McClellan's book a stinging defection for W

Ron Ziegler's Scott McClellan's book, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception is turning into one of this summer's must-reads for political buffs, yours truly included. And, when the smoke clears, there can be absolutely no doubt that McClellan, Bush's former White House press secretary, will join the lengthening list of former Bush administration officials who will be attacked, vilified and crucified as if they have committed the worst, treasonous acts by another human being by just about any current member of the Bush cabal. (Richard A. Clarke, Paul O'Neill, Colin Powell, and there will undoubtedly be many others.)

I'll get to some excerpts in a minute, but having only read some excerpts from the book, I have to at least tentatively give McClellan some credit for having the courage to stand up and call out the Bush administration. However, my big question is, while all this was happening, why didn't he stand up then? It takes considerably less courage to stand up to a president when your ass isn't on the line. Courage in presidential administrations is so rare these days. It may happen behind the scenes somewhat, but I can't even remember the last time a high-level man or woman in an administration said, "I resign" over a decision made by a president. Gone are the days of people like Jerald terHorst, President Ford's press secretary, who immediately resigned when he learned that Ford, in a controversial move to this day, pardoned President Nixon.

Yesterday, The Politico ran some very interesting excerpts from the book. Among them:

• He says the White House press corps was too easy on the administration during the run-up to the war.

• Steve Hadley, then the deputy national security adviser, said about the erroneous assertion about Saddam Hussein seeking uranium, included in the State of the Union address of 2003: "Signing off on these facts is my responsibility. … And in this case, I blew it. I think the only solution is for me to resign." The offer "was rejected almost out of hand by others present," McClellan writes.

• Bush was "clearly irritated, ... steamed," when McClellan informed him that chief economic adviser Larry Lindsey had told The Wall Street Journal that a possible war in Iraq could cost from $100 billion to $200 billion: "'It's unacceptable,' Bush continued, his voice rising. 'He shouldn't be talking about that.'"

• Instead, McClellan's tone is often harsh. He writes, for example, that after Hurricane Katrina, the White House "spent most of the first week in a state of denial," and he blames Rove for suggesting the photo of the president comfortably observing the disaster during an Air Force One flyover. McClellan says he and counselor to the president Dan Bartlett had opposed the idea and thought it had been scrapped.

But he writes that he later was told that "Karl was convinced we needed to do it - and the president agreed."

"One of the worst disasters in our nation's history became one of the biggest disasters in Bush's presidency. Katrina and the botched federal response to it would largely come to define Bush's second term," he writes. "And the perception of this catastrophe was made worse by previous decisions President Bush had made, including, first and foremost, the failure to be open and forthright on Iraq and rushing to war with inadequate planning and preparation for its aftermath."

Of course, the ideological buzzards are already circling McClellan's political carcass, ready to rip him to shreds. Actually, it's already started, and there are only excerpts out right now.

Keith Olbermann offered come commentary last night on McClellan's book, along with Air America's Rachel Maddow...

Probably my favorite part of the above clip is when Olbermann and Maddow mention what McClellan writes about propaganda and its role in selling the War in Iraq to the American people. Propaganda?!? In a time of war? Wow.

Below is Karl Rove McCain campaign consultant, political commentator for Fersatz News Channel, throwing McClellan to the wolves.

It's amazing how someone who was Bush's press secretary for so long is now all of a sudden an imbecile, just because he now thinks it's appropriate to speak out against all that Bush has done.

So, let's get this straight - every single word Scott McClellan wrote is a total lie, and Karl Rove is completely innocent. RIGHT! Is there anyone who honestly believes that? C'mon...

McClellan will be on NBC's Today Show tomorrow morning, so set your DVRs, or your alarm clock, because it should be a good interview. Here's hoping that Matt Lauer brings his A-game.

Actually, my favorite reaction so far is from the GOP toad and mouthpiece, Matt Drudge...

Bitter beer face, Drudge. It kills me that Drudge keeps up the act that he's a "non-partisan" site, that he "goes where the story goes," yet that's a screen shot from his site this morning, bemoaning McClellan's book "snitching" on the Bush administration. Notice it doesn't say "Scott the Liar" - he's merely a "snitch." Draw your own conclusions.

