The Politico has got a sneak peak at Scott McClellan's new book. And boy, is it a doozie.
—McClellan charges that Bush relied on “propaganda” to sell the war.
—He says the White House press corps went too easy on the administration.
—He admits that some of his own assertions from the briefing room podium turned out to be “badly misguided.”
—The longtime Bush loyalist also suggests that two top aides held a secret West Wing meeting to get their story straight about the CIA leak case at a time when federal prosecutors were after them – and McClellan was continuing to defend them despite mounting evidence they had not given him the full facts.
—McClellan asserts that the aides — Karl Rove, the president’s senior adviser, and Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the vice president’s chief of staff – “had at best misled” him about their role in the disclosure of former CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity.
Wow.
Read the whole article.
But this is the passage that seems to me the most relevant going forward:
McClellan repeatedly embraces the rhetoric of Bush's liberal critics, and even charges: “If anything, the national press corps was probably TOO deferential to the White House and to the administration in regard to the most important decision facing the nation during my years in Washington, the choice over whether to go to war in Iraq.
“The collapse of the administration’s rationales for war, which became apparent months after our invasion, should never have come as such a surprise. ... In this case, the ‘liberal media’ didn’t live up to its reputation. If it had, the country would have been better served.”
Say it loud and say it proud, the myth of the "liberal media" is dead.
And this is what we are up against in this election.
Sure, the media will tell us they are for Barack Obama while they simultaneously manufacture the narratives to help their BBQ buddy John McCain.
Who knew that Bush's former press secretary would be confirming what we all know?
Kudos to Scott McClellan.
UPDATE: First, thanks for putting this on the rec list.
I would like to respond to many of you in the comments who take exception to giving Scott McClellan any praise or kudos.
As bad as his tenure as Press Secretary was and as craven he may be for cashing in at this late stage, I still think he deserves a modicum of praise.
Why?
Had he not been hired by Bush, someone just as derelict would have been chosen instead. Though he was an expendable member of the Bush Administration, he and his words will be invaluable to us in this campaign to debunk the still-pervasive myth of the liberal media.
Already we see the media disingenuously wringing its hands about whether it is too easy on Obama (as they direct feeding frenzy after feeding frenzy against him, of course). It's highly reminscent of the 2000 election when the media wrung its hands about whether they were telling too many "Bush is dumb" jokes while they structured narratives against Al Gore day after day. The media is that cynical, folks. When they tell you they are in the tank for the Democrat, it usually means they are trying to help the Republican.
But now we have a Republican to cite in making our case. Hell, he's even going on Olbermann next week. That makes me happy enough to give him my kudos, all the bad things he has done in the past notwithstanding.