Scott McClellan Interview...... <<<crickets>>> Come on guys you can attack him like the rest of the fringe right.

[billvon 3,107]

>There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who
>don’t have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with
>the boss or colleagues . . .

Agreed. Good that he finally got the guts to speak his conscience, but that would have been a much better thing to do years ago when it might have made a difference. As things stand now, all that he did was prove that there really WAS a disinformation campaign that was used to justify the war - and that's something that we knew anyway.

[idrankwhat 0]

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I enjoyed this.

I'm not surprised. He's bashing someone personally and completely ignores the veracity of the actual content of McClellan's analysis.
Thanks for the heads up. I thought that possibly as he got older that Bob would put more emphasis on honesty and less on party loyalty. I guess I was wrong.
I do have one comment though. I don't know that I would call being the Bush White House spokesman a "cushy" job.

[kallend 2,146]

So Dole doesn't actually refute any of McClellan's statements, he just PAs him for his poor timing.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[rushmc 23]

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Bob Dole yesterday sent a scalding email to Scott McClellan, excoriating the former White House spokesman as a "miserable creature" who greedily betrayed his former patron for a fast buck.

Maybe so, but Bush betrayed the country.

this one got a whole gagle of you lefites fired up I see



With all the pants pissing panting going on here ya all may be passing out from hyperventilation


One more time another non-story gets you all wound up

I really really REALLY hope the senate gets him under oath in front of them. I say it will not happen though, cause it will end the orgasms

betrayed the country....

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[rushmc 23]

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I enjoyed this.

I'm not surprised. He's bashing someone personally and completely ignores the veracity of the actual content of McClellan's analysis.
Thanks for the heads up. I thought that possibly as he got older that Bob would put more emphasis on honesty and less on party loyalty. I guess I was wrong.
I do have one comment though. I don't know that I would call being the Bush White House spokesman a "cushy" job.

Content?

You read the book?

....content......

I am going to save some links to this thread but in the end it will most lilely get deleted too

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[mnealtx 0]

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Yup...it was BUSH that outed Plame, all right....

Yup. Armitage, Libby AND Rove. Don't want to forget that part either
Plus you got the added bonus of Cheney saying that he was allowed do it if he wanted to. Of course he lost me with the "executive who isn't part of the executive branch" bit. He's got super-villain powers I guess.

He had a good mentor.... Al "no controlling legal authority" Gore.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[idrankwhat 0]

The gentleman dost emote too much, methinks

[billvon 3,107]

>With all the pants pissing panting . . . .

You may want to tone down on the smileys before you blow a blood vessel from all your forced humor!

[lawrocket 3]

I can see both sides of this. On the one hand, you've got a guy telling a story about his feelings on things and showing integrity. On the other side, you've got a guy whose integrity seems to be something fairly recent.

It is true that he was intimately involved in putting forth the propoganda. He also was probably hired because of his peculiar mastery of the art of vagueness. Nobody could come away from his press conferences without scratching their heads if a provocative question was asked.

Then again, he is also a snitch. See, those who are doing things they probably shouldn't be doing, or in a way that they probably shouldn't be doing things, don't want what they are doing to be known. So McClellan, rather than going forward to prevent the badness, becomes the rat fink in publication, and makes good money off of it.

McClellan isn't the first Press Secretary to write a book like this. George Reedy (LBJ's first Press Secretary) wrote a book called The Twilight of the Presidency in 1970. It didn't specifically criticize LBJ, but LBJ vowed to never speak to Reedy again after it was published because of how honest the book was. McClellan just went a step further - he specifically dissed his old boss.

But in thinking about it, McClelland is more of a Canseco type character - though apparently McClellan wasn't actually involved in the nefarious actions. Unlike Elliot Richardson and William Ruckelshaus, who chose to resign as US Attorney General and Deputy AG, respectively, instead of complying with Nixon's orders to fire Independent Prosecutor Archibald Cox, McClellan did not resign or ask hard questions when a reasonable person would have been suspicious. He forwarded a lie.

It's not like Press Secretaries have not done this in the past. Even the greatest in history have had these problems. I am speaking of Mike McCurry, whom I would rank as the top White House Press Secretary of all time - ahead of Marlin Fitzwater. Ahead of Bill Moyers (google for information on Bill Moyers and the LBJ Administration - some fascinating things)

Ron Ziegler - Nixon's Press Secretary was not indicted. He wasn't part of the coverup because nobody told him about it.

Recall that McCurry said in an interview early in the Lewinsky scandal, "President Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky could end up being a 'very complicated story' that will not be easy to explain to the American people...Maybe there'll be a simple, innocent explanation. I don't think so, because I think we would have offered that up already."