Partisanship set aside for Ford funeral, mostly

Washington, D.C. appropriately mourned President Ford, as we all did this week. It was a fitting send off for a man who helped heal a nation following the Nixon administration, an era marked by corruption, abuse of power, and much worse. Nixon's pardon aside (and I feel that received entirely too much play in the press this week), President Ford really accomplished what many believed unthinkable on August 9, 1974, when Ford took the oath of office at noon -- to restore Americans' collective belief in our Democracy, political system, and most importantly, the presidency. Well done, Mr. President. Rest in peace.

President Ford makes his final journey through Washington.

I thought President Ford's memorial service and funeral were both touching, appropriate and accurate tributes of the man that was Gerald R. Ford. With each of our presidents, there is always plenty of evidence of how they view themselves and how they want to be remembered, from their presidential libraries to their memoirs. But, there's no greater indication than their funerals and memorial services. As such, President Ford didn't disappoint this week; his planned memorials were great reflections of his character and personality -- unassuming and dignified, without a whiff of pomposity or self-importance; two unfortunate traits that tend to mark such events. No horse with the empty boots, no Air Force flyover (that was saved for the Michigan service). And the American public streamed in throughout the night to view his casket, alongside the many dignitaries, world leaders and former presidents.

Just when I thought this was about as nonpartisan political event as one can see, I read after the funeral service that President Bush was the only person who required that the Rotunda in the Capitol be cleared so he could go in and view the casket, where videotape shows he stood for about seven seconds. All presidents have egos, but really? What an uncouth rube.

This is one of my favorite pics from this week -- visitors passing by the presidents casket as he lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda on the Lincoln catafalque, which has held every president who has lied in state in the capitol since President Lincoln. I love the use of a drag shutter here (when a photographer uses a slow shutter speed). It's a cool technique that can add a lot to a situation, as long as it's not overdone.

The Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. is an impressive site to behold; it's too bad that most of the time that Americans see it is during occasions like these.

My favorite part is how they robbed Bush of his 1,000,000,000th photo opportunity - when it was time for pictures, the Ford children were nowhere to be found. Good for them.
President Bush's remarks (above) were pretty measured. I wonder if this was because it was revealed seemingly hours after Ford's death that the former president was vehemently opposed to Bush's disastrous foray into Iraq. We'll probably never know.

My favorite moment from the memorial service was former President George H.W. Bush's remarks, when he talked about Ford's ability to laugh at himself. Bush talked about the Saturday Night Live skits that made fun of his falling down, and Ford's ability to laugh at himself and the importance of having that trait in public life. And Bush Sr. also showed the ability to laugh at himself, doing an imitation of Dana Carvey doing an imitation of him (above). As his Bush Sr. said that, he got a big laugh, and the cameras went to the sitting president, and he had that smirk on his face that I've come to despise these past 7-8 years.

Anyway, it was a moving, memorable service, if for no other reason that even Americans who live 80-90 years only get to see these funerals seven or eight times in their lives.

Ford's legacy will endure

Tuesday marked the passing of one of our most underrated presidents, Gerald R. Ford. Of all of the mid-to-late 20th century presidents, he gets talked about the least, but he deserves a great deal of credit for his stewardship following President Richard Nixon's downfall and resignation.

I post the photo above because when people pass away, I prefer to remember and commemorate them as they looked during their younger days, not how they looked just prior to death.

Many call Ford our "accidental president," not out of malice, but because he really did not want, nor did he seek the presidency.

His ascension to the Oval Office is without parallel. On October 10, 1973, President Nixon's first vice president, Spiro Agnew, resigned in disgrace amid charges of income tax evasion. Ford was nominated to take Agnew's place on October 12, and he took the oath of office for vice president on December 12, 1973 upon his confirmation by the House. It received scant attention by the media, as the political firestorm continued to envelop Nixon's presidency.

