According to Politico’s Jonathan Martin, it’s right here baby!
Bob Dole yesterday sent a scalding email to Scott McClellan, excoriating the former White House spokesman as a “miserable creature” who greedily betrayed his former patron for a fast buck.
In an extraordinary message obtained and authenticated by Politico, Dole uses his trademark biting wit to portray McClellan as a classic Washington opportunist.
“There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who don’t have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues,” Dole wrote in a message sent yesterday morning. “No, your type soaks up the benefits of power, revels in the limelight for years, then quits, and spurred on by greed, cashes in with a scathing critique.”
Michael Marshall, Dole’s spokesman and colleague at the Alston Bird law firm, confirms the message came from the former senator and presidential candidate. ”Yes, it is authentic,” Marshall wrote in an email.
“In my nearly 36 years of public service I’ve known of a few like you,” Dole writes, recounting his years representing Kansas in the House and Senate. “No doubt you will ‘clean up’ as the liberal anti-Bush press will promote your belated concerns with wild enthusiasm. When the money starts rolling in you should donate it to a worthy cause, something like, ‘Biting The Hand That Fed Me.’ Another thought is to weasel your way back into the White House if a Democrat is elected. That would provide a good set up for a second book deal in a few years”
Heh; there’s more, read the whole thing.
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66 Responses to “Where’s the outrage?!”Search
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Too bad that wit wasn’t more obvious during his presidential run. He wouldn’t have seemed as old and out-of-touch with the younger voters.
McClellan is a weasel.
I liked Bob Dole ever since he was running for VP and was asked why, as a leading Republican in the Senate, he wanted to be Vice President. His reply was simply, “It’s inside work.”
Hard to dislike honesty like that.
McClellan is proof that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Have you ever had to keep your mouth shut to keep your job? I have.
Have you ever blown the whistle on your “superior’s” outrageous, immoral and inappropriate behavior after having left said job? I have.
Heads rolled and unfortunately one person had a stroke and died. And I would do it again. They are gone now and the state government place where I worked is a much better place because of it.
Don’t blame McClellan at all…
I think it’s actually some sort of nut tree.
Liz, when you work in a high profile job like that, you can get a job anytime, and for alot more money. He didn’t need the job that bad. He and his family have money.
And he never spoke out. And this President is known and has been recognized by several other former WH staffers as somebody who asks for opinions from all corners, then makes his own decision.
He’s a weasel. I completely blame him. We have 18 and 19 year olds in Iraq risking their lives, and he’s worried about losing his job? Nope, ain’t gonna fly.
Mr. Big, He’s only publicly said what we’ve known all along. And it is BECAUSE we have 18 and 19 year olds risking their lives in Iraq, the truth needed to be said - finally.
LizBV
Yes I have lost a job because I spoke out. It didn’t stop me then and it would not stop me now. But I would never leave a job and then wait several years to speak out when it was most convenient so I could sell a couple of books and feel important.
McClellan is a weasel that wants to sell books and get his name in the news so he can feel important and he doesn’t care what he has to do to obtain that goal.
Reply to No. 4: Your right people have kept their mouths shut, to keep their jobs. And people have spoken out after they left their job. So what is McClellan excuse for waiting so long?? Oh, yeah, a book deal, money and hopefully more money and of course good timing. And leave to the liberal media to pick and choose whose book they over hype. There were plenty of books written about HELLary but the liberal media didn’t pick up on them. But let it be a Republican and they are all over it. McClellan didn’t get the liberal media’s respect when he was Press Secretary but write a book about his boss and they are all over it. Typical liberal bias, seen it, know about it!!!
Liz, have to agree with Big. He’s a weasel. If he had such high and mighty morals why didn’t he speak out then and do something about it. Absolutely no guts. Now he’s an opportunist and he’ll cash in with all the libs like you who are chomping at the bits for something to use to say “I told you so.”
He wasn’t in the inner circles. I don’t buy what he says as truth. His book is trash.
BTW, going into Iraq was the right thing to do. Saddam Hussein was an evil regime that needed to be taken out.
Come on Liz
How long has he been “out of a job”? When should he have been speaking out? Okay, I understand about not wanting to speak out when your job is on the line, but to wait until now to speak out, and then only in a “tell all” book? Why wasn’t he shouting it from the rooftops on April 27, 2006?
