Memories of a Press Briefing...Scotty McClellan writes a book.
By John Amato Monday Nov 19, 2007 11:01am
Flashback from C&L's archives: Scotty not answering any questions about Rove's involvement in PlameGate.
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Gregory: Do you stand by your statements from the Fall of 2003, when you were asked specifically about Karl and Elliot Abrams and Scooter Libby and you've said I've gone to each of those gentleman and they've told me---they are not involved in this, do you stand by that statement?
McClellan: And if you will recall, I said as that part of helping the investigators to move forward on the investigation, we're not going to get into commenting on it. That was something I stated back near that time as well.
Gregory: I mean this is ridiculous. The notion that you're going to stand before us after having commented with that level of detail and tell people that are watching this that somehow you decided not to talk. You've got a public record out there. Do you stand by your remarks from that podium or not?
McClellan: David, I'm well aware of, like you of what was previously said and I will be glad to talk about it at the appropriate time...
I guess he's finally ready to discuss the investigation.
The most powerful leader in the world had called upon me to speak on his behalf and help restore credibility he lost amid the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. So I stood at the White house briefing room podium in front of the glare of the klieg lights for the better part of two weeks and publicly exonerated two of the senior-most aides in the White House: Karl Rove and Scooter Libby.
There was one problem. It was not true.
I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice President, the President's chief of staff, and the president himself.
It sucks to be him....
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Gee, I can't wait to read a whole book by Scott McClellan.
Oh boo hoo. The "I had no idea I was working for satan." defense is such bullshit.
"No comment..."
wow.
One would think this is a really big story. (It is). But, as we know the press is more interested in Edwards hair and Hillary's laugh. So, our top elected officials lied about a national security matter that jepoardized covert agents? And they should all be impeached./indicted for treason? (Of course, the should) The book is not due out until April. By then it will be well scrubbed.
The greatest fiction writing of the last seven years all come from the Bush administration.
wow, i didn't realize he was a victim. damn. guess i had him figured wrong. *bitch please*
Geeze, I almost shit a brick. I mean there Scotty was. I saw his picture before reading the headline and my gut reaction was sphincter muscles contracting. I thought in a nanosecond -- He's back!!! My bad.
I love when Stephanie Miller plays the clip of Scotty's Peter Brady-esque puberty voice cracking "Tel Aviv"
F him!
He's a fucking liar. And a well paid fucking liar to boot.
That's the problem with electing bullies to office. Bullies are as we all know cowards. And cowards do not exhibit courage.
Courage is when you speak the truth even when it costs you your job.
Courage is when you challenge the obvious lies that you are asked to repeat to the press.
Courage is when you acknowledge your failures and your past irresponsibility.
Cowardice is saying "I was only following orders."
Cowardice is dodging responsibility with claims of past ignorance when only a moment's critical thought would have suggested that what one was told was a lie.
As this administration disintegrates, look for more cowardly, revisionist, finger-pointing blame-dodges-for-profit from insiders looking to make a quick buck, and hoping in the long term to avoid being arrested and brought before the World Court if they leave the United States.
Is ANYONE surprised?
It really does suck to be Scotty! What a lying liar trying to exonerate himself. I call Bull$hit!!!
Albatross @ 12:
Well said!!!
WHAATA DOUCHE
Whatta Bush ButtBoy
accomplice to mass murder?
Big. Fat. Liar.
Oh, come on, Scott - nobody's going to look at your tap-dancing routine and then believe for even a nanosecond that you didn't know.
What's the matter, that job at FOX News didn't come through?
Notice the scheduled release date, April 2008. Too bad it's not Oct 2008 given the attention span of the American public.
He must have known what he knew when he knew it. Can he hauled before a court of law for perjury? Now we know that presidential press confereneces are a waste of time. With every strength I can muster I will avoid every temptation and every curiosity and NOT buy his book. Remember... Lie to me once, shame on you. Lie to me twice....Well you know what I mean.
Oh, poor baby, they lied to him. If he had been a real press secretary, and not merely a mouthpiece for BushCo, I might feel just the teeniest bit sorry for him. But he was a puppet, and like so many others he sold his soul when it looked like a good deal. Sorry, Scotty. But the devil doesn't allow do overs.