McCurry passed along misleading information during the Lewinsky matter for months due to the lies and hedging passed to him by Clinton and his lawyers. He fought battles against them to get the real truth.

It was McCurry's candid quote above to the Chicago Tribune reporter that, to me, really made me like the guy.

And he offered an explanation for his ignorance on many of the matters relating to Clinton that was pretty good, at his farewell press conference:

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Q Since the framers didn't put it into the Constitution, would you explain, as part of your valedictory, why you felt that you could afford to remain ignorant of something concerning the President, and also afford to refrain from taking questions on it, and do you now regret it?

MR. MCCURRY: Of the millions of pieces of information that I stuffed into this pathetic brain of mine every day, I segmented out on matters related to Monica Lewinsky, questions that would jeopardize the President's attorney-client privilege if I had direct knowledge of actions by the President.

You asked me questions about the President's actions. If I got those answers from him, he would have, in effect, forfeited his attorney-client privilege, and he would have been an open sitting duck for Ken Starr because he have subpoenaed me -- and I wasn't interested in being subpoenaed. He certainly could have subpoenaed the President, saying that there is now no attorney-client privilege that exists because you have vitiated it by talking publicly or authorizing your press spokesman to speak publicly on these matters. And it would have undermined the right that the President of the United States has as any citizen would have to construct a legal defense.

And I am not at all ashamed of that decision. I think it's the right one in the interest of the President, the presidency, and it was my own personal self-interest.

Q How were you able to predict so long ago that the Clinton-Lewinsky relationship would turn out -- could turn out to be very complicated, without a simple, innocent explanation?

MR. MCCURRY: Clairvoyance. (Laughter.)

McCurry, like McClellan, kept himself ignorant on certain matters. At least he had a cognizable explanation. He put forward what he was told to put forward. That was his job. As a Press Secretary, he only knew what he was told (as anybody does). And McCurry did his job.

But, unlike McClellan, McCurry let it be known through inference that he wasn't happy. Also, unlike McClellan, he didn't snitch.

Why was he like Canseco? Because he snitched to make money. Like Canseco, it's likely that what McClellan wrote is the truth.

Is McClellan a hero? Hell no. Is he a villain? Yes - a villain to the villains. He's no Judas - Judas turned stoolie on a pure man.

But McClellan gave some understanding of the truth - something that he was pretty much prohibited from doing while working for the POTUS.

Canseco and McClellan are both snitches. But regarding their substance, they both apparently are telling the truth,


p.s. - read McCurry's farewell here.
http://clinton6.nara.gov/1998/10/1998-10-01-press-briefing-by-mike-mccurry.html

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[JohnnyD 0]

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I think the most interesting point McClellan makes is his constant campaign one. In this, you can find similarities between the GWB and EJC (El Jefe Clintonista)...er...WJC administrations.

Probably a bit off topic, but....
I don't agree with you on much, but I do on this.

[rushmc 23]

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>With all the pants pissing panting . . . .

You may want to tone down on the smileys before you blow a blood vessel from all your forced humor!

right after moveon.org issues the depends for many on this site.


As I stated on the deleted thread. We are here, once again, seeing reactions to the news stories. There is sooooooo much not yet known here yet look at the crazy posts here.

I really hope he is called in front of the senate. It will not happen but I can hope

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[rushmc 23]

the truth? really?

You must have some insite and sources the rest of us do not?

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[billvon 3,107]

>I really hope he is called in front of the senate. It will not happen but I can hope . . .

He might. But if he is, your posts won't contain many smileys. This is from Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL):

=========================
Last night, significant news broke that directly impacts our push for Impeachment Hearings and a possible Inherent Contempt charge for Bush Administration officials such as Karl Rove:

Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has revealed in his upcoming book that:

• Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, and Vice President Cheney lied about their role in revealing the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson – actions easily amounting to obstruction of Justice.

McClellan also admitted that:

• There was a coordinated effort within the Bush Administration to use propaganda to pump up the case for the Iraq war and hide the projected costs of the war from the public.

Scott McClellan must be called to testify under oath before the House Judiciary Committee to tell Congress and the American people everything he knows about this massive effort by the White House to deceive this nation into war.

Last week, a subpoena was issued for Karl Rove to testify before the Judiciary Committee. It appears he will take every legal action to block this subpoena. The truth is that Congress has the right – and obligation – to hold him accountable now - not months or years from now. It is long past time to pass Inherent Contempt and bring Rove, Libby and others before Congress.

We simply cannot ignore these recent developments, nor should we postpone serious inquiry until after the next election.
=================

[rushmc 23]

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>I really hope he is called in front of the senate. It will not happen but I can hope . . .