I’m not going to get into the argument about whether or not we should be in Iraq, but I will tell you that Scotty is a money grubbing weasel.
The time to have spoken out about what he thought has long since passed. He could have quit when he first became aware of his internal conflicts and let the world know then or he could have spoken up much earlier. How many 18 & 19 year-olds have gone to Iraq between when he realized his conflict and when he spoke out about it?
He’s a big boy and took the job understanding what would be involved. He was Ari Fleischer’s deputy for a long time, so he has no excuse for not knowing. He needs to accept responsibility for his actions and not try to displace his discomfort with his own actions onto others.
All we can do is base our opinions on our own experiences and knowledge. I’ve disclosed mine. Y’all may very well be right on this - I don’t know. But this was my initial reaction.
Liz, the truth is my nephew got back from Iraq in May. He and 11 other young men VOLUNTEERED to go back again and got back two months ago for a particularly dangerous mission - something they happen to believe in. Now I’ll take their truth over the weasel McClellan’s truth.
I don’t know which truth you are talking about. The military I’m talking to here are saying that in this last year in Iraq we and the Iraqis have made incredible strides in improving security and commerce. Soldiers here in Hawaii are telling us that streets that were empty a year ago are teaming with shoppers. These aren’t soldier in public relations. They’re everyday grunts.
Now I don’t know what truth it is that you are talking about. But truth for these soldiers and Marines is that they are fighting a viscious, cruel enemy and protecting a people that just want peace.
I’ll take the truth of those on the sharp end of the spear who are doing the fighting, the bleeding, and the dying. I’ve got my own family blood in this fight. I’m very close to my nephew. So I’ll take his first hand account on this. Want me to post some of his emails to me?
Dole (and everyone else) has the right and the justification to blast McClellan for lack of loyalty, and it’s a good bet that his timing is financially motivated.
So what?
That doesn’t mean it’s his sole motivation. It’s also likely that McClellan, like so many others, is disappointed in the apparent dishonesty the executive branch employed in “selling” its foriegn policy to the people, and believe that the policy itself is fundamentally flawed.
That is a valid position to hold and McClellan has every right to hold it, say it, print it, and sell it at the time of his choosing.
It’s not about loyalty. It’s about the honesty and integrity our government owes us.
Memo to Bob Dole and John McCain:
“It’s about the war, stupid.”
I trembled to contemplate the book Matt and Squawk are going to write someday about their tenure here…
Mr. Big - I have 4 years of emails from my son w/ 2 combat duties under his belt and he too would go back in a heartbeat. I know what you are saying and believe it or not, you and I are more ways alike than not.
You also know I can’t argue w/ you.
David B, it’s worse than you think. Squawk and BigJ are collaborating. Matt and Hamous are writing independent journals. Owen says he never heard of LST and Ree-C also claims no independent knowledge of LST.
Texpat and Rickg both claim that while at LST there was no controlling authority…..
Bob, it’s not about criticism….it’s about the timing of the criticism. Do you think a man of Teddy Roosevelt’s character would have serve in a capacity he felt was dishonest and immoral. Would Teddy have been deputy WH spokesman and WH spokesman for 5-6 years and kept quiet about a policy he disagreed with just to keep his job?
I think not.
And would Teddy have waited 1-2 years to write a book to criticize the administration? I think not also.
Don’t try and compare Teddy Roosevelt, Medal of Honor recipient and real hero with a cowardly weasel like McClellan.
David B - Sell out NOW, cut your losses and RUN! Big45Iron, you have a spare bedroom, right?
Yup, George Soros got another ally with Scot McClellan.
I don’t care much for Dole in general but I appreciate his letter. ‘Miserable creature’ is a very nice touch.
#19 Big,
I’m not.
I’m comparing him to George W. Bush.
Liz, EVERYBODY is asking to use the spare bedroom. Benzion is going to have to share it with 40 other people. Of course this is not a democracy and I reserve the right moderate his bed use. Let’s move on.
Bob, in the course of training as a jet fighter pilot, Pres. Bush flew jets carrying full bomb loads at about 600 knots at around 100 feet above the ground. Now if you’re calling Pres. Bush a coward, I’ll like to get you in that same position and see how high you rate the pucker factor.
