
Reality - 1,000,001 Legacy - 0*
(0 = unparalleled disaster)
Find it funny that no one "recalls" McClellan in any of these meeting...seems also that these are the same people who can't recall anything during Senate Hearings, ect.
13--Robert, I have a 4-word solution: New York Public Library.
Now we got Dana Dumbbell and she gets away with it too. Duh!
Link the McClellan video or audio please.
I ilke to watch him squirm on the hook. If anyone thought the administration was honest i have a 125 year old bridge to sell you.
if this guy had had any courage he would have busted out some of this info during a white house press conference.
can you picture it?
one minute he is spouting dishonest talking points...and then next he is breaking down and revealing THE BIG LIE to a room of slack jawed reporters.
that would have been sweet.
this is just pathetic....too little too late.
AWM
hey what about bushes Marine Reserves http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90771601
hjs,
Yes! I heard about this. The idea is promising, it's earth-friendly and the fact that some of his other more recent shots at legacy building, visiting and handing out billions to US friendly Eastern European and African countries and, uhhh... oh yeah, ending the israeli-palestinian conflict before the end of the year don't seem to have helped.
To be fair, we should wait to the end of the year to see if he's right about israeli-palestinian thing.
Perhaps the Administration should have hired Jimminey Cricket or Father Flye for the position of: 'Press Secretary'...
Either would have been more competent than Mr.
McClellan... who didn't know what his job was, and in that, didn't do it well...
And in the end; -revealed what an incompetent schmuck he really is by trying to put himself up, by whining about his turn at the podium.
AWM
to be fair i have a better chance of saving the mid east than he does!
So that's McClellan's spin. If all you left wing mental midgets are so sure you have a case against GWB, WHY DON'T YOU BRING IT?!!! Just possibly because you don't have one? Maybe your feeble, uninformed policy disagreements just don't qualify as crimes? Just maybe.
Imagine - eight years without a single bimbo eruption; eight years without a special investigation into ties to various convicted felons. An impeachment, fifty indictments, two dozen convictions, and a slew of pardons of same on the way out the door - now those were the good old days of Bubba, and his sterling white trash legacy.
[[BL Moderator Notes: This comment edited for violating the WNYC posting policy. Please remain civil to one another.]]
hjs,
Yes, but he has a greater chance of BELIEVING that he CAN save the mid east than you do. Considering neither of you actually will, especially by the end of the year, he has the advantage there. His belief in what he says somehow makes it true to himself.
and the butterfly-dragons also. i miss those the most
e north,
Scooter Libby was pardoned before he went to jail. i'm sure the pardon office will be going full speed ahead November 4, 2008.
i'll be happy to let history judge bush the lesser.
After all of the weak liberal's 'name-calling'- the fact remains:
President Bush will be viewed by history as one of America's BEST Presidential Leaders- no less on a par with Harry S. Truman!!
Yes- President Bush will be remembered and revered by future (non-text-ing)generations as truly a Great American President who was able to make tough and unpopular decision whenever they were needed to keep America Strong!
Peace through Strength and Democracy- not 'Democrat' capitulation!
Jesse
just repeating lies doesn't make them true.
hjs,
With that kind of attitude you will never be president
E. North and Jesse Califano:
I am not going to call you names or in any way try to shut you down, but I will offer a list of my own:
Suspension of habeus corpus, an invasion of a sovereign country with reasons given that were either mistaken or dishonestly put forward, political firings of US attorneys, political indictments of elected leaders, the deliberate conflation of K Street and the Capitol, the conflation of a political campaign and the running of federal agencies - I'll run out of space before I run out of items. As flawed as Clinton's administration was, I'll take it any day. That said, I appreciate your presence on this comment page. It gets a little out of balance sometimes.
You WNYC liberal types need a history Lesson-
I recommend Part 2 - of The American Experience documentary on Harry S. Truman
being broadcast currently on PBS.
And then- after viewing that;
simple replace HST, with GWB!
Good luck...
Simple!
google of Jesse Califano comes up with all manner of crazy posts. we'll add this one to the list
As an afterthought; I'm informed that WNYC is sponsoring a 'Singles-Night'- ostensible for listeners of the same ilk (or as you WNYC'er like the euphemism: -of the same 'persuasion') to meet and greet each other- and possibly (oh no!)- 'MARRY'?
Geez- the very next thing that came to mind was:
there goes the purity of the American radio listening gene pool; reminiscent of the sociological study of the Kallikaks and Jukes!! Oh Well...! <-( or, Orwell!)
Hey Jesse,
why don't you join the army? They need good red-blooded boys like you to stop them terrorists right now I hear.
[[BL Moderator Notes: This comment edited for violating the WNYC posting policy. Please be nice to one another.]]
Jesse Califano:
Could you elaborate for me the congruency as you see it between GWB and HST? I'm not getting it and I don't know if I'll catch the PBS program.
Jesse-- Oh yeah, and by "keep(ing) America strong", do you mean economically conscripting the urban and rural poor to fight for multinational oil contracts in sovereign nations overseas, overstretching the capacity of military forces to fight actual terrorists, and trading with Saudis, Russian oligarchs and Chinese Communists in the mean time?
