Whipping Boy No More?

Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 11:22am

And though no one has a crystal ball, it’s not asking too much that a well-considered understanding of the circumstances and history of Iraq and the Middle East should have been brought into the decision-making process. The responsibility to provide this understanding belonged to the president’s advisers, and they failed to fulfill it. Secretary of State Colin Powell was apparently the only adviser who even tried to raise doubts about the wisdom of war. The rest of the foreign policy team seemed to be preoccupied with regime change or, in the case of Condi Rice, seemingly more interested in accommodating the president’s instincts and ideas than in questioning them or educating him.

This idea, or even these words, aren’t new to us. But what IS interesting about them? The author.

  • Date Wednesday, 28 May 08 at 11:22 am
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11 responses for this post

  1. Patrick on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 4:34 pm

    Interesting but ultimately unimpressive. Speaks to how quickly the reality distortion field wears off. But other than that, I mean, this far after the fact? It a sign of cowardice and the “loyalty above all else” mentality that he didn’t say anything sooner.

  2. Patrick on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 4:37 pm

    (And by “sooner”, I mean, “Before everyone and his Republican uncle realized how much of a disaster this administration has been.” There’s something in these articles that smacks of trend-following, as if the theme of the book would be the opposite if the Bush policies had somehow turned out to be justified.)

  3. Patrick on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 5:02 pm

    Gah, sorry. Check out McClellan’s words in 2004 when asked about Dick Clarke’s book about the inner workings of the administration:

    Well, why, all of a sudden, if he had all these grave concerns, did he not raise these sooner? This is one-and-a-half years after he left the administration. And now, all of a sudden, he’s raising these grave concerns that he claims he had. And I think you have to look at some of the facts. One, he is bringing this up in the heat of a presidential campaign. He has written a book and he certainly wants to go out there and promote that book.

  4. freakgirl on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 5:08 pm

    I see your point, but I also think it’s a positive sign that the scales are dropping from everyone’s eyes. Perhaps next time, we citizens of America won’t fall for blatant Administration lies. Of course, hindsight is 20/20. And of course, McClellan wants to sell a book. But when it comes down to it, whether or not he’s doing this for his own advantage, the words are out there. Perhaps he wants history to look upon him more fondly. Can you blame him?

    In 2004, when McClellan made those statements about Clarke, he was still working for Bush. Do you really think he would have said any of this stuff while still in Bush’s employ? Of course not. At this point, Bush is almost out of office. He can’t hurt these people any more, so why not go public with what they really think?

    McClellan was one of the biggest patsies of the Bush White House, hands down. His loyalty was embarrassing. So I do applaud him for joining the fray to say, “We were wrong.” Because they were, and Bush still is, and just because McClellan’s politics are COMPLETELY opposite of mine doesn’t mean I can’t agree with his words.

    Sure, it’s the cool thing these days for Republicans to say, “It was Bush! I had nothing to do with it! I knew it was a bad idea from the start!” But aren’t you glad they are?

  5. chuck on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 5:19 pm

    My feeling is that most liberals are just gonna say “SEE! SEE!” and most conservatives will say “he’s bitter, it doesn’t mean shit” and nothing will change because of it, aside from his bank account.

    I suppose that makes me a huge cynic.

  6. El Gato on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 5:24 pm

    I see your point about scales dropping from his eyes, but ultimately this is too little too late. I wish he had broken away and written his book at least couple of years ago.

  7. freakgirl on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 5:41 pm

    Yeah, like that would have happened.

  8. patrick on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 2:34 am

    I guess I can’t ask for a tell-all book about Bush’s child-like decision-making while he’s still press secretary. Then he’d just be really bad at his job. I guess I wish I could have seen some more Bush-bashing in former administration officials before it became popular (i.e., ASAP after getting the boot), when only the cool kids were doing it. Now it just comes off as ass-covering, at best. Some interesting insight, though.

  9. GeekBoy on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 8:28 am

    While I’m not willing to give McClellan a full pass, I kind of buy into what he’s saying about the fact that when you’re inside the bubble, you don’t see the bubble for what it is. That’s human nature, and I’m sure we’ve all been guilty of it. You get caught up in believing a certain kind of truth because it’s the loudest truth you’re exposed to, and because everybody around you is reinforcing the notion that up is down, black is white, and they’re doing it with such enthusiasm that they can’t possibly ALL be wrong, can they? So you drink the Kool-Aid, you convince yourself the world is a certain way, and it’s only later, when you’re outside the bubble, that you realize how deluded you truly were.

    That happened with me when I lived with my conspiracy nut brother for two years, and started to see things the way he did. And even after we went our separate ways, it took a long time to stop perceiving and responding to the world in that way. Because you get conditioned to do it. McLellan’s only been out of office for 2 years. So if you give him a year to “detox” his brain, and another year to write this book (because he has a right to make money off his unique perspective), then I’d say the timing is just about right.

  10. Michael on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 8:34 am

    Amen, GB. I’m sure life in the Bush White House is a bit like my 99% Catholic upbringing. All these people I respect believe this crap, and not only that, they believe it with a vengeance. How can they all be wrong?

    I understand “too little, too late” but I’m going with “better late than never.”

    As for cashing in, raise your hand if you do your job out of unfettered altruism.

  11. Chips O'Toole on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 10:11 am

    I agree. happy for him saying it, but he should have earlier. Thanks, Patrick, for using his words against him, well done.

    And GB, there’s a saying I heard, “when you’re a worm in horseradish, all the world is horseradish.” so yes, he can’t see outside the bubble, nor can the rest of the administration, apprently, but that is precisely what government need sto do, to see the big picture, so see outside of the sphere of their politics, which is the primary problem with this administration, more concerned with politics than governance. (there’s a good story about this in last week’s New Yorker)

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