As far as whether or not Pres. Bush told the truth about Iraq, well, we have Scott McClellan’s word, who is being printed by George Soros? Now how do you rate that and the timing of this disclosure?
Now we do know for sure, because we have it on tape, that the Dems deliberately lied to the voters on Iraq. You did hear that didn’t you?
I find the introduction of Teddy Roosevelt into a discussion about Bush “selling” the war in Iraq more than ironic. Teddy, aided by the Pulitzer and Hearst newspapers, sold the Spanish-American War, lock-stock-and-barrel, to the American people. Theodore Roosevelt was the consummate presidential salesman, for war-making and other things domestic. George Bush cannot now, nor could he then, hold a candle to the selling abilities of Teddy.
Yes, but Hearst actually got himself out on the battlefield as I recall.
Liz, why would he go back? That is important. In Vietnam, most men felt an incredible loyalty to their units and those they served with. But they didn’t want to go back to Vietnam.
What’s different about this war?
That rings true, Texpat. However the difference lies in the product being sold, as well as the two salesmen’s reaction to criticism, directly or by “loyal proxy.”
The Spanish American War had clear goals, and, well, ended. The War in Iraq was never presented as a 50+ year occupation proposition, but now it is pretty clear that that was the goal.
The very definition of “Victory” in context of the Bush Doctrine has been a moving target. Moving targets are easy to sell in today’s political environment.
So yes, I might agree that Teddy was a better salesman too.
The Founding Fathers of this nation had to sell the idea of a revolution to the people, the majority of which were opposed or ambivalent to the idea until years into the Revolutionary War.
Fearing the failure of ratification, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison had to sell the Constitution to the American people by writing a long series of sales pitches we know today as the Federalist Papers.
Abraham Lincoln worked without sleep to sell the idea a war to restore the Union was right and necessary to the people of the North. His sales pitches came endlessly to even opposing members of his cabinet and general officers who wavered and one who even ran for President against him.
Lyndon Baines Johnson tirelessly worked to sell the idea of equality to his former colleagues in the House and Senate. His endless work to convince and sell the Civil Rights Act to the American people transformed the nation.
If George W. Bush has failed anywhere it was because he did not sell his vision well enough, not because he tried to do so. Any president who does not, or cannot sell, his vision and ideas to the American people is doomed to fail.
Teddy had the loudest media voices on his side in what today we would describe as a skirmish. The risk George Bush took in attacking al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and overthrowing the Hussein regime can be described as enormous compared to running the Spanish out of Cuba and the Phillipines.
#27 I don’t know. My best friend went back to Vietnam several times - and wanted to. He was an Army ranger and led a canine unit in the jungles. I don’t think he had any thing more important to come home to since the love of his life married someone else while he was gone. (Neat thing is their paths crossed a few years ago and they are married now.)
In son’s case, he was an only child and those he served w/ became his brothers and sisters. You just don’t leave family behind to carry on w/o you.
It’s much more complicated than that and I know you understand that I can’t explain it properly.
We’re giving Scotty boy way too much more time than he deserves. Lets talk about immigration
Now, Teddy Roosevelt was for immigration. As president, he supervised cleaning up of the graft and corruption going on at Ellis Island, clearing the way for many thousands of immigrants to enter this country. Legally, I might add.
Where is he and Ellis Island now that we need them?
Bottom line…Bob Dole’s e-mail is awesome.
It is now clear that “attacking al Qaeda and the Taliban” and “overthrowing the Hussein regime” were two different wars with two different motivations.
The former was a justifiable retaliation, the later was a preemptive military invasion in support of (imho) a fundamentally flawed strategy.
#32
He also expected them to become Americans.
Texpat, also, Teddy Roosevelt did not live in a nuclear age, and did not fight a war that if lost, had potential catastrophic consequences to the United States and world peace. And we did occupy Cuba and the Philippines for decades thereafter, and we did fight a very prolonged guerilla war in the Philippines from 1899-1913. U.S. troop strength averaged 40,000 and peaked at 74,000. A total of 126,468 US soldiers served there.