I don't think he is lying. I think that powerful corrupt people don't like to hire smart people because that is sure to generate problems in their future. Hire stupid jerks, and you don;t have to worry about them asking questions and having a conscience.
Shadowgm @ 17:
I can easily believe that ol' Scotty was not told by the others what they had done, and thus he did not KNOW (as in having first hand knowledge). What isn't in that blurb, and what he should be asked about when he does his inevitable book tour is, did he BELIEVE what he was told?
stephennnn @ 19:
If you only figured that out now, you ain't been paying attention!
I really want to push him down and take his lunch money. Evil twit.
Short form:
"They lied to me! Who would have believed they were capable of such a thing?? I feel so USED!!!!"
WAAAAAAAAHHHH!
Where's my royalty check?
Scotty's soul was bought and paid for the second he signed on for this gig. He knew after watching Ari Liar Fleischer all those years. F you, Scotty, for being another collaborator in the betrayal of America.
I wonder how much of his book will be redacted.
Powkat @ 20:
Being a press secretary is being a mouthpiece.
Being a press secretary is a very tough job. Being a press secretary for one of the most corrupt, if not the most corrupt, administrations in the history of this country would be a true horror.
I'm not gonna comment on an ongoing qwiminal investigation...
Who gets to ask Dana Perino about this? I don't watch TV, so someone please post the question and "answer" when it happens.
The Walrus says: "By then it will be well scrubbed", but I disagree. He will be branded a coward and a liar. The American people will flail their arms, to the extent they will get riled up at all. Others will ignore the whole thing, hoping it will go away. There will be the obligatory tempest in a teacup. But then the inevitable will happen: Nothing.
Nothing will happen.
The end.
Wow... I almost forgot about this stuttering BushCo mouthpiece.
I wonder how long it will be until he's suicided.
Ahhh, Captured for posterity.
I guess when President Bush said he'd fire anyone involved.
None of us ever would of suspected the President meant firing Scooter from his prison sentence ???
Justice? Government has become a profiteering playground of no laws to be held accountable. Any half way decent government official stands by and does nothing.
This will actually go a long way toward bridging the nation's political divide.
Now Republicans can hate him, too.
citizen_pain @ 36:
Yeah, I had the same thought. Or maybe he will be Guantanamoed.
There is such a thing as having integrity. Someone with integrity would have said, "I cannot in good conscience go out in front of the American public and tell them lies." All of the mouthpieces for the Shrub have been chosen solely because they have no integrity, and they should be treated as such.
I had unknowingly passed along false information
*wink*
Beeee careful how much you reveal about your former playmates, Chubsy Wubsy. That, or stay away from long trips in small planes.
:O
Scotty NO! Screw you and the horse's ass you rode in on.
IdahoMoe @ 18:
Don't forget to include tony, Dana and Ari. Nothing has changed. Well not for the better anyway.
Bush Cheney Hague '09 is one of the very few options we have to get our place back as the world's currency (for people to take us seriously with respect). And Restore those Executive offices. Purge the torture supporters from gov't. Yea you feinstein shumer.
Lie, rinse, repeat! He's Bush's cabin boy. He probably has to sit on an inflatable donut.
"Unknowingly", my ass.
Say what you will about Scotty-Mouth, but when Snowjob took over as press secretary, followed by Ms. Photogenic, I began to miss Scott. At least he was more entertaining than infuriating like his successors.
It's a shame when someone who never was truly relevant attempts to become so.
and congress does nothing...
Anyone know when Bush or anyone in fact came out with their explanitory version of the Plame leak??
Even Scotty-boy here says "won't speak to an ongoing investigation". Of course the I Lewis (Scooter) Libby "inmate#28301-016" trial took place and no one could speak of an on going trial.
The trial and investigation is over, (Pat Fitzgerald). What is the best Crooks & Liars can do for the White House aftermath explanation. The Press did follow up on the Administration to complete comment, right?