He might. But if he is, your posts won't contain many smileys. This is from Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL):

=========================
Last night, significant news broke that directly impacts our push for Impeachment Hearings and a possible Inherent Contempt charge for Bush Administration officials such as Karl Rove:

Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has revealed in his upcoming book that:

• Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, and Vice President Cheney lied about their role in revealing the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson – actions easily amounting to obstruction of Justice.

McClellan also admitted that:

• There was a coordinated effort within the Bush Administration to use propaganda to pump up the case for the Iraq war and hide the projected costs of the war from the public.

Scott McClellan must be called to testify under oath before the House Judiciary Committee to tell Congress and the American people everything he knows about this massive effort by the White House to deceive this nation into war.

Last week, a subpoena was issued for Karl Rove to testify before the Judiciary Committee. It appears he will take every legal action to block this subpoena. The truth is that Congress has the right – and obligation – to hold him accountable now - not months or years from now. It is long past time to pass Inherent Contempt and bring Rove, Libby and others before Congress.

We simply cannot ignore these recent developments, nor should we postpone serious inquiry until after the next election.
=================

Something new here?

It is an election year. I for one hope this moves forward. Again, I do not think anything more than what you post here will happen. And by here I mean the verbal crap only.

But the maker of Depends will make a fortune durning all of this however

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[billvon 3,107]

>But the maker of Depends will make a fortune durning all of this however

They will indeed. Rove alone could keep them in business.

[lawrocket 3]

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the truth? really?

You must have some insite and sources the rest of us do not?

Sources? The trial of Scooter Libby provides some insight regarding the Plame affair, right? He passed on false information absolving Rove and Libby. Are you saying that Libby and Rove had nothing to do with it? Seems they did - the Libby trial tended to show that.

He accuses the Bush Administration of lacking candor. Well, no shit, Sherlock! He accuses the Bush Admin of campaigning rather than governing. Well, no shit, Sherlock!

They campaigned for war in Iraq by propganda instead of the truth. Well, no shit, Sherlock! The reason we went there was NOT because of yellowcake.

He laid blame on the press for going soft. Well, no shit, Sherlock. The press themselves didn't want to be seen as unpatriotic in the months and years following 9/11.

The emperor had no clothes. His job was to inform the nation that, in fact, reliable intelligence suggested that he did, in fact, have clothes. McClellan just wasn't man enough to say this stuff back then.

Again - it's why I think McCurry was so great. He was a master of spin, but he alays gave you the accurate inferences.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[kallend 2,146]

Sad thing is that the nation and the Congress learned all about these sorts of abuses 30+ years ago and tried to fix it up post-Nixon so it wouldn't happen again. Then when Bush came along and was just as bad as Nixon in his own way, the Congress just sat on their collective thumbs and rolled over, and the press went right along with it.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[mnealtx 0]

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Sad thing is that the nation and the Congress learned all about these sorts of abuses 30+ years ago and tried to fix it up post-Nixon so it wouldn't happen again.

Then when Clinton came along and was just as bad as Nixon in his own way, the Congress just sat on their collective thumbs and rolled over, and the press went right along with it.

Then when Bush came along and was just as bad as Nixon Clinton in his own way, the Congress just sat on their collective thumbs and rolled over, and the press went right along with it.

Fixed that for ya....Again, cue up the attacks on Freeh by the Clinton camp - same shit, different day....that's what I find so funny, that some think this is anything NEW in the world of politics....

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[jenfly00 0]

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I enjoyed this.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0508/Bob_Dole_unloads_on_McClellan.html


Bob Dole unloads on McClellan


Bob Dole yesterday sent a scalding email to Scott McClellan, excoriating the former White House spokesman as a "miserable creature" who greedily betrayed his former patron for a fast buck.

In an extraordinary message obtained and authenticated by Politico, Dole uses his trademark biting wit to portray McClellan as a classic Washington opportunist.

"There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who don’t have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues," Dole wrote in a message sent yesterday morning. "No, your type soaks up the benefits of power, revels in the limelight for years, then quits, and spurred on by greed, cashes in with a scathing critique."

Michael Marshall, Dole's spokesman and colleague at the Alston Bird law firm, confirms the message came from the former senator and presidential candidate. "Yes, it is authentic," Marshall wrote in an email.

"In my nearly 36 years of public service I've known of a few like you," Dole writes, recounting his years representing Kansas in the House and Senate. "No doubt you will 'clean up' as the liberal anti-Bush press will promote your belated concerns with wild enthusiasm. When the money starts rolling in you should donate it to a worthy cause, something like, 'Biting The Hand That Fed Me.' Another thought is to weasel your way back into the White House if a Democrat is elected. That would provide a good set up for a second book deal in a few years"

Dole assures McClellan that he won't read the book -- "because if all these awful things were happening, and perhaps some may have been, you should have spoken up publicly like a man, or quit your cushy, high profile job"

"That would have taken integrity and courage but then you would have had credibility and your complaints could have been aired objectively," Dole concludes. "You’re a hot ticket now but don’t you, deep down, feel like a total ingrate?"