American Forces: 126,000 soldiers
4,380 U.S. soldiers dead, (possibly over 5000 from 1899–1913) 3,100+ wounded
Philippine Forces: 80,000 soldiers
2,000 killed, dead, or wounded suffered by the Philippine Constabulary: 16,000 soldiers killed.
Est. 250,000 to 1,000,000 civilians died of war (through combatants of both sides), famine, or disease.
Sound familiar?
#34 bob42
I think it fatally flawed to view the aggressive military response to radical Islamic terrorism as anything but one single war. The entire Ummah is a bellicose theater for battles of which Afghanistan and Iraq are merely chapters. To ignore the threat is dangerous and simply blinds us to the never-ending manifestations of their cross-border, multi-national efforts to destroy the West.
We will have to agree to disagree.
Bob, it is all part of the war on terror. Saddam supported terrorists. Because of our action against Iraq, Libya gave up their nuclear program. Other nations saw we were serious and gave us alot of help in coordinating and eliminate large numbers of cells of terrorists worldwide. Had we not gone into Iraq, what would our casualties be now from terrorist attacks worldwide?
#36 Big
I can’t remember, but I believe more men died from malaria and dysentery in Cuba than did from combat.
25, Texpat,
Could you clarify something for me? Was Colonel Teddy Roosevelt also President while he was walking up the slopes of San Juan Hill in Cuba during the Spanish American War?
Simple
39, Texpat
Disease almost always takes more casulties that direct conflict, that is until the modern era.
Simple
texpat, I just wanted to remind Bob #28 what the real consequences were of the Spanish-American war.
Let’s see. Theodore Roosevelt was 40 and not Pres. when the Spanish American War, which he pushed for, began.
George Bush was 55 and President when the war on terror began.
Simple, I’m not sure of what point you were trying to make in your #40. Could you clarify for me/us?
Thanks,
And what decent American would have George Soros publish his book?
http://sweetness-light.com/archive/george-soros-on-helping-the-nazis-during-the-holocaust
Please don’t tell me at 14 he wasn’t old enough to make a moral decision:
During WWII Jack Lucas was 14 years old when he falsified his records to enlist in the Marine Corps. He desperately wanted in the fight to defend and protect our country. Here is how desperate he was.
After boot camp his first duty station was Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He went AWOL from there, got on a troop train traveling across the country to California. He ended up at Camp Pendelton until he jumped on board a troop ship headed for Hawaii. All of this was over a 2-3 year period. By the time he got to Hawaii he was 16 years old and officials had learned of his real age and were preparing to send him home. This time Jack jumped on board another ship with no idea where it was headed.
Jack turned 17 during this voyage and soon found out the ship’s destination. Iwo Jima. On the 2nd day of battle there, Feb 20, 1945, Jack and his fire team (3 other Marines) were in a trench when they became involved in a firefight with Japanese troops in another trench just feet away from them. Jack tells of how he had to look down to reload his rifle when he saw not one but two hand grenades lying at his feet. Not having time to warn his Marines, he immediately fell on both grenades, covering them with his body. He was SEVERELY wounded when they exploded and Jack says to this day that the power of God stopped him from bleeding to death. For his actions he was awarded the Medal of Honor,our nation’s highest award for bravery in combat.
I think this says it best: Blame Bush!
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/05/blame_bush_for_mcclelland.html
#37/38
I’m not suggesting that we ignore any real threat. But I see other, less violent options in our reaction that the Bush Doctrine does not permit.
But yes, perhaps it is best to agreeably disagree. (But I’d still like to read that book, Texpat.)
I have a new respect for Dole. McClellan is a big rat. He’ll net $400K on the book sales, probably. I wonder how much George Soros paid him.
Bad apples don’t fall too far from the tree. I have never had a very high opinion of his mom, Carol Keeton Strayhorn, and her “grandma” ads turned my stomach. Looks like McClellan is an Obama fan to me!
Bob42, please consider this. Libya approached the US and Britain to give up their nuclear program. Examination of that program revealed they were one year away from having functional nuclear weapons. Neither we nor the British knew that.