These MF never go away, Gonzales is on some sort of speaking tour, Bolten gets more air then a blimp, Delay is always sought out for his spin, It is just a matter of time before Snowjop starts working for history channel and spin the entire Iraq invasion.
On October 7th, 2003, President Bush famously declared of the outing of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame, "I don't know if we're going to find out the senior administration official." Now we have more insight as to Bush's misplaced confidence that the truth would remain hidden. In his new tell-all book, former White House press secretary Scott McClellan claims President Bush himself played an instrumental role in the failed cover up.
For the details, see:
"McClellan Book Confirms Bush's October 2003 Plamegate Lie."
Why can't these former administration people just go away quietly?
What makes them think we want to see or hear from them again?!
Just remember, 9/11 changed everything.
guys/gals - in many ways I do feel sorry for Scottie.
I have seen press secretaries of CEO's, etc. unknowingly pass along falsehoods because they were told the untruths. The sad part is that most of these press secretaries are usually blindly loyal to their bosses and do not question anything told to them.
Ok...my feeling sorry for him is over.....that was cleansing...wooohoo....
Screw him!
Always wondered what happened to that fat kid from the Simpsons:
"me get lied to? Thats unpossible!"
So now this sloppy fat lying fuck wants to tell the truth? What about all the horrible death and mayhem. Servicemen and women dying and being permanently injured for your lies? Our national honor? Our treasure? Anyone who buys a book from this tub of feces should wipe the blood off the cover!
52 Death Star---
The last I heard of (the government health care sucking) Tony Snow was on Jon Stewart with his book. You have a point that they are now moving to the mode of re writing Bush/s history. Like they did with Regan........................
The repub's will start naming Graveyards in Iraq to Gas station bathrooms after Bush as they did Regan as well. Think Turd Blossom?
None of this really matters because Hillary has a goofy laugh.
im
PEACH
Just to be fair to Scotty it was right after the fact that a CIA undercover spy was outed and the first President was calling it treason. They hadn't gotten the spin right and everybody still thought it was a crime of treason.
A little spin and it's, "when the Vice President does it it isn't illegal ......" line of reason and getting the old man to STFU and there you go, nothing wrong, right?
So Scotty is taking the blaim off himself by telling us that they all lied to him and he had no idea.
Heres to hoping for a Hague trial where the Admin is found guilty, the perps are lined up single file as a target for the firing squad, and this fat little bastard is at the front of the line. The only thing hes good for is the expansion of the bullet that would be the demise of the rest of em.
Whether Scotty was aware of the truth and loyally lied to us or he was lied to and he loyally blindly passed that lie on makes about as much difference as if, a grenade is one inch or two inches up your Butt when it goes off.
I wonder what type of slanderous comments the Bush Administration will create about Mr. McClellan?.....we asked him to resign because he's a compulsive liar....he's addicted to over-the-counter medication....takes presribed psychiatric medication....has had duplicitous sexual behavior....he wrote this book of lies as an act of revenge for......
Does he really think that publishing a book is going to keep his ass out of prison? He needs to be turning states evidence and now if he wants to avoid an indictment.
unknowingly my ass. he's a fuckin liar just like all the rest of them and should be thrown on the now giant pile of fuckin liars this administration has produced. fuck these fuckin liars!!
So, he wrote a confessional.
I just wish he'd include a decision to come out of the closet...
Traitor. traitor to his country, and now even a traitor to the devil he served. These neocons have no soul, no conscience.
I could care less, again, what this dip shit loser has to say about anything. He's burned out and shouldn't be given the time of day.
that exchange you quote was one of the few times David Gregory was acting as a journalist (ya know trying to get at the truth) but then after that he descended into the swamp with rest of the reptiles and contributes to the bullshit reporting(particularly on Chris Mathews) on Hillar's laugh/clapping and other Dem failings, never call Matthews on his crap
As far as Scott McClellan, anyone litening to his pressers had to know most of it was BS, unless of course you're a dumbass repug....
"Unbeknownst"? Bullshit!
Does anyone think that Karl Rove wasn't Scotty's Ghost-writer of his book ?
Or does Rove qualify to be a Ghoul-writer ?
