Infinite Monkeys
I covered the White House in 2004 and half of 2005 for The Washington Times. So I know Scott McClellan, or at least knew him, on a professional level. He called me by name at many a briefing in the West Wing, a "gaggle" in the press room or on Air Force One, and we've chatted on the sidelines watching Bush at his campaign events in 2004.
I liked him. He was a pretty regular guy. I was happy to hear that his wife was pregnant, that they were buying a house in Arlington (where I lived). It was, frankly, a reminder that these people who are on call -- literally -- 24/7 try mightily to fit a regular life into their very demanding jobs. I still don't know how they do it.
That all said, it was as obvious to me -- working for a "friendly" newspaper in Washington -- as it was to everyone in the White House Press Corps, that Scott was in way over his head as press secretary to the president of the United States. You could never get a straight answer out of the guy on the most basic stuff. Even non-threatening questions, not intended to "trap" him or the White House in an inconsistency, but to simply give the American people some clear talk on the issues, was a fool's errand. Many were the days where I'd leave the press room frustrated that Scott wouldn't directly address the gist of my questions, but would just slip into the company line -- no matter how non-responsive it was.
In short, he was the most incompetent McClellan to hit Washington, D.C., since the Civil War. And at a time of war, Scott's deer-in-the-headlights routine on national television every day did much to harm the war effort. But by his telling in his zooming-up-Amazon memoir, he was simply mouthing war "propaganda." Not doing the important work of explaining to the country the need to fight terrorists overseas. No. Mouthing propaganda.
That McClellan doesn't know the difference only proves his incompetence. Was Washington mouthing "war propaganda" when he was trying to convince his harried troops, a skeptical public and a wavering Continental Congress that a war that looked lost and foolish for almost the entire duration could be won?
Was Lincoln mouthing "war propaganda" when he was trying to continue a war that was mismanaged on the ground worse than the Iraq War by, I dunno, a factor of 1,000? No. They were explaining the need to do a hard, bloody, imperfect, tragic but necessary thing. Scott, obviously, was not up to the job. Or, as it now seems, felt it beneath him.
And that is contemptible. Worse, it is a betrayal -- and not just to his boss, but to his country's war effort, where morale and public perception is vital. It is no secret that the Bush administration's most glaring weakness has been its inability to communicate why we're fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. And Scott McClellan, by far, was the most incompetent. And now he has the gall to pass the blame to others. It's like the guy who went 0-12 at bat in the World Series blaming the loss on a guy who drove in 12 runs, but struck out once with a couple of guys on base. Pathetic.
It's especially pathetic and disgraceful when you consider that McClellan has been a Bush insider since 1990 -- which encompasses most of his adult life. He owes his whole career -- the perks, the nice salaries, the public spotlight -- to George W. Bush. As you see from the photo above, Bush went to the trouble to arrange a Rose Garden send off in April 2006 -- the kind of event that becomes a source of family pride that spans generations. Bush must be thinking: Thanks for nothing, jerk. And maybe the president would like to take back these words from that send-off:
One of these days he and I are going to be rocking on chairs in Texas, talking about the good old days and his time as the Press Secretary. And I can assure you I will feel the same way then that I feel now, that I can say to Scott, job well done.
But Bush, really, has only himself to blame. He has long valued loyalty over competence. If you're on the team, and you earn his trust, you can do no wrong. That myopic mindset of Bush's was behind his infamous "Heck of a job, Brownie" line after Katrina. And that mindset kept a mediocrity in place as press secretary longer than just about any other in modern history.
As a coda to this opera, I heard on the radio today a quote from a McClellan confidant -- though I haven't bothered to scan the net for corroboration -- that Scott is blaming the rough, accusatory language on his book editors. He apparently claims that the editor, looking for more juice, inserted the kind of language that has Washington in such a twitter.
Typical. To the end, McClellan is passing the buck. I used to be a lonely defender of Scott. No more. What a weasel.
For a humorous take on McClellan's give-away of the White House secret handshakes, check out Jon's Top 10 list of "Surprising Revelations in Scott McClellan's 'Tell-All' Book."
Posted by Dr. Zaius at May 28, 2008 11:20 PM | TrackBack