Pennsylvania TownHall -- Where the Voice of Pennsylvania is Heard!

Freindly Fire

Scott McClellan: Judas Lives!

by Chris Freind

"With friends like these, who needs enemies?"

In light of the tell-all book authored by former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, that phrase sums it up perfectly.

McClellan served as the President's spokesman from 2003-2006. As one of Bush's elite inner circle, he had intimate knowledge of the President, both professionally and personally, so his loyalty was a given. After all, you don't just land one of the world's most coveted positions because of a fancy resume. Many people have that. You have to know The Man, and McClellan did. He worked for Bush when he was Governor of Texas in the 1990's, and followed him to Washington. In addition to being colleagues, they were friends.

Oh, how things change.

Now, Scotty wants the headlines for himself. No longer content to report the news from the White House, he seeks to make the news to further his own agenda.

So why did he do it? Was it to clear his conscience, since he was an "unwitting" accomplice to the propaganda wars being waged by the White House on every issue, as he claims? That's convenient, because it plays right into the pundit's mentality that everything the President did was done so with manipulation and lies. Of course, there is one small matter yet to be answered by McClellan in this regard: why he never came forward and expressed his disdain for all the "grave mistakes" and "
strategic blunders" taking place on a daily basis. Surely a man as smart as McClellan recognized at some point that he was being "misled", yet he continued in his role.

If McClellan truly felt nauseated by what was happening around him, he should have told the President his feelings on the matter, and, if he didn't receive a satisfactory answer, he had a civic obligation to resign his post. He didn't.

What about the almighty dollar? Since timing is everything, did McClellan sell-out in order to make a quick buck while the President was still in power, knowing the book would be campaign fodder heading into the elections? Absolutely, but the significance of this point is being vastly overblown by the media. A White House press secretary is one of the most influential and coveted positions in the world. Upon leaving public service, these officials routinely make millions of dollars, especially if they depart on good terms with the President. Since Mr. Bush is extraordinarily well-connected, McClellan's financial future was never in doubt.

Which leads us to the primary motivation for the book: ego. McClellan just couldn't bear to be out of the spotlight, and craved the headlines making Scott McClellan the story for a change. What is repulsive about Scott's action is that he threw away everything he had with his longtime friends with whom he had worked for so long. He revealed himself to be a man without character or backbone, instead valuing publicity over friendships, and ego over integrity.

People like Scott McClellan are the lowest of the low. Did he agree with everything his boss did? Obviously not, nor should he have. But you hash out your differences behind closed doors, mano-a-mano. Only cowards turn to the airways to air their dirty laundry for the world to see. McClellan had a duty to do the right thing, whether that was serving his President with loyalty and distinction, or resigning his post with dignity and making his living somewhere other than on George Bush's back. He failed miserably at both, instead willfully choosing to follow the example of Judas.

With his credibility gone, a name lower than dirt, and his fifteen minutes quickly evaporating, McClellan has the rest of his life to think about the label that he so richly deserves: a man with all the instincts of a dog, except loyalty.