Publisher Softens McClellan Excerpt, But Doesn't Help Bush

The news of former White House spokesman Scott McClellan's tell-all memoir, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and What's Wrong With Washington, hit the blogosphere full force this week, with a two-paragraph excerpt generating most of the excitement. This publicity play on the part of PublicAffairs Books may have worked too well, however, and the publisher's founder and editor-in-chief, Peter Osnos, is now trying to contain the storm he helped create.

On the PublicAffairs website Monday, McClellan wrote about the Scooter Libby-Valerie Plame scandal, saying in 2003 that while exonerating Libby and Karl Rove, he had "unknowingly passed along false information.” He then goes on to specifically implicate President Bush and Vice President Cheney, saying they, along with White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and Libby and Rove, were involved in the spreading of this false information.

Osnos has told NBC, however, that McClellan isn’t saying that Bush lied and intentionally misled the public. Apparently those remarks were part of an unfinished manuscript, and McClellan is working under an April deadline. According to Osnos, Bush didn’t lie to McClellan; in fact, Bush was himself unaware that the information that he was giving McClellan, mainly that Rove and Libby had nothing to do with the Plame leak, was false.

While Osnos' clarifications may be intended to smooth things over and say that Bush didn’t lie, the unintended consequences are questions regarding who actually has the power in the White House. If Bush was giving false information to McClellan, then he must have been given false information, by Cheney, Rove, Card, or all three. So even if Bush comes out of this safe from investigation, he still ends up looking like a clueless puppet.

—Andre Sternberg

Comments

It's simple.Scott needs money,so he spills his guts in a tell-all book.Bush isn't as stupid as he likes to pretend.He knows what's going on and indeed is up to his eyeballs in it.But they have to spin it that way.It's better to have a president that's a puppet than one that is willfully taking part in these criminal acts.After all,there's his legacy to consider.

Posted by: Devra on 11/22/07 at 11:19 AM Respond

This is all a question of semantics. There's far too much corruption in this particular administration for Bush to simply be cast as "stupid and misinformed." It goes way deeper than that. Sorry, folks. I'm afraid King George is quite transparent and is, very simply, the biggest liar to ever hold public office. Hands down.

Posted by: Deb Della Piana on 11/23/07 at 6:02 PM Respond

Bush is like his voters, foolish. How can anyone really be that stupid, I mean, comeon.........

Posted by: matthew on 05/13/08 at 1:56 AM Respond

Deb: "the biggest liar to ever hold public office"

Yeah...such a liar he even conned Clinton and his gang to lie FOR him--before he even took office! lol

If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program.
- President Bill Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998 Source

We must stop Saddam from ever again jeopardizing the stability and security of his neighbors with weapons of mass destruction.
- Madeline Albright, Feb 1, 1998 Source

He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983.
- Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998 Source

Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process.
- Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998 Source

Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies.
- Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999 Source

Even cancer-boy chimed in! Musta been the tumor talking...

We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction.
- Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002 Source

Posted by: Laughing@Dumb Deb on 05/29/08 at 4:31 PM Respond