This may on some remote level grant McClellan some absolution... however, there is going to be a special place in hell for him and others like him, who thought it was more important to serve the president, instead of serving the country.
Robt @ 73:
Lich-writer (for all you D&D folks out there).
I guess he took his mom's trouncing at the polls hard. Like everything else he took.
14All @ 46:
Damn, I just posted that somewhere else.
But anyway, McClellan just handed Congress treason, dereliction of duty, violatiion of their Oaths, and perjury. Too bad they're wimps.
So we get to watch "Slopsweat" Scott sell his book on the normal book circuit.
OK.....why the sudden 180, Scott?? You were just on Bill Maher's show a couple of months ago telling the crowd, long after you "resigned", that all was well in Iraq, people should shut up and let the President protect them and...and...and...Bush had nothing to do with Plame's outing.
Now all of a sudden you changed your mind???
I smell bullshit on a "I need money, so I'll write a so-called tell all" to cash in on my previous job.
Don't get me wrong - I know Bush is as guilty as hell and that he knew of everything that was going on...I'm just finding it hard to figure out why McClellan all of a sudden has a change of heart. Oh wait, he worked for Satan and his Wonder Mutt George - he has no heart. Just a horrendous ability to lie.
I wonder if McClellan's book jacket picture will have him looking like a sweaty pig who just shit his drawers like he always did in front of the press conference cameras.
75 ThunderMonkey *
The "Lich-writer" is closer in definition.
Scotty's book will tell nothing but how "your a Great a man", Fran Townsend (recently wrote in her resignation to Bush).
The Repubs are going to have to get more tax breaks if they intend on compensating their loyal following through legally channelling Hush Money to them via purchasing their books as a payoff. As we see more of this book nonesense increase as the Administration comes closer to its end.
Wouldn't be surprised if Bush doesn't make it manditory for the public schools to purchase these books for the kiddies.
Smarmy toadie. Don't buy this book.
There seems to be two main species of ex-Bushies: the repentant and the unrepentant. The repentant have discovered the true nature of the Bush Administration but out of crime-syndicate-like loyalty keep quiet about their revelations until they feel the time is right to have little impact on their capos and yet still have time to peddle their wares.
The unrepentant of course are happy with the way things were done: given a chance they'ld do it all again. At least they have the courage of their "convictions" (too bad they can't be convicted, instead): they're evil and proud of it. The repentant knew or should have been able to figure out that they were doing was wrong and having reached that conclusion they should have tried to set things right rather than publish a kiss-and-tell book long after the electorate could have made effective use of the information. If they had done things right it would have been much harder for the GOP slime-machine, aided and abetted by the old-guard media, to prevent the message from getting out.
Swashbuckler @ 13:
Yeah actually.
I'm surprised he's still alive, hasn't had an unfortunate accident or been invited for some CIA sponsored swimming lessons yet.
HDon @ 64:
Like the Hague part. As for the bullet, Theres No Sex in Your Violence?
It must have been rough to be the Press Secretary for the biggest bunch of White House Crooks and Liars ever. I guess that's why Scott tried to say that Rove and Libby told him that they weren't involved. He could not be expected to be a guarantor of the truthfulness of such a bunch of criminals.
Only one thing is sure ... this is bad for the Democrats!
At least, that is what the Washington Post will say.
How is that health care pagage working for you Scotty, need to probably add a little more life insurance, since nothing you say now will save your sorry ass.
didn't scotty resign to spend more time with jeff gannon?
I miss Scotty. I had predicted that if he lasted to the end of Bush's term, one day the media questioners would get on him so bad that he'd break down and start crying. C'mon, Bush. Bring back Scotty.
Maybe that podium is wired for electro-shock, and Cheney watches, finger on the zapper-button.
If I were a Bush supporter I would be to embarrassed to live in this world.
What a bunch of dumb fools they have been to ever believe one thing the republican crime syndicate had them to believe.
If you are getting the big bucks and the boss tells you to jump,
you don't ask why, you ask how high!
Scott will live through this even though he worked for the devil.
What a funny line, 'Scotty McClellan writes a book'.
