Dr. BioBrain on McClellan's book
I think that Dr. BioBrain has a very good response to Scott McClellan's book:
I think the media were hoping that Scotty would have been braver. They wanted him to be on THEIR side. And actually when Scotty squirmed and sweated they believed that he was trying to show them the truth with out the actual words,
"Hey I'm LYING! If you just ask the exact right question I might spill my guts! You can SEE that I'm REALLY uncomfortable. I REALLY want to tell you the truth, but I can't. I'll lose my JOB!"
Why did the media think that Scott might spill his guts while at the WH?
Because they have had that experience with other people. Now these other people they talked to would sometimes accidentally spill the beans or had a response that revealed the truth. The REALLY smart ones would make it look like it was an accident, "Wow, you heard that from the source that Iraq has biolabs? Well, now that you heard that I'll confirm it as long as you don't use my name just yet." Well as we all know that info from Curveball was fed to Judy Miller and that was the same info that the WH would say they heard. So now the reporter had two sources! Thundercats are go! *
Some of the press have worked people until they cracked. But the game at the White House was different and it was because of how they White House saw the media. They were a group to be manipulated. They were a group that they would punish for trying to get information. They knew which buttons to push with the media and if they couldn't get the buttons pushed the way they wanted they went to their bosses. (See MSNBC and the firing of Donahue) it wasn't that hard. You want to keep your job? You do what the bosses want, just like Scotty. So it is really obnoxious for them to expect Scott to be more courageous then they were. It's easy to tell someone else to "do the right thing" when you don't have to pay the price for doing that thing.
I think Dr. BioBrain's ending was spot on too.
Why We Shouldn't Expect More of This From Other Bushies
If you want to see the good Dr's whole post it is here. (link)
Hmm. Dr. BioBrain, Dr. Zaius, clearly brains floating in jars and non-human intelligences are the more insightful beings in the universe.
*If you haven't seen the move Juno yet, do so. It's great.
I actually disagree with the idea that McClellan should have said something when he still worked for the Whitehouse. Because when you’re hired for a job, you’re not speaking for yourself. You’re speaking for your boss. And if you don’t like what that boss has you say and he makes you say it anyway, you only have one choice: Resign. That’s it. But no matter what, you don’t get to use the position they gave you as a podium to state your own personal opinion. When a Press Secretary speaks, he’s only speaking for his boss; not himself.
I think the media were hoping that Scotty would have been braver. They wanted him to be on THEIR side. And actually when Scotty squirmed and sweated they believed that he was trying to show them the truth with out the actual words,
"Hey I'm LYING! If you just ask the exact right question I might spill my guts! You can SEE that I'm REALLY uncomfortable. I REALLY want to tell you the truth, but I can't. I'll lose my JOB!"
Why did the media think that Scott might spill his guts while at the WH?
Because they have had that experience with other people. Now these other people they talked to would sometimes accidentally spill the beans or had a response that revealed the truth. The REALLY smart ones would make it look like it was an accident, "Wow, you heard that from the source that Iraq has biolabs? Well, now that you heard that I'll confirm it as long as you don't use my name just yet." Well as we all know that info from Curveball was fed to Judy Miller and that was the same info that the WH would say they heard. So now the reporter had two sources! Thundercats are go! *
Some of the press have worked people until they cracked. But the game at the White House was different and it was because of how they White House saw the media. They were a group to be manipulated. They were a group that they would punish for trying to get information. They knew which buttons to push with the media and if they couldn't get the buttons pushed the way they wanted they went to their bosses. (See MSNBC and the firing of Donahue) it wasn't that hard. You want to keep your job? You do what the bosses want, just like Scotty. So it is really obnoxious for them to expect Scott to be more courageous then they were. It's easy to tell someone else to "do the right thing" when you don't have to pay the price for doing that thing.
I think Dr. BioBrain's ending was spot on too.
Why We Shouldn't Expect More of This From Other Bushies
It's totally unlikely that other Bushies like Tony Snow will also dish-out these sort of tales. McClellan was different from the rest of them: He was actually human. And this is one reason he was a HORRIBLE press secretary. While Ari was a cruel robot who could explain in a thousand different ways why he wouldn’t answer any questions and Snow was a mocking anchorman who truly enjoyed duping reporters, McClellan always seemed to actually struggle to answer the questions. And because there were no good answers to give, he came off real shitty. And I think that’s one reason why he’s telling all, because he really wanted to give the right answers and felt betrayed by the Bushies; which makes it acceptable to him for him to betray them.
I’m quite positive that they picked him because he had been with them for so long and didn’t feel they could trust an outsider, but he was a really poor choice. Of all the press secretaries, he was the only one I felt sorry for, even while I laughed at his poor performance. And so it’s no surprise that he’s the guy who would tell-all in a book. He was much too human for the job, and continues to act like a human. That’s not to say he’s not also a douchebag, as he totally is. But he’s a human douchebag, and that’s made all the difference.
If you want to see the good Dr's whole post it is here. (link)
Hmm. Dr. BioBrain, Dr. Zaius, clearly brains floating in jars and non-human intelligences are the more insightful beings in the universe.
*If you haven't seen the move Juno yet, do so. It's great.
1 Comments:
Much as I dislike McClellan, the media are disgusting on this.
There's this rush to say "See! We tole you ol chimpy was lying!" when in fact not one of them wasn't bought, and paid for, and lying, any less than McClellan was.
They traded their integrity for access, and instead of the mea culpas and honourable seppukus that should have been committed we get grinning dogs going "See? We're on YOUR side. We've been here all the time!"
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