Bad Press
May 29th, 2008I was shocked to hear about Scott McClellan’s new book criticizing the Bush Administration for its “propaganda” leading up to the war and its general lack of candor. Not because I believe in the Administration’s honesty but because McClellan was, as has been noted, a faithful shill who has been around the President since before he was President. His criticisms about the “permanent campaign” mentality of the White House mean less to me than his other comments because every President since at least Carter has run their White House in such a manner, with Clinton especially receiving criticism for having his pollster ask voters where he should be go on vacation! On the other hand, I do think it is significant to criticize the Administration for putting more emphasis on politics over policy, but John John DiIulio Jr.’s comments on the subject are far more useful: he refers to the Administration as the reign of “the Mayberry Machiavellis.”
Most damaging to history might well be the argument that as one pundit put it: “Iraq was a Hail Mary Pass to Presidential greatness and Middle East stability to be justified in any way possible.” This appears to be a central argument put forth in McClellan’s book and the President is being hammered for it. I’m not sure how much significance I put into this book, as he is not saying anything that has not been said before except he is saying it as the first Texan to break with Bush, but it is interesting to watch him come under attack all the same. I don’t doubt his honesty, however, and I do not believe that anyone should. “Why not come out sooner?” some people ask, and I think the answer to that is obvious. (And no, it is not “because there’s money involved now.” He’ll never find work in the GOP again and he’s lost a lot of his friends with this book. Besides, it takes time to break with a close friend.)