He signs the email simply: "BOB DOLE"

Notice that nowhere in this statement does he accuse McClellan of lying.

-----------------------
"O brave new world that has such people in it".

[jenfly00 0]

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I enjoyed this.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0508/Bob_Dole_unloads_on_McClellan.html


Bob Dole unloads on McClellan


Bob Dole yesterday sent a scalding email to Scott McClellan, excoriating the former White House spokesman as a "miserable creature" who greedily betrayed his former patron for a fast buck.

In an extraordinary message obtained and authenticated by Politico, Dole uses his trademark biting wit to portray McClellan as a classic Washington opportunist.

"There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who don’t have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues," Dole wrote in a message sent yesterday morning. "No, your type soaks up the benefits of power, revels in the limelight for years, then quits, and spurred on by greed, cashes in with a scathing critique."

Michael Marshall, Dole's spokesman and colleague at the Alston Bird law firm, confirms the message came from the former senator and presidential candidate. "Yes, it is authentic," Marshall wrote in an email.

"In my nearly 36 years of public service I've known of a few like you," Dole writes, recounting his years representing Kansas in the House and Senate. "No doubt you will 'clean up' as the liberal anti-Bush press will promote your belated concerns with wild enthusiasm. When the money starts rolling in you should donate it to a worthy cause, something like, 'Biting The Hand That Fed Me.' Another thought is to weasel your way back into the White House if a Democrat is elected. That would provide a good set up for a second book deal in a few years"

Dole assures McClellan that he won't read the book -- "because if all these awful things were happening, and perhaps some may have been, you should have spoken up publicly like a man, or quit your cushy, high profile job"

"That would have taken integrity and courage but then you would have had credibility and your complaints could have been aired objectively," Dole concludes. "You’re a hot ticket now but don’t you, deep down, feel like a total ingrate?"

He signs the email simply: "BOB DOLE"

Notice that nowhere in this statement does he accuse McClellan of lying ... just being an ingrate.

-----------------------
"O brave new world that has such people in it".

[TheAnvil 0]

Perhaps you missed the digression off topic - typical of SC threads...but then again you know this.

McClellan's interview had a few tired talking points wrt Iraq, Plame, & Katrina and one thing of note - the constant campaign mentality in DC.

Plame - conservatives ask questions, liberals don't answer, liberals crowe about the injustice done to this poor woman, conservatives ask the same questions, liberals again won't answer, liberals crowe about the injustice done to this poor woman...the circle continues.

Katrina - liberals damn GWB for FEMA's piss poor resonse...conservatives agree the response was piss poor and point out that state and local gov't even POORER response exacerbated the federal problem...liberals demand the federal government be held accountable and ignore the state/local fiascos (democrats @ state/local, btw)...conservatives laugh at liberals and point to Florida...liberals damn GWB...repeat ad infinitum

Iraq - dear God. I'm not even starting because the ad infinitum loop is so complex, but I've been to Iraq and feel both parties have enough blame to spread around. I said both. Dem's rarely will.

I think McClellan is playing on timing here and portraying some people who trusted him in a bad light. Some of his accusations might be true - others not. A good point he DOES make and one that is being ignored is the problem with having a constant campaign mentality in DC.

Enjoy your iced tea, Sir Kallend.

Vinny the Anvil
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

[kallend 2,146]

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Sad thing is that the nation and the Congress learned all about these sorts of abuses 30+ years ago and tried to fix it up post-Nixon so it wouldn't happen again.

Then when Clinton came along and was just as bad as Nixon in his own way, the Congress just sat on their collective thumbs and rolled over, and the press went right along with it.

Then when Bush came along and was just as bad as Nixon Clinton in his own way, the Congress just sat on their collective thumbs and rolled over, and the press went right along with it.

Fixed that for ya....Again, cue up the attacks on Freeh by the Clinton camp - same shit, different day....that's what I find so funny, that some think this is anything NEW in the world of politics....

Clinton Did It First - now there's an original response.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[mnealtx 0]

Yeah, sucks when it's pointed out that they're ALL shitbags and not just the Reps, doesn't it.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[kallend 2,146]

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Yeah, sucks when it's claimed as a diversionary tactic that they're ALL shitbags and not just the Reps, doesn't it.

Was that your best shot?

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[mnealtx 0]

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diversionary tactic

Hmmm....a diversionary tactic?

Rather like the tactic of certain college professors who interject comments about politician's lies, or taxes, or the war into threads that have NOTHING to do with it?

You mean that type of diversionary tactic?

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706