You state:
I’m just asking you to consider:
1 Would Khadaffy have given up his nuclear program had Pres. Bush not invaded Iraq?
2 How dangerous would it have been had Khadaffy obtained nuclear weapons while still hostile to the USA?
These are valid questions which were a direct
result of the invasion of Iraq. We always must keep in mind that it’s a world wide war on terror. It wasn’t a war on al Queda, or a war on bin Ladin. It is a war of cultures. We have brought tremendous pressure on Saudi Arabia, through non violent means, to eliminate the hatred taught by radical Wahabi Islam, and the influence of radical Wahabists in worldwide muslim organizations.
If you haven’t had an opportunity to read it, check out Dore Gold’s book, Hatred’s Kingdom. I suspect that book had a great deal to do with how we have proceeded since 2005/6 in our approach to the Saudis. You probably would have a difficult time finding a country in Europe that hasn’t broken terrorist cells, many in the far east, Australia, South America, the U.S. and Canada, Africa, and almost all of the Arab nations.
Bob, one thing we have shown the Islamic world is that we are NOT the enemy of any Muslim who wants to live in peace. We have also shown them that if they do want to live in peace, we are willing to help them. There are nutcases out there like Imadinnerjacket and the group in Sudan and some in Somalia. But we are making tremendous strides according to those I talk to who are going back and forth to Iraq.
In a nuclear age, how can we afford not to?
Simple RE: Teddy R
Teddy was an Assistant Secretary of the Navy when he convinced President McKinley to give him a commission and organize the Rough Riders for the assault on Spanish at Havana. He came down to San Antonio and essentially took over the Muenger Hotel a couple of blocks north of the Alamo. Teddy set up office in the bar and started signing up recruits. He was such a colorful, bombastic figure, he got alot of free press out of the deal and men rode in to San Antonio from all over Texas and the Southwest to join.
My great-grandfather, Curtis Alexander of McCullough County (Brady) rode down to the Muenger Hotel and signed up. At 20 years old, he was an excellent horseman, marksman and also accomplished farrier and blacksmith. Roosevelt needed blacksmiths and farriers and ended up taking five with him to Cuba. My great-grandfather was one of them.
The fame and attention from Cuba vaulted the very popular TR into the VP with McKinley’s re-election in 1900. He was President for only nine months in his second term before he was assasinated elevating TR to the Oval Office.
Also, whenever I visit San Antonio, I always stop in the Roosevelt Bar at the Muenger to have a drink and toast my great-grandfather and Teddy. It’s a great place.
Ah, yes, the Muenger! Love that place. Second only in my heart to the Driskill in Austin.
I thought it was Menger and right next door to the Alamo? I stand to be corrected though.
Big, In 2003 Libya had a very serious WMD program and a verifiable history of state sponsored terrorism.
Iraq had neither, but we launched a preemptive invasion because we were led to believe that they did.
Maybe we should have invaded Libya instead of Iraq. On that note, when should we invade Pakistan and Saudi Arabia? (Iran’s pretty much a given…)
The basic question is, “Is there a country on the face of the planet today whose invasion could not be justified by our current foriegn policy?”
Big45Iron
You are right - it is Menger, not Muenger.
BJ
I love the old Driskill in Austin and used to stay there back before they renovated it and it became so popular and expensive.
Big45Iron
I have an old friend named Muenger and the cranial synapses misfired from all the medication I am taking for this sinus malady I have right now.
I loved the Menger, it’s my favorite S.A. hotel. I have fantasized about my daughter getting married, coming down the stair case…….. but believe me could never afford it.
Bob42, have Lybia, Pakistan, or Saudi Arabia used WMDs on their own people since the end of WW2? In the last 20 years, have any of them invaded their neighbors? Do any of them have 400,000 of their own citizens buried in mass graves?
There is a difference sir. Particularly with Saddam Hussein and Iran. And I keep pointing out to you that those countries are cooperation with us. You see any coopration in Iran? Did you see any in Iraq? How many times did Saddam violate the 1991 cease fire argeement?
Do you see I can’t type or spell worth a hoot anymore?
Big45Iron, Our current foreign policy justifies an invasion or preemptive military strike on ALL of the countries you mention. Hence my problem with it.
But let’s give it a rest, shall we? I know I’m six hours ahead of your clock, but here that means it’s the weekend and I think we can both rest assured that the world will be just as screwed up tomorrow as it is today.
