Jeff Gannon: "What I believe it comes down to is McClellan’s desire to cash in"

http://jeffgannon.com/

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What I believe it comes down to is McClellan’s desire to cash in. The only way for a former member of the Bush administration to cash in with a lucrative book deal is to bash George W. Bush. Paul O’Neill and Richard Clarke figured that out, Gen. Tommy Franks, George Tenet and L. Paul Bremer did not. In 2005, Ari Fleischer wrote a book about his tenure as White House Press Secretary that the Old Media paid little attention to for the same reason: no Bush bashing.

Compare the buzz Scott’s book is generating to that of former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Doug Feith, the first key player from the administration to discuss the process by which America went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. Even though Feith provided substantial documentary evidence in the form of memos, communications and intelligence analysis, the liberal media ignored his book, “War and Decision, Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism.”

I suspect the reason lies in the fact that Feith challenged the “conventional wisdom” about the decision to topple Saddam Hussein and presented a cogent argument for having done so. Because Feith did not embrace the viewpoint of the Bush-hating Old Media, his work was ignored. However, McClellan’s uninformed opinions, overheard conversations and unsubstantiated assumptions will be held in far higher regard than Feith’s scholarly work because it follows the preferred template.

If Scott McClellan believed all the things he has written, one has to wonder why he chose to endure the abuse day after day from the White House Press Corps and the liberal pundits who now clamor to praise him.

McClellan could have resigned in protest or simply moved on with his dignity intact. Now he looks pathetic, vindictive and opportunistic. Not much of a legacy.

What I hear about the book does not sound like the Scott McClellan I knew for two years. I can say without fear of contradiction, that I knew Scott better than any other White House correspondent or Washington reporter.

http://www.jeffgannon.com/archives/columns/index.html#a001092 via http://www.blogactive.com/2008/05/mcclellan-book-renews-gannon-questions.html