All over the conservative blogosphere, people are ripping into former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, who was markedly ineffective in his job, for his new book taking all sorts of nasty shots at President Bush and others in the White House. Those criticisms are valid: It really does show a decided lack of class for McClellan to knife Bush in the back like that when Bush did so much for him, etc.
But there is a point at which one must separate the issue of McClellan’s classiness from that of his truthfulness and the accuracy of his observations and analysis. And here, at very first glance, McClellan actually fares well and does a service for history, because, unfortunately, much of what he writes rings true. I am basing this ONLY on the account in today’s Washington Post, so I reserve the right to revise and extend these remarks, but every one of the following parts of the Post summation of McClellan’s book confirms very much of what seem to be highly justifiable criticisms of the president. To wit: “He describes Bush as demonstrating a ‘lack of inquisitiveness.'”
“Bush is depicted as an out-of-touch leader, operating in a political bubble, who has stubbornly refused to admit mistakes. McClellan defends the president’s intellect…but casts him as unwilling or unable to be reflective about his job. ‘A more self-confident executive would be more willing to acknowledge failure, to trust people’s ability to forgive, those who seek redemption for mistakes and show a readiness to change.'”
“‘…never explaining, never apologizing, never retreating. Unfortunately, that strategy also had less justifiable repercussions: never reflecting, never reconsidering, never compromising.'”
“He says the White House’s reaction to Katrina was more than just a public relations disaster, calling it ‘a failure of imagination and initiative’ and the result of an administration that ‘let events control us.'”
I repeat, every one of these observations, both within the direct quotes from McClellan’s book and the portions summed up and paraphrased by the Post, absolutely match observations that I and many others have made for the past eight years.
After all, a backstabbing SOB can be right even in the course of his backstabbing.