Ford barely had time to make the seat warm in the vice president's chair before he was summoned again, this time by White House Chief of Staff Alexander M. Haig on August 1, 1974, to let him know that a "smoking gun" had been found on the Nixon tapes, implicating the president in criminal wrongdoing. Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, and at noon, Ford took the oath of office. ...

However, upon taking the oath of office, President Ford made the biggest of all political blunders - pardoning President Nixon. It's a debate that will probably rage for decades, if not centuries in American political discourse. Should Ford have pardoned Nixon, or should have Nixon suffered the consequences for his administration's criminal behavior?

Ultimately, I understand why Ford pardoned Nixon. America needed to get moving again. Watergate had enveloped the nation for over two years and paralyzed its foreign policy. I've changed my stance over the years on Ford's decision to pardon Nixon. Up until a few years ago, I thought it was criminal of Ford to let Nixon skate; the American people deserved answers, I used to haughtily intone.

Well, I still feel that way - a trial would have paralyzed the nation, and probably almost certainly would have killed Nixon, and by that I mean physically. Some close to the former president at the time following his resignation even felt that Nixon might have committed suicide.

But, I strongly feel that Ford pardoned Nixon too soon. Without even being formally charged, Nixon was exonerated of all charges. The American people deserved better. Yes, I realize I didn't "live" in those times, so I'm only going on what I've read. I was born in 1971, so I was alive, but at three years old, I remember nothing of those events.

In my view, Ford should have at least let the charges come out against Nixon. Americans at least deserved to learn of Nixon and his administration's criminal misconduct before the entire mess was swept under the rug with a pardon. (Above, Ford signs the pardon on the Oval Office on September 8, 1974)

The pardon set off another political firestorm in America, and this even touched his own administration. Ford's first press secretary, Jerry terHorst, resigned in protest the next day. More importantly, it severely hurt Ford's credibility as the new president. Many still believe that a deal had been struck between Ford and Nixon; in return for Nixon's resignation, Ford would grant him a pardon.

Prior to Nixon's resignation, Haig had indeed offered Ford a deal, but most historians agree that Ford pardoned Nixon on his own.

In the end, though, I think the pardon, irrespective of its timing, was the right thing to do, even though it certainly cost him the election in 1976. Had he not pardoned Nixon, Ford would have beaten Jimmy Carter and remained president. (The election was very close, so no pardon could have made a world of difference.)

Several former leaders also gained experience in the Ford Administration. Future President George H.W. Bush (above, left) meets with President Ford after being appointed Director of the CIA.

A Ford between two Edsels. President Ford (center) talks with Donald Rumsfeld (left) and Dick Cheney (right) in the Oval Office in 1975.

Here's one that a president got right - Gerald Ford tears up in the East Room of the White House while listening to President Clinton's remarks while receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999. It was certainly a better decision than Bush's awarding the Medal of Freedom to the likes of George Tenet, who oversaw one of the biggest intelligence failures in U.S. history. Bush threw him under the bus in the wake of the WMD intel failure, Tenet resigned, and Bush gave him the MOF. I wonder how long it will be until Rumsfeld gets his? But, I digress.

Ford also had his dangerous detractors. On September 5, 1975, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme tried to shoot Ford, and she may have succeeded, but she forgot to chamber a round into the firing chamber of her .45 before pulling the trigger.

Fromme (above) is currently serving a life sentence.

Just 17 days later, Sara Jane Moore (Below) managed to get off a shot toward Ford in San Francisco, but the shot was deflected. (Above, Ford approaches his limo as Moore fires)

After losing the '76 election, Ford kept probably the lowest profile of any recent former president. He occasionally made an appearance or went out for a round of golf, but he didn't make headlines in the vein of Clinton or his successor, Jimmy Carter.

He did do one thing that all other ex-presidents to date haven't managed to do, and that's live 93 years plus. He became the longest living president last month, besting Ronald Reagan by a little over a month.

Ford was a good and decent man who healed our nation in the aftermath of a real constitutional crisis, and that will be his greatest legacy.

God bless, and rest in peace, Mr. President.