The Sad Case of Scott McClellan

The Merriam-Webster definition of a coward is "one who shows ignoble fear : a basely timid, easily frightened, and easily daunted person". Keep that definition in mind while you read the following - and question why a former Bush Press Secretary waited to air his many grievances against his employer and his policies until long after his tenure, waiting to make those accusations in a paid forum.

The buzz this morning is about the tell-all memoir from former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, who apparently rips into the Bush Administration about Iraq, Katrina, Valerie Plame, and a whole range of other issues. From Fox News:

Politico.com reported late Tuesday McClellan's harsh words include allegations 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 that Bush relied on "propaganda" to sell the war in Iraq.

The former secretary alleges in his book "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception," that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the vice president’s then chief of staff, and Karl Rove, the president’s then senior adviser, "had at best misled" him about their role in the disclosure of former CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity, the Web site reported.

The original Politico article on this is here. The current Press Secretary, Dana Perino, responded to the allegations included in the book a short while ago:

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

That's pretty much the line being taken by everyone who served with Scott in the White House - surprise, astonishment, and sadness. There's something else going on here, as well. Many of those who served with McClellan say that the excerpts don't "sound" like him. Scott was a media and communications 'expert' - and anyone who is in the media professionally has what is known as their "voice" - a style of writing or speaking that is unique unto themselves. Almost to a man (and woman), McClellan's co-workers say that in addition to Scott never bringing up any of the issues he talks about, the book doesn't sound like the man they thought they knew. In fact, it doesn't even sound like the man shortly after he left his position. Was McClellen's book jazzed up a bit with the help of a few editors or ghost writers? I don't know, but since the stories are already out there in the public, that's now almost irrelevant.

In the opinion of many, including myself, Scott McClellen was the worst press secretary we had ever seen. He constantly looked out of place and outclassed by the Washington Press Corps. He did a terrible job of getting the White House's message out - something that Bush has never recovered from. Why was he promoted to Press Secretary after Ari Fleisher resigned? Because of his long-time personal relationship with the President, going back more than a decade in Texas. Yet another situation where Bush was loyal to a fault - only to have it come back and bite him.

The fact that McClellen was a terrible press secretary was pretty much conventional wisdom around Washington, even before this book came out. Perhaps this is McClellen's attempt to get revenge on people he holds responsible for his own shortcomings. But he's also showing himself as a true coward. Anyone who felt this strongly about so many issues that he was dealing with on a day to day basis was required, by the very nature of his job, to voice those concerns. And/or resign. Scott did neither.

A quick word about Scott's theory that he had been "lied to" about Plamaquidick. Obviously, Scott wasn't paying attention to the case. Scooter Libby and Karl Rove did not, in fact, leak Valerie Plame's name. That came from the Secretary of States' office - Richard Armitage did the leaking, and Colin Powell knew all about it from the very beginning. And even at that, the so-called "leaking" wasn't a crime. Libby was found guilty of lying to a federal grand jury in a show trial put on for the benefit of the Democrats. Don't even get me started on the trial, or the process that led up to it.

Even years after leaving his Press Secretary position, Scott still has a problem getting his facts straight...