Come on up to the Bronx, your ideas will go over real well. Until then, keeping watch Fox down there in ol' Tampa with your head in the sand.
Ah, so a pair of bush apologists have ventured in while i was at lunch--and not at a leo lopate bagel shop.
e. north, why no legal action? could it be that the justice department still reeks from the slimy residue remaining from ashcroft and gonzalez? remember the rove-inspired firings in the justice dept.? it would take an independent investigation, and i fear that that is not possible in DC.
jesse, like mc, I don't see the correlation between Truman and GW Bush, except that they both have made unpopular decisions. A huge chasm separates the two, though. Namely, S. Korea sought our help and that of the UN. Iraq? I don't remember that, and until I see proof of those weapons of mass deception, er destruction, I will remain convinced that this has been a sick ploy to add to the haliburton-laced pockets of cheney, the bushes, etc. at the expense of over 4,000 American troops and I don't know how many Iraqis.
Welcome to the WNYC board.
And thank you for keeping us from being the WNYC bored.
Here, here David!
There is no reason we can't disagree without being unpleasant to each other. If I have learned anything in the last three to four months it is to not marginalize someone because his/her views are different from mine. I welcome a spirited debate. It makes us question our own positions lest we get smug.
I somewhat enjoy 'Leave(ing) a Comment' in the 'Your Comment' section provided apropos the 'topic' of the moment... -while always being 'civil' and 'brief' in my remarks.
However, and in the spirit of just offering my 'comments'... I never give lessons!
But Jesse, I'm still waiting for the Bush/Truman correlation. It's not a lesson, I'm asking your opinion and am wondering how you came to your conclusions.
Jesse just stopped by to rewrite history. bush the lesser was a loser before 2000 and he'll be a loser after 2008. it will be amusing to see him drift about for the next 25 years. bush by the way is a great personification for USA: drugs, oil, corruption, silver spoon, trust fund, loser.
While civility is always important, let's be clear here: its not really a case of He says/She says or Left/Right and Agree to Disagree. There are lies and there is demonstrable truth. There is advocating and attempting to make America a better place to live, and there is aiding and abetting those in power with propaganda, bullying, and pure nonsense.
Therefore, I could care less about "your" opinions Jesse, as "your" opinions as they are carried out by Bush and his lil' buddies simply help the rich get richer, while everyone else and the Iraqis just end up dead.
In short, you are on the wrong side of history, and I would tell you so to your face.
(2) Too bad Richard Clarke didn't have the fortitude to right a book and tell the American people what a threat bin Laden was, and how Clinton let him off the hook 8 times, when they had his location pinpointed.
It's a good analogy Jesse. Our perception of history is often changed by present day events. The terrorists are licking their chops waiting for Obama or Hillary to be elected. They can't wait for us to elect a patsy that they can push around and intimidate. And thanks to Pelosi and Reid, they'll be armed with nukes courtesy of Iran. It's going to make the seven attack free years look like the good old days.
39 David demands a correlation between Truman and Bush, but offers no supporting evidence for his Bush/Hitler comparrison.
Press secretary with flop sweat resigns, writes a book and stabs his former boss in the back. Does this mean he will be getting a Sunday Morning news show?
Raymond,
I'm waiting for the correlation too, and I did not compare Bush with Hitler. I would not do that. It diminishes the awfulness of Hitler. But I am still waiting....
The Sunday morning show - that's probably a yes.
Oh, well. I have to sign off. Maybe tomorrow.
In his book, Mr. McClellan does not exempt himself from failings — “I fell far short of living up to the kind of public servant I wanted to be” — NYT 5/28/08
---------------------------------------------
Mr. Michael Schear (a Washington Post staff writer-) 'goes through some of the highlights' of Mr. McClellan's forthcoming memoir- and of course, in the interest of journalistic fairness- perhaps tomorrow Mr. Schear can 'go though' some of the lowlights of Mr. McClellan's book full of captivating innuendos and er- insights!
Mr. McClellan will need to make a whole bunch of money fro this 'endeavor' inasmuch as he probably won't be able to get a job ever again owing to his (dare I say:) 'loyalty level'.
On Topic; certainly civil; and almost brief!!
(50) I beg your pardon MC - Robert made the Bush/Hitler comparison.
I am also sick of the phoney mea culpas from Clarke, McClellan, et al. After the Bay of Pigs fiasco guys like Richard Bissell suffered deep emotional trauma and retired in disgrace (which was a shame because they really served their country to the best of their capacity). But now these guys are writing books and doing the talk show circuit. Smiling and laughing all the way to the bank. I'd love to see just one of them put a pistol to their head. Then it would show that at least one person in public office understood that because of his failure, MANY, MANY PEOPLE DIED! But I guess having a sense of honor is a thing of the past.
The more I hear from these guys the more I realize Bush's only fault was surrounding himself with a bunch of ignorant morons, and suck-ups like McClellan and Powell who wouldn't go pulbic with what they knew was the truth. JFK to his credit had guys who would tell him - "Mr. President you're wrong." None of these guys had the guts to do that.
Was Scott invited to the wedding and if so, did he go?
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