McClellan was a fledgling and never meant to achieve anything. He was a tool of Bush World. There was no plan for his success as those that have shown such scripted shock and "puzzlement" repeat at every juncture.

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Over the past 24 hours, I’ve read a major portion of Scott McClellan’s book, “What Happened” and listened to numerous interviews from the very people who would abuse the message so much:  those from the belly of the beast itself – the Bush White House, and those that failed so miserably – the media. 

And while Chris Mathews probably did the best interviews and the most probing questions, even there, I am not shocked but struck with how much effort goes into the denial of any degree of responsibility for “What Happened”. 

As always seems the case by those that deny culpability, the first effort is to try to guess the motivation.  I guess this is the journalistic attempt to develop a first reason to gut what is said – or support it while vaulting oneself to some imaginary artificial loft or point of vision.  They call it punditry.  I call it stirring up the sharks without getting into the water and suffering risk oneself. 

I’m no fan of the media and specifically this generation of the same names that caused a false lead up to war, a faltered economy controlled by corporate greed, declining standards of living for working people in America, poorer and poorer educations, an international picture fraught with disdain and anger, and a national indebtedness that makes our leaders go hat in hand to visit our bankers China, India and Japan, who are also our primary competitors in the World marketplace. 

But let me start with a post mortem on Scott McClellan. 

The Autopsy on the Environment and the Lead Up to McClellan’s Exposure 

Scott McClellan is a young man who like all of us had been baptized in the world of competition, career progression with a heavy dose of the Biblical twist of the right and wrong as defined by dollars and cents.  Of course, when we raise our kids to compete, we equip them with sports metaphors, the rah-rah of sport Dom and a huge dose of social naiveté. 

Scott wanted to achieve. 

Achievement in American culture has grown in the last thirty years to be more of a case of who you know and blow than, work ethic.  There was always a heavy dose of that in American culture, but the focus and concentration has continued with every generation and the level of competition to increase markedly. 

We call it supply and demand and competition.  But what it amounts to is survival of the fittest. 

Scott McClellan entered Bush World in 1999.  I entered in 1995.  By the time Scott arrived, the inner team had been formed. 

There was Joe Allbaugh, the former Oklahoma State Senator and military man with a crew cut who had bilked a widow woman out of her estate and moved to Texas to join politics.  Jim Francis had interviewed Joe as a “fix it man” for the George W. Bush campaign on the direction of former Governor Bill Clements. 

There was Karen Hughes, the former Chairman of the Texas Republican Party who had a surgical tongue that was know to lash and remove heads or hearts as the need arose. 

Karl Rove was the tactician.  He had a reputation for being coy and “resourceful”, which meant he would come up with whatever dirty tricks were necessary to win. 

Francis hired a kid just out of no where, Dan Bartlett to carry Joe Allbaugh’s brief case.  Francis added a few other minor players to this bunch. 

Their mission was to carry on the Bill Clements revival of the Texas Republican Party; take over the elected courts of Texas; and provide a springboard for a young George W. Bush to be president. 

It started and was nurtured and fed in 1992 in a little known political hang out in North Dallas. 

Regardless of his hopes and intentions, by the time Scott came along, he was a bagman for the inner team, and the arrogance of this inner team had grown many fold. 

Karl Rove can be and is an ass, and especially with those that he considers lower than gum on his shoe.  Another ego in the size and arrogance of Karl was Scooter Libby who joined the team in 1999 also. 

Scott’s boss was Dan Bartlett, but his senior boss was Karen Hughes. 

These were and are the spin meisters. 

As the campaign wore on the lead voice of the Bush campaign was Ari Fleischer and the inner circle was now formed. 

After Iowa, John McCain kicked Bush’s butt in the New Hampshire primaries – the first vote.  The implosion of the Bush campaign which had been riding inexorably high on ego left the first ex-plosion of George W. Bush.  He looked for a head to lop off and found the architect of it all – James Francis as his fall guy.  Of course, Francis wasn’t only the mastermind, but was also the designer of the fundraising mechanism.  This former Dallas Cowboys executive knew how to raise big bucks and promote big ventures.  But he had also become the chief confidant and his wife was Laura’s best friend from the days in Texas.  Francis was Bush’s mentor when it came to getting things done in Texas. 

He was the artist as well as the architect.  He was able to keep the brashness of Allbaugh, the super ego of Hughes, and the dirty tricks and bad habits of Karl Rove in line and blend the oft times good old boy friends like Donald Evans into the picture to keep Bush happy and jovial.  Bluntly, Jim Francis, was able to focus Bush and the entire team and keep them positive.  All the hype about working across party lines in Texas was actually the product of Jim Francis and no one else. 

But when Bush lost New Hampshire, the ego driven claims of Karl Rove on how to run elections won out.  Evans, Hughes and Bartlett backed the coup to unseat Francis, and Francis went home to Dallas. 

