So Many Republican Hypocrites, So Little Time

May 30, 2008 | SEND TO A FRIEND | GET EARLY NOTICE OF THE HOTW

Scott McClellan

Welcome back to the BuzzFlash GOP Hypocrite of the Week.

No, Scott McClellan is no hero for fessing up to the fact that George Bush misled the nation into war -- or for revealing, among other things we already knew, that Scooter Libby and Karl Rove coordinated their accounts of the treasonous Valerie Plame outing.

According to advance accounts of McClellan's tell all book, he blames "the liberal press" for not being hard enough on the Bush Administration's dishonesty. But, of course, the deliverer of the misleading Bush narrative and responses to administration scandals during the first years of the Iraq War was, well, Scott McClellan.

It's a tragic irony fitting for the times that McClellan is spilling the beans in return for a fat book contract. He even has the hopeless audacity and PR spin to claim that "I still like and admire President Bush." Maybe he does. Republicans have the ability to hold two contradictory notions in their minds at one time and firmly believe that both are correct -- or so they would have us believe.

As David Corn of Mother Jones, who first broke the significance of the Plame outing asks of McClellan, "Where's the apology." Former national security advisor Richard A. Clarke, who told us about the failings of the Bush Administration to prevent 9/11, personally apologized to Americans for not doing more to prevent that tragedy. He is to be commended for accepting something that McClellan and the Bush loyalists never do: accept responsibility.

So BuzzFlash won't be joining in any chorus praising McClellan for telling us what he should have told us when he was White House press secretary.

Anybody with a conscience wouldn't have stepped up to the podium and deceived the American public about a war launched to enhance a president's image, among other reasons.

McClellan is no profile in courage. He let his nation down when his candor was most needed. Now, he tells us the truth, far too late, while fattening his wallet.

Remember our motto: So many Republican hypocrites, so little time.

Catch up with you soon.