Didya hear the one about the deaf dog who plays the cello?
In passing that information to us, Scotty is giving comfort to our enemy. Now he gets to be a terrorist just like the rest of us. ;-)
So can we impeach now? Is there enough evidence of wrong doing finally that we can impeach them all at once?
Please?
"I had unknowingly passed along false information."
Please, McMoron. Your job was to lie on a daily basis. Knowingly. You're a crook, just like the rest of this corrupt administration. All of you should end up in jail.
Coward.
This needs to be the top headline on every liberal blog website. This is a big fucking deal. The president had a press conference about this where he lied to the american people. Fitzgerald should and can reopen this case right away because I can guarantee that somebody lied under oath. This is definitely a major rebuke if not an impeachable offence. The other side is so much better than we are about exploiting something like this. The right wing would be on this with radio, Fox and Drudge non stop until the regular media caught wind of the excitement and then they would run with it.
The closer we come to the end of Bush's power, the more people will turn on him. Once Bush is out of power there will be a deluge of truth telling and revelations of all kinds of criminality. Bush, who thinks himself so clever, will find out how many friends he has once he has no real power.
All in all, it should make for some amusing fireworks. What are the chances that Hillary or Obama will give him a presidential pardon if he is convicted of any number of crimes? When a democrat is in power, how does Bush expect to stop all these investigations? It pays to be nice to the opposition, because you never know when it will be their turn to be in power. Bush drank the kool-aid Rove gave him about being in power for decades to come. What a shock it will be to Bush when he has no power to stop anything.
Time rejected Rove as a columnist.Radar reports that, prior to securing a spot as a Newsweek columnist, Karl Rove approached Time magazine for a job. Time, however, rejected Rove as “essentially like an unindicted coconspirator in a whole host of felonies”:
Time’s editors apparently felt the cost/benefit analysis wouldn’t be in their favor if they embraced the man who has done more than anyone to keep the spirit of Joe McCarthy alive and well in American politics. … “They think Karl is essentially like an unindicted coconspirator in a whole string of felonies.”
11-20-2007 4:22 pm | Comment (38)
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/20/time-rejected-rove-as-a-columnist/#c...
Thanks for covering this...wow...a stunner...and I am sending people over here to read your coverage- I can't wait to see this on Countdown tonight....( BTW I have linked to you,from Watergate Summer, I hope you don't mind..I was doing a series on PTSD and VETS this week....but this Needed and Deserves Coverage....so just like Watergate it was really ALL about the Cover Ups...)
"I'm George Bush and I approved this book. Besides, who gives a shit? In a year I'm outta here and no one is going to impeach me! We got that 3 billion barrel reserve of light sweet crude and my friends in the defense industry are swimming in money. Mission accomplished!"
Say what you want to say about the snot-nosed Scotty, but looks like he might be coming clean. I only wish that Colin Powell had the courage to come clean and admit what a stooge Bush, Cheney, Rice and Rumsfeld made him into.
Well at least Scotty is bringing some light to the darkness. Can you imagine the axis of asses; bush, cheney or kkkarl rove admitting any assemblence of truth.
Thumbs up their asses, thumbs up their asses....
Where's Rummy's tell all book? Hmm...?
Scotty McSpokesliar was always lying to the press on behalf of the pResident and his mobsters - that's what loyalty is all about in the mafia...
Textbook White House dodge. Observe Dana Perino sitting behind David Gregory shifting her eyes and taking mental notes.
"No one wants to get to bottom of this more than the President" yeah so he could bury it.
Fuck that lying bastard.
...
Well now, Nancy Pelosi, is impeachment still off the motherfucking table?
TREASON!
stick a fork in 'em, they're done!
Scotty got this from Bush when he joined the staff.
The Democrats will not act on this in any way that will find results. We are in the Dark Ages of American Politics and there is little hope in sight.
Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby now all makes sense, if he ended up behind bars, he might have squealed that bush and dick were ultimately behind the original plan to leak the covert identity of Valerie Plame.
That, my friends, is the textbook definition of treason.
Sickening. Our "leaders" are all criminals and NO ONE is doing a THING to hold them accountable.
