George Bush, Traitor and Liar in Chief
Former Presidential spokesliar, oops, I mean spokesman, Scott McClellan, reminded us this week that the fish rots from the head. McClellan drops the truth bombshell that implicates George Bush and Dick Cheney in the sordid outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson. CNN reports that:
Amid a swelling controversy about the leak of Valerie Wilson’s name, McClellan went to the White House podium in October 2003 and told reporters that Karl Rove, the president’s top political adviser, and Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Cheney’s chief of staff, had not been involved. . .
There was one problem. It was not true,” McClellan writes in his new book, “What Happened,” which is to be released in April. “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.”
We knew about Rove and Libby. But now we can add the names of George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Andy Card to the list of people who helped create the lie, i.e., that no one at the White House was involved in leaking the name of Valerie. We no longer have to wonder if any damage was done. We have the revelations in Valerie’s book, Fair Game, describing in detail her job as the operations chief for the Iraq Task Force and her mission of tracking down and eliminating weapons of mass destruction.
If outing a CIA intelligence officer collecting intelligence on our enemy during a time of war is not treason, then what is? George Bush commuted the prison sentence of Scooter Libby to help buy his silence. Why? McClellan’s revelation blows the cover on that sham. Bush was involved. Of course we will now witness the spectacle of Republicans, who delighted in castigating Bill Clinton for his confusion about the meaning of sex, themselves doing verbal gymnastics as they search for the true meaning of “involved”. Horseshit!
This is an impeachable offense. George Bush not only helped obstruct justice, but continues to obstruct justice. The President is no longer an idle bystander. He is a participant in a cover up. He knew that Rove, Libby, Card, and Cheney were involved in leaking Valerie’s name. Yet the coward, the man who failed to complete his Reserve duty, went AWOL on his staff. He sent Scott McClellan out to lie to the press.
We already knew that Bush was neither honorable nor a man or his word. Despite his vow to remove anyone involved in leaking the name of Valerie Plame Wilson, he kept Card, Rove and Libby safe in the White House until Federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald blew the whistle. And even then, Bush refused to do the right thing. He acted immorally and illegally. Why should Scooter come clean when he knows his co-conspirator will get him off? And he did.
Now the ball is in the court of the Congress. Will the Democrats find their spine and enforce the law? I doubt it. They want the perks of power without being willing to bear the burden of upholding justice and and enforcing the law. Will the Republicans voice outrage at this betrayal? Not likely. Men of the character of Howard Baker, who called out Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal, no longer lead that party.
George Bush may be genial, but now we know he is scum. Facilitating the cover up of the crime of outing a CIA operative in a time of war puts blood on his hands. It is that simple.
Comments (27)
I've thought all along that the reason they outed Valerie Plame was to shut down any kind of opposition analysts at the CIA. No matter how petty and vindictive Cheney et.al, are, this seems like overkill to me. I just do not believe that this was used solely to stop Joe Wilson, that could have been handled in an easier, less risky operation than what they did. According to Risen's book, "State of War" there was a concerted effort by the top echelon at the CIA and the Bush administration to silence any agent with information that might contradict the admin's position on WMDs and nukes.
There is a piece to this puzzle that has so far eluded discovery - the fact that so many people in the administration knew of Valerie Plame's identity would indicate to me that she was on the radar before Joe Wilson wrote his editorial.
No matter how crazy the puzzle picture looks, the pieces still have to fit the puzzle.
November 21, 2007 11:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
As much as I hope and wish that there's something to this Scotty McNuttin item, I no longer jump when anyone from the Bush group spouts.
I think you should take a look at this post by emptywheel -
http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2007/11/stop-making-sco.html
The words McClellan used were carefully parsed to seem sensational without actually being so.
November 21, 2007 12:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
This "don't shoot the messenger" position McClellan seems to be taking is a little nauseating too isn't it? It's seems a growing trend with these ex-administration turned authors who do these tell-all books. I'm just not buying it.
My dear Scott, you mean that with all of your carefully rehearsed vacuous/circular non-answers at all those "press conferences" regarding the myriad of administration wrongdoings you were "fooled" by them in this case? They tricked you and lied to you about it huh? They simply handed you a piece of paper that said "we didn't do it" and you bravely went out to face the wolves believing what you said was true? How about all those other cases. Were you fooled on those too? Interesting. Interesting because it would appear to the layperson (me) that you made lying (or at least avoiding the truth at all costs) your stock and trade. That was your profession and you did your job frustratingly well. Either that or you are remarkably naive. I'm inclined to go with the former rather than the later on this one. And pointing out the other criminals now does not get you out of the lined up. But thank you for putting a few more bodies in it, it won't be so lonely there now.
November 21, 2007 12:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, they're not going to burn their bridges as far as future employment is concerned. That's his network, and those are the people who will recommend/give tips/investment possibilites/jobs.
November 21, 2007 12:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good point Bev. It is an "insiders" business I suppose.
November 21, 2007 12:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
mcboo,
excellent post.
November 21, 2007 1:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bev,
the blurb made public concerning ol Scott's book is 'the hook', after all, who would spend $28/35 for a book by Scott McClellan?
