When I heard that former Bush press secretary, Scott McClellan, came out with a tell-all book castigating the Bush administration, I yawned. I thought, "that's news???" I've lost count on the number of backstabbers who have served under President George W. Bush and cashed in as if confidentiality or honor did not matter. No, that is not news.
What IS news is that a Republican politician (retired) decided to show some backbone and respond to it. Now it should be noted that it was a Republican from another era who did this (an older species, no longer representative of today's spineless wonders) ; and yet it gives some hope that the recent breed of cravened, noodle-backs might learn from this response and emulate (or at least pretend to have) such fortitude. It was former Kansas Senator Bob Dole, himself once burned by a turncoat, who sent a blistering email to Mr. McClellan telling him what Mr. Dole, and the rest of us who were offended, really thought of him.
From Politico:
["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" Dole assures McClellan that he won't read the book — "because if all these awful things were happening, and perhaps some may have been, you should have spoken up publicly like a man, or quit your cushy, high-profile job." "That would have taken integrity and courage but then you would have had credibility and your complaints could have been aired objectively," Dole concludes. "You’re a hot ticket now, but don’t you, deep down, feel like a total ingrate?"
He signs the email simply: "BOB DOLE"]
With this email former Senator Dole reminds us just how complacent we've been with how far society has fallen in the last few generations. For there was a time when backstabbing, snitching, opportunism, and rumor mongering were looked down upon and found only in such low-brow publications as Hush-hush or the National Enquirer. But in this day and age when sleaze is mainstream and publishers clean up financially by gleefully feeding literary junk-food to an addicted populous, society's self-respect becomes flabby and corroded. For soon nothing will remain that is sacred.
McClellan responded to Bob Dole's email by standing by his book (naturally! ...the publisher would likely sue McClellan if he didn't) and saying he has "...a lot of respect for Sen. Dole," just none for himself, apparently.
What IS news is that a Republican politician (retired) decided to show some backbone and respond to it. Now it should be noted that it was a Republican from another era who did this (an older species, no longer representative of today's spineless wonders) ; and yet it gives some hope that the recent breed of cravened, noodle-backs might learn from this response and emulate (or at least pretend to have) such fortitude. It was former Kansas Senator Bob Dole, himself once burned by a turncoat, who sent a blistering email to Mr. McClellan telling him what Mr. Dole, and the rest of us who were offended, really thought of him.
From Politico:
["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" Dole assures McClellan that he won't read the book — "because if all these awful things were happening, and perhaps some may have been, you should have spoken up publicly like a man, or quit your cushy, high-profile job." "That would have taken integrity and courage but then you would have had credibility and your complaints could have been aired objectively," Dole concludes. "You’re a hot ticket now, but don’t you, deep down, feel like a total ingrate?"
He signs the email simply: "BOB DOLE"]
With this email former Senator Dole reminds us just how complacent we've been with how far society has fallen in the last few generations. For there was a time when backstabbing, snitching, opportunism, and rumor mongering were looked down upon and found only in such low-brow publications as Hush-hush or the National Enquirer. But in this day and age when sleaze is mainstream and publishers clean up financially by gleefully feeding literary junk-food to an addicted populous, society's self-respect becomes flabby and corroded. For soon nothing will remain that is sacred.
McClellan responded to Bob Dole's email by standing by his book (naturally! ...the publisher would likely sue McClellan if he didn't) and saying he has "...a lot of respect for Sen. Dole," just none for himself, apparently.
Dole was/is a warrior, a team player, a man of enormous character, and a man of acerbic wit and humor. I'm delighted that he took this pipsqueak to the woodshed, and that Scott's "15 minutes of fame" will last exactly that long.
ReplyDeleteHis publisher is supposed to have magnefied the negativity to increase book sales. Funny how the fog of fortune can cloud one's moral compass.
ReplyDelete