Now now folks.
Scotty isn't on my short list of heroes, but, if he's spilling the beans and personally implicating Scooter and The Shooter in treasonous activity, let us be civil and encouraging.
of course he's covering his ass, but what the hell?
Let's hear more.
RickinSF @ 115:
John Dean was not on my list of heroes during the Watergate Hearings (he certainly is now). I don't care where the truth comes from as long as it comes.
Other waste of time books to be upcoming;
-I fought the law and the law won", Scooter Libby (law & order)
-"Bush you are a man", Fran Townsend (romance)
-"My oath to the President", Monica Goodling (romance)
-"How to promote your Legal Defense Fund (What I don't tell)", Alberto Gonzales
(Crime and punishment)
-"Stupidity as your front man", Dick Cheney (puppeteering-how to)
-"Dawn of the souless", karl Rove (theocratical/religion)
-"Morse Code made easy", Larry Craig (instructional)
-"The man that would be Viceroy", Paul Wolfowitz (horror)
-"Health care interloping", Tony Snow (Health care/economics)
-"Our Family Values", Cookie and Buzzy Krongard (Genealogy)
-"Call for Assassination", Pat Robertson (Religion)
-"A Time to Swallow & a Time to Close Your Eyes", Denny Hastert (Dietary health)
-" "Me" and 9/11 addiction", Rudolph Guliani (autobiography)
-"Godfather 7", Tony Fratto and David Addington (Gangster/History)
Lets here 'em if you got 'em. Your favorite Administration celebrity or Neo con thumper would write a book titled ??? and its catagory?
Albatross @ 12:
Amen.
Regime change!
It's funny how these crooks and liars can't remember shit when they are in public office but wave an advance fee for a book deal then all the dirt (which we knew all along) they did to US citizens becomes crystal clear.
These crooks shouldn't get one penny. There should be a law.
Confess NOW long after the damage could have been prevented. This is totally irresponsible. Over 3800 U.S. Soldiers died out of the Bush Administration's lies. More than 34,000 soldiers wounded and many more suffering from psychologically injuries. Over a Million Iraqui civilians dead millions more displaced. More than trillion dollars has been spent for the direct cost of the WAR and billions unaccounted for. The effects of these has drain the treasury for the needed cost to handle our domestic needs and not counting the mistreatment of our soldier arriving from WAR. Economy, the value of the dollars is nearly bringing our nation to bankrupsy or putting our nation in debt to several generation in to the future.
McClellan is NOW trying to capitalize on this scandal and making a profit from a book deal. It is clear that the guilty are all trying to raise money for their legal defense; as we get NEAR the process of investigation.
Iam so OUTRAGED.............................
This IS ORGANIZED CRIME at the HIGHEST level.
IMPEACH NOW and bring our troops HOME!.
International Court tribunal should begin its investigation against these WAR CRIMINALS. It is obvious we can not count on our own elected officials to do their duty. International Court interventions needs to begin
If this guy winds up in somebodies garbage dumpster, we will all know who did it.
Valerie Plame is a bit upset with Mclellen's book of tales,
Check it out:http://www.americablog.com/2007/11/plame-is-outraged.html
Scotty McLiar will do what he always does: LIE!
I hope his "book" comes back to haunt him with an indictment.
citizen_pain @ 36:
I've been wondering the same thing. Even if he is a worm, I am anxious to read his book. I read everything negative about Bush that I can get my hands on.
I think it is now safe to place Joesph Goebbels and Scotty McClellan in the same sentence. Too bad about Enron, he would have been a great spokesperson for them.
Conservapedia.com has done the Orwellian cleansing of Scott McClellan by purging his page there,
hes now a non person according to them, never existed, who!
moniker @ 6:
There is a quote (I don't know who said it) "The difference between fact and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." Could any fiction writer on any illicit substance dream up the Bush Administration?
StCyrlyMe @ 120:
He may end up in a man-sized safe.
StCyrlyMe @ 120:
Remember how Scooter didnt fly during his trial, he used the Train LOL, and they say theres no loyalty amongst Reptillians.
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