Within hours, Rove unleashed the same tactical deployment of dirty tricks that he had unleashed against Jim Hightower and Ann Richards in Texas.  None of the claims had any basis in fact.  They were Swiftboating at its worst.  From the claims of illegitimate children to emotional instability they derailed the straight talk Express in South Carolina using hate, race, and a heavy dose of religious extremism in the faces of Bob Jones, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson.   

This was the New Republican Party. 

It was brash.  It was militaristic and it was lethal. 

This was two levels beyond (not above) Lee Atwater.  It was all the things that a young G. W. Bush without a job or career had tried to force on his Dad’s campaign and G. W. blamed his dad for having lost his bid for re-election. 

Sometimes today, I wonder if we would have been forced into a Bush eight years of darkness if his Dad had won the 1992 election.  Perish the thought on both ends. 

Scott McClellan was not an insider. 

Now isn’t that really what Dan Bartlett, Ari Fleischer, Karl Rove, and even the President’s statement said when you go back and read it. 

It’s obvious this “inner sanctum” feels most wounded because they let Scott play on the outer edges of their kingdom.  They gave him everything he had – his high profile position, his wealth and he owed everything to them. 

He was first a bagman in the tradition of the Bush organization.  He was Ari’s bagman.  Everyone in the media liked him because he was approachable, and the media adopt a methodology of using these good guys on the edge to pilfer information as they can, and gain access as they must. 

Under a constant threat of cutting off access, Karen Hughes had converted a kennel of hunting dogs (the media) into a gaggle of lapdogs. 

She gave them tidbits as she desired.   

Of course it should be forensically surprising that after being converted from hunters to being spoon fed, the campaign and later the White House Press Corps got in line and waited for their next meal.  Instead of competing for the next nugget of hidden truth or background, we became accustomed to a steady dribble press releases, talking points, and vanity pieces.  Judith Miller and others that have not been publicly called on it, were given outlines of stories at ‘friendly’ orchestrated lunches, dinners and social events. 

This was Texas “Good old boy 101” but somehow the WH Press corps was enjoying the feast and forgot their work ethic. 

Propaganda. 

Hence the accurate and correct depiction of Scott McClellan. 

Of course the talking heads and pundits who seek to clear themselves of responsibility don’t give the lead up or back story that makes them culpable or complicit. 

A Presidential campaign or even bigger, a Presidency is a cash cow for writers, politico’s and junkies.  For those that can’t do anything else, it’s also a ticket to stardom in the land of self importance and aggrandizement. 

This makes “wannabes” including authors who have profiteered from both sides – “some bodies”. 

It gives them a chance for a paycheck while allowing them to speculate, guess, and even look inside someone’s trash or someone’s else’s bedroom windows.  This is a dirty business and it takes people that have lowered expectations and sinister thoughts to do it.  Accordingly, many think of them as bottom feeders. 

But just like the proverbial buzzard, there are always parasitic species necessary to deconstruct a corpse. 

In place of a professional relationship at the Bush White House in 2001, we have two groups of feeders within all segments – the insiders who feed morsels in order to control the pigeons, and the “feeders” who are scum sucking at every breath to find a morsel without surrendering their individualism.  But the pigeons have been brought under control and will broadcast far and wide any tidbit that is wanted. 

This is the mechanism – the Rove/Hughes/Bartlett White House operational structure. 

Scott McClellan was a young man with individual dreams.  He found George W. Bush to be open, congenial and supportive.  And he was immediately loyal to him as an individual and a leader. 

Even within the book, his loyalty remains. 

But the tacticians at the White House which now includes Andrew Card and others were far less charming.  “Turd Blossom” [Bush’s pet name for Karl Rove]is such an ass that you have to be at his level, or he will pummel you with his arrogant and snide remarks meant to constantly keep you in check and realization of his power and authority.  And, by the way, no one is at his level except the President and he is Bush’s Brain as labeled by Wayne Slater and Jim Moore in their book, “Bush’s Brain”. 

Scott McClellan’s job was meant to be the leader of the pigeons, and broadcast the company line – “feed the pigeons” was the summary of his job description within the eyes of his employers – Bush, Cheney, Card, Libby, Rove, Hughes and Bartlett.  His predecessor – Fleischer – had more involvement because he had more history with turd blossom and associates. 

The Acts of McClellan That Became His Fate 

As someone quite experienced within Bush World, McClellan was fatefully scripted for limited success or failure, and loyalty to the letter was all that could make success the outcome.  McClellan was a fledgling and never meant to achieve anything.  He was a tool of Bush World.  There was no plan for his success as those that have shown such scripted shock and “puzzlement” repeat at every juncture. 

Fleischer would have you believe he had no knowledge and aforethought about Judith Miller and the NY Times or other instances of feeding the pigeons a steady diet of propaganda as McClellan admits.  But he was the man in charge of feeding the pigeons and was in the outer circle of the inner circle when decisions were made. 
 

Authors Bio:
On File