TYT: In Defense Of Scott McClellan

[ihavenobias]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/in-defense-of-scott-mccle_b_104111.html
In Defense Of Scott McClellan
By Cenk Uygur

Right now Scott McClellan has no friends, and that's a shame. His former friends on the Republican side are trying to bury him. The rest of us are still skeptical of him and what he did when he was still in the Bush White House http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/scotty-come-lately_b_103983.html. And the press is trying to be tough on him specifically because he called them out for not being tough enough when he was press secretary.

So, we have this ironic situation that in a time when McClellan is finally being honest, he has no defenders. I'm afraid this is going to lead the public to the false impression that the world is united in thinking he is a calculating opportunist who is trying to make a buck by turning on his friends. When, in fact, the reality is that the man finally grew a conscience.

Throughout the book and his interviews, McClellan talks about how he grew uneasy throughout his time with Bush and finally his conscience got the better of him. I believe him. Why?

Would it have been better if he dramatically stepped to the podium one day while he was still White House press secretary and said, "We have been doing an organized propaganda campaign to deceive the American people and I resign!"? Yes, that would have been better. But 99 out of a 100 times that's not the way the real world works. You get caught up in whatever subculture you're in and it's hard to untangle yourself.

Have you ever been in a situation where you wound up doing something you were uncomfortable with because of societal pressure and then later wondered -- what the hell was I doing? I don't know about you, but I certainly have.

Now, this was no little thing. This was a gigantic mistake that eventually costs thousands of lives. And yes, I would have loved if he admitted his mistakes and pointed out the lies of the Bush administration without the publicity surrounding a book. Yes, I wish he had the courage to recognize this earlier (as some like Richard Clarke and Paul O'Neill did -- but remember, they too were pilloried anyway).

But right now, the bottom line is that McClellan is clearly telling the truth. Everything he says matches with what has been reported and suspected before. It is an amazing insider look at the deception that went on in the Bush White House. Even his explanation of how Bush convinces himself of his own lies rings so true. His details on how Cheney and Rumsfeld ran the White House while Condoleezza Rice bowed her head matches every report we have from within the administration.

And remember, he didn't have to be this harsh to sell books. A couple of juicy details would have done the job. This was personal. Not as in a personal attack against Bush and the others in the administration. More like an attempt at personal redemption.

As McClellan says throughout the book, he liked Bush and looked up to him, so he wanted to believe what he was saying http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x139366. And in the end, after so much evidence piled up -- with the final coup de grace being Bush's own admission that he personally authorized the CIA leak -- he couldn't do it anymore.

Once outside of the Washington bubble, he began to reflect on all of the transgressions, his and those of his cohorts, and realized he had to write a truly honest account of what happened. That should be commended, no matter what came before.

One final note. People should not overlook what McClellan said about the press. That's the real lesson to take away from this book. While the Bush administration was complaining loudly about the liberal media, they were internally snickering about how much they had intimidated them. That lesson should never be forgotten. The way the Bush administration cowed the press should be an everlasting shame on the media. I wonder if instead of reacting angrily to this, whether the press corps will take away anything from this when they step out of their bubble and come to terms with their own conscience.
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[elocs]

1. McClellan will find few friends here.

It is the DU tradition to slam and degrade the enemy. If any of them ever see the error of their ways and admit their mistakes they get no slack and still get slammed because they did not speak out sooner. Of course, we all hope we would be treated differently concerning mistakes we make, that is for those of us who make mistakes or ever admit to making them.

[TwilightGardener]

2. I'll defend anybody who tries to tell the truth, no matter how late in the game, because

this administration can still discredit and punish the whistleblower. It's never easy to take on the powerful.

[ihavenobias]

4. Right

Better late than never. The important part is that this information came out from a loyalist insider.

[navarth]

3. He IS a hypocrite....he didn't speak up when it would have made a difference.

But right now I'd just as soon let him talk.

[Uncle Joe]

5. Is Scotty McClellan now telling the truth regarding the corporate media?

I believe he is and to me that is the preeminent question and answer regarding him and his book.

I wish he would have come out sooner, but I will not besmirch him now. One thing seems obvious, he didn't do it to win friends. I don't know what his financial situation is but one thing I've noticed about the corporate media, money is usually the first motivation they attribute it to whenever anyone comes clean with a book, against the Cheney/Bush maladministration.

In the end, I believe his conscience finally got the best of him, but you will rarely if ever see the corporate media speculate on conscience as a motivation, this should tell you something about them.

Thanks for the thread, ihavenobias.

[Bucky]

6. He's the John Dean of this bunch.

Cheney is Haldeman. Everyone else is Erlichman.

[yella_dawg]

7. The Scott McClellan Story.

"The Boy Who Cried Wolf" meets real life.

[gateley]

8. Someone mentioned that he (McClellan)

didn't realize the extent of what was going on until after he'd left.

It's entirely possible that when you're in that bubble, that finite universe, that it becomes difficult if not impossible to step back and view situations from a broader perspective. I don't think it's at all unreasonable to believe that's the case here.

Regardless, as others have said, it's good this has come out now and that it's receiving so much attention. I'm not going to shoot the messenger.

[ihavenobias]

13. Amen n/t

[Ilsa]

9. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he'll turn out

to be like David Brock after he sees the harm the neocons have done to this country.

He is right in how badly the media cowed before Bush and the "wave of patriotism" that swept the country. There also should have been more op-eds on tv and in the media about what they saw going on, but wouldn't report on.

[OhioChick]

10. K&R

Thanks for Posting. :)

[CherylK]

11. K & R!

[angstlessk]

12. "We have been doing an organized propaganda campaign to deceive the American people and I resign!"

they would have hauled him off in a straight jacket and claimed he had a nervous breakdown and that would have been the end of that...he has probably squirreled away PROOF of their mendacity in order to protect himself from their wraith!

[Swamp Rat]

14. There are worse creatures.

[windoe]

15. Time for everyone to tell the truth

better late than never. We need everyone we can get nomatter who they are and what they have done in the past. The first priority is preventing more crimes that are being committed as we speak.