Scott who????
I think the final product will absolve Bush in connection to the Plame leak, throw a cloud over Cheney's involvment and spend the final chapter babbling about how much of an honor it was to work for Bush and all the great Americans surrounding him.
Keep this in mind; it's Scott McClellan we're talking about. Weasel.
November 21, 2007 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yawn. Why get excited over news that was olds 4 years ago. Obviously, this is just a teaser to sell his book, it will almost certainly not have any probative value. Now if he had secretly taped Bush and Cheney plotting to expose Plame, it would be interesting.
November 21, 2007 2:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think we should all give him the 24 bucks not to write it. He is a little weasel.
November 21, 2007 3:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mr. Johnson,
I have to say that I love the way you write. It's more than a bit refreshing to read someone commenting on the moral, ethical, and political corruption of our nation's leadership who actually calls a spade a spade. I am so tired of the mamby pamby dancing around the issue that the President is a criminal and traitor as is the VP and many of the most powerful people in our government. It is an outrage that they have been allowed to run amok as they have and a violation of everything those of us who consider the Constitution sacred believe in.
I couldn't agree with you more on every single point save one that I'm not sure you have your facts straight on which is the following:
Who says George Bush is really genial?
My guess is that when there's no camera on him, he's every bit the asshole we all think he is and more.
Please continue to lay it on the line for all to see and pull no punches please! We need more such voices.
Happy Thanksgiving!
November 21, 2007 3:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
So they're backing away fast. A choice-of-words problem, apparently.
November 21, 2007 5:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Come to think of it, this administration does have a habit of tossing people either under a bus or out with the trash when they are no longer useful. Maybe Scott is just trying to 'get his' before the bus or garbage truck pulls up to his front door.
It does appear that loyalty is a one-way street with the Bush White House - you give it to them, not the other way around. I've heard of no honor among thieves but I've never heard of the devil selling his soul to a person. Maybe both apply in this case.
November 21, 2007 5:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
McClellan's insights are about as useful as the thoughts of every other rat who fled this sinking ship of a presidency. Too little, too late. He's still a dirty rat who deserves no cheese, no thanks and no forgiveness.
November 21, 2007 9:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
A choice-of-words problem, apparently.
Huh. Being a former White House spokesman and all, it seems kinda funny that his choice-of-words problem appeared to suggest that the President of the United States had lied.
Or maybe Cheney called and invited Scott to go quail hunting with him. Just sayin.'
“You live and learn. At any rate, you live.” Douglas Adams
November 21, 2007 11:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good god! There has always been blood on this man's hands! Ever since he sent the US Forces into Iraq for no good reason.
I thought that was crystal clear.
Every single life lost since. US and Iraqi. And the injuries, too.
Argue me otherwise.
And I can't see daylight between him, Cheney or Rumsfeld. And I could throw a few generals in there for not fighting to commit the proper level of forces. And I'll add the PNAC-nuts that signed onto the Iraq war for no better reason than ideological puritanism.
Iran today. Brazil tomorrow?
Well, only if they go socialist or Muslim, I think.
Fascism would be OK.
November 22, 2007 1:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
"... but now we know he is scum."
Bush would have to climb a few rungs on the evolutionary ladder to reach the stage of scum.
Has the nation become so inured by the multitude of lies that has been hatched and paraded before the nation by the Bush/Cheney junta that our only reaction is to shrug our shoulders?
Thank Odin for the Internet. So far, the pathetic excuse for a newspaper, the New York Times, hasn't touched this story.
But on today's front page, they had a real earth shattereing story...
Are you ready for this? Better sit down, this piece of "journalism" will hit you hard..
They had a story about Paris Hilton going to Shanghai.
And that's the way it is.
November 22, 2007 9:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Anybody surprised?
Does it make a difference?
It is refreshing to read a column written in actual language. And now that I mention it, ousting those freaks before their planned exit might throw off their timeline for stealing the rest of our treasures. But I think it makes sense to keep those hands where we can see them. And then cut them off to show the world we care about our values and resent the crimes they've committed.
November 23, 2007 8:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
Remember when Larry was promoting Rumsfeld's torture prosecution a few weeks ago?
I expect about as much to come of any of this. But the spirit of Fitzmas will always live on in the hearts of Kossites....
November 23, 2007 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Scott McClellan is a Kossite?
November 23, 2007 3:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nah, the little sleaze can pay me 24 bucks and I still don't want to read his apologia for his support of a treasonous war criminal.
November 23, 2007 7:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
"My guess is that when there's no camera on him, he's every bit the asshole we all think he is and more."
Many people including me believe that the fact that most of Bush's verbal gaffes occur when he's trying to say something nice ("put food on your family") but not when he's being his real nasty SOB self ("bring it on") shows what he's really like.
November 23, 2007 7:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's the usual crap from this gang. They hear, see and speak no evil when they're in a position to stop the madness, but are willing to tell all when they've gone to pasture and there's a buck to be made. They still have the gall to call themselves "patriots?"
If there is a hell, I hope the devil is moving the furniture around to make room for guys like McClellan and those he worked for. And he can light little red, white and blue fires for them to toast upon.
