Trueblue
05-31-2008, 07:07 AM
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10671.html
But several of the reporters who jousted with McClellan during his tenure at the briefing room podium from July 2003 to April 2006 — the same group of reporters who McClellan now describes as being “too deferential” in the run-up to invading Iraq — say they are not surprised that the mild-mannered spokesman has lashed out.
Peter Baker, previously a White House correspondent for The Washington Post and now a writer for The New York Times magazine, said McClellan — despite years of loyalty to Bush — has a deep sense of betrayal over unknowingly conveying misinformation as press secretary.
The book is “not surprising after talking to him,” Baker said. “You got a sense that his perspective had changed. You can’t overestimate how the CIA case [in which former operative Valerie Plame was outed] left him burned ... and being pummeled for passing along untrue statements.”
In “What Happened,” McClellan alleges that he was misled by White House aides, including Rove and I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, into passing along erroneous information to reporters about the CIA leak case.
In a chapter titled “Revelation and Humiliation,” McClellan writes about a particularly tough briefing in July 2005. At that time, Newsweek’s Michael Isikoff had a scoop about conversations between Rove and reporter Matt Cooper, who was then at Time magazine and is currently at Portfolio.
“I could feel something fall out of me into the abyss as each reporter took a turn whacking me,” McClellan writes. “It was my reputation crumbling away, bit by bit. And the affection for the job eventually followed it.”
Julie Mason, the Houston Chronicle’s correspondent, said that it has long been apparent that McClellan was coming to terms with his role.
“The last story I did about him — when he was leaving — I wrote about how he lied,” Mason said. “I waited for him to call and scream at me.”
But McClellan never did call, leading Mason to assume that he believed he did lie, or at least that he unknowingly misled reporters.
Although McClellan writes in his book about how the press corps hammered away during Plame affair, he also slights the media for not being aggressive enough before the administration’s decision to invade Iraq.
But several of the reporters who jousted with McClellan during his tenure at the briefing room podium from July 2003 to April 2006 — the same group of reporters who McClellan now describes as being “too deferential” in the run-up to invading Iraq — say they are not surprised that the mild-mannered spokesman has lashed out.
Peter Baker, previously a White House correspondent for The Washington Post and now a writer for The New York Times magazine, said McClellan — despite years of loyalty to Bush — has a deep sense of betrayal over unknowingly conveying misinformation as press secretary.
The book is “not surprising after talking to him,” Baker said. “You got a sense that his perspective had changed. You can’t overestimate how the CIA case [in which former operative Valerie Plame was outed] left him burned ... and being pummeled for passing along untrue statements.”
In “What Happened,” McClellan alleges that he was misled by White House aides, including Rove and I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, into passing along erroneous information to reporters about the CIA leak case.
In a chapter titled “Revelation and Humiliation,” McClellan writes about a particularly tough briefing in July 2005. At that time, Newsweek’s Michael Isikoff had a scoop about conversations between Rove and reporter Matt Cooper, who was then at Time magazine and is currently at Portfolio.
“I could feel something fall out of me into the abyss as each reporter took a turn whacking me,” McClellan writes. “It was my reputation crumbling away, bit by bit. And the affection for the job eventually followed it.”
Julie Mason, the Houston Chronicle’s correspondent, said that it has long been apparent that McClellan was coming to terms with his role.
“The last story I did about him — when he was leaving — I wrote about how he lied,” Mason said. “I waited for him to call and scream at me.”
But McClellan never did call, leading Mason to assume that he believed he did lie, or at least that he unknowingly misled reporters.
Although McClellan writes in his book about how the press corps hammered away during Plame affair, he also slights the media for not being aggressive enough before the administration’s decision to invade Iraq.