Bob, uh, how so? Again I will point out that Afghanistan harbored al Queda. Iran not only supported terrorists, they had attacked neighboring countries with their armed forces en masse, they had committed mass murder in the 100s of thousands of their own citizens, and they had violated a cease fire time after time from the previous conflict with them.
Would you please point out all the other nations that fit into that category? I don’t recall any.
Bob, at this age if I give it a rest I won’t remember what I was resting from.
Oops, #60 line 2, change Iran to Iraq.
#51 Big45Iron, You are correct. The Menger is next door (across the street) from the Alamo. Agree with AW, it’s our favorite place to stay in San Antonio as well. We always make a pilgrimage to the bar for a glass of wine. And always go to the Alamo on a spiritual pilgrimage.
#55 Texpat, Golly it seems as if the respiratory crud/sinus infection bug is all over the country these days. Take care of yourself.
A dear friend in Houston had a sinus infection, got it under control, and went off to Scotland with three other ladies several weeks ago. Her misery recurred while there, and the other three came down with something similar. They said just about everybody in Scotland was sneezing and coughing. A similar bug is all over the Houston area, and several friends have it who don’t know each other. Kleenex sales are booming.
I served in Asia in one of the last leg infantry units the Army had. You have to be stupid to send American troops anywhere in Asia and especially against Muslims and George Bush knows that. Remember we sent in the Rangers and Special forces into Afghanistan after 9/11 and won the war. We then followed up with regular troops and are losing. We are reinacting what happened to the Brits 100 years ago. what the Rangers did worked.
Remember George Bush was urged to attack Iraq/Saddam Hussein by a man named Chalabi. Although Saddam was a horrible Arab tyrant (which one of them is not?)What was happening in Iraq was not worth the life of one American service man. Saddam supported no terroists that did not support him - Read No Al-Queda. Saddams weapons of mass destruction if he had them read M1A1 rockford Arsenal and came from Rumsfeld to fight IRan. I knew the greatest distance he could throw a missle was 700 miles, why didn’t you? Because you listened to George Bush lie. where is Chalabi now? He resides in Iran. Lets cut the crap - we invaded Iraq by mistake at the invitation of Iran. The persians got us to take out their old nemesis that as we all know was a mean and evil dictator. It must be my Asian experience but I didn’t feel a thing when Saddam was killing all his own people. Now the iranians have us polarizing the sunnis and Shiites in Iraq until they can come waltzing in as the saviors from the Zionist American Crusaders! that may hurt our personal feelings but that is how it being fed to the Iraqis. In addition, the cost of the war is destroying the US dollar so it lowers the ability of the US to fight a real war against Iran or China - the real threat. The american people are being polarized also because you don’t fight a fourth generation war with tanks and humvees. We are losing boys and have nothing to show for it. Next time americans will think twice about wanting to send anyone anywhere because they will have lost their faith in the government. That is what George bush has done. In Army and Asian terms, I just said the man couldn’t fight his way outa of a paperbag! Like Vietnam, we will win every battle and the soldiers will feel good but that is not how you fight this one. You need proxies to fight there like Bani Sadr, Hamas, or the other Arab groups. Mcclellan is a self serving dweeb but then he learned from a guy who started a war so he could look presidential. instead of talking about Teddy and the Menger Hotel, you should study that British Tinker Bell, Lawrence. someone like him is the only one who can get us out of this mess now!
When multiple insider sources report the same behavior and tendencies by the Bush Administration, you’d have to be an idiot not to see the pattern:
Politics trumps policy and governance, intelligence, data manipulated to support forgone conclusions, propaganda aimed at the American people and of course gross incompentence.
Various aspects of the above have been reported in depth by the following insiders:
Scott McClellan
Richard Clarke
John DiIulio (head of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives) “It’s the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis.”
Paul O’Neill (Treaury Secretary) Bush was like “a blind man in a room full of deaf people.”
Dole is always there to stand by a beleaguered President. He did it for Nixon too. As we revisit those days with Historical Perspective, we may realize that Nixon wasn’t that bad. He was led around by the nose with Kissenger and Co, puppetmastering the adminitration from the Internationalist’s headquaters. Has anyone noticed, that most films or documentaries fail to bring up Kennedy and Johnson in regard to VietNam and NIxon gets all the blame?