November 24, 2007 11:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
They lied about Iraq not becoming another Vietnam.
They lied repeatedly--and still do to this day--about Saddam Hussein having connections to al-Qaeda.
They lied about the intelligence briefings both then NSA head Condi Rice and GW Bush had received in the Summer of 2001.
They lied about Jose Padilla wanting to use a "dirty" bomb an an American city.
They lied about knowing the possibilities of someone using an airplane as a weapon to attack buildings.
They lied repeatedly--and still do to this day--about using torture techniques on prisoners.
They lied about the threat level of the people picked up in Afghanistan and shipped to Gitmo, saying they're "bomb makers" and terrorists.
Less than 8% have any connection to aL-Qaeda.
They lied--and still do--about not spying on Americans unless they have a court order.
They lied in the outing of now former CIA undercover operative Valerie Plame Wilson.
They lied about the FISA Court--Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act--not issuing warrants in a timely manner.
They lied about the size and scope of the domestic spying the Bush/Cheney junta has been performing on its own citizens.
They lied about Iraq having biological and chemical weapons.
They lied about Iraq having a nuclear weapons program...Yellowcake, anyone?
They lied about Saddam having mobile facilities for producing biological warfare agents.
They lied about Iraq having UAV's--Unmanned Aerial Vehicle's--that could deliver chemical or biological agents to the U.S.
They lied about finding WMD's in post-invasion Iraq.
They lied about Iraq being an "imminent" threat to the United States.
They lied about the threat level of the then approaching Hurricane Katrina.
They lied about not knowing that the New Orleans levees were in danger of being breached.
They lied--and still do--about the need for an immediate fix on the Social Security fund.
They lied about the tax cuts going mostly to the middle class.
They lied about the estate tax saving the "family farm."
They lied about the 2003 Prescription Drug Bill cost Estimates.
They lied about Bush's "Clean Air Act" imposing stringent new rules on polluters.
They lied about mercury levels in young mothers.
They lied--and still do--about the effects of the tax cuts on the national debt.
They lied about the provisions of the "PATRIOT" Act.
They lied about the outgoing Clinton administration damaging White House property.
They lied about Bush's service in the Air National Guard.
They lied about the level of care our wounded veterans were receiving.
They lied about the amount of federal educational funding states would receive.
They lied about the number of Americans having access to clean drinking water and the threat of arsenic in drinking water.
They lied about using conservation as part of a National Energy policy.
They lied about the White House's connections to the now bankrupt company, Enron.
They lied about Bush being the first president to advocate for a separate Palestinian state.
They lied about their level of involvement in the attempted coup in 2002 of President Chavez of Venezuela.
They lied about Cheney's involvement in awarding contracts to his old firm, Halliburton. (Cheney still receives a deferred compensation package from Halliburton)
They lied about Bush supporting a patient's bill of rights, that would allow patients denied care the right to take their HMO to court.
They lied about the safety of imported prescription drugs from Canada.
They lied about the budget deficits being only "small and temporary."
They lied about the fact that Bush and the WH do conduct focus groups and listen to polls.
They lied about the war in Iraq having nothing to do with oil.
They lied about former NFL star turned Army Ranger Pat Tilman's murder in Afghanistan.
They lied--and still do--about people wanting to attack us for our freedom.
They lied about turning information over to the 9/11 Commission.
They lied--and still do-- about addressing the security concerns and vulnerabilities at chemical plants and ports.
They lied--and still do--about Iran having connections to aL-Qaeda.
They lied--and still do--about Iran being a threat to the United States.
They lied about Saddam Hussein refusing to allow U.N. WMD inspectors into Iraq.
So, why in the hell should anyone believe ANYTHING this pack of professional liars has to say about the events that took place on September 11, 2001?
P.S. Thanks to the excellent web site, Bush Lies and to an article in the "Nation."
November 24, 2007 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
And they lied when they said they didn't lie.
November 24, 2007 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Like everyone else who left the Bush administration and criticized it, Scotty got a call from the Bush Fmaily Evil Empire after his book excerpt was aired and he um.....changed his mind.
Scott, is it a concidence that I'm watching The Godfather with that famous line;
"I'll make him an offer he can't refuse."?
November 24, 2007 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
tlees2,
I agree, and let me add;
Commenting on White House meetings with Bush, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tn) said recently;
"Let me say this. George Bush is a very compassionate person. He’s a very good person....."
This seems to be conventional wisdom of many Bush supporters and the MSM but I think its a superficial analysis based on what Bush 'SAYS' rather than what he 'DOES'.
Bush often talks with great compassion on TV but then goes back to the Oval Office and pushes for cuts in funding, enforcement, or regulations, originally put in place TO BE COMPASSIONATE. So I'm sure Bush spoke with great compassion when Corker was at the meeting.
November 24, 2007 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Impeached/fired/fired/fired, hat/door, hat/door,
you, you, YOU, youyouyou AND you, don't go
ANYwhere...Impeached/fired fired fired fired
AND fired. All of YOU, empty out your pockets and
stand over here...
November 26, 2007 12:25 PM | Reply | Permalink