preview.tinyurl.com/6nezv8 -> www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/01/AR2008060101961_pf.html
John Kerry and, as McClellan tells it, was feeling his oats. He writes of the first Cabinet meeting after the election, when Bush told his assembled secretaries that Iraqi leaders were "relieved" about his victory.
The Cabinet meeting was illustrative of Bush's mind-set, in McClellan's view. "He was dead set on pushing ahead aggressively, selling his big ideas, and leaving his mark on history," McClellan writes. "The election, he believed, had validated his first term policies, including the decision to invade Iraq, and it had given him a mandate for the second-term agenda he'd outlined." It also meant that what might have been a chance to bring in fresh blood and new thinking was lost.
Colin Powell was out -- taking away, in McClellan's estimation, a source of independent perspective. "All in all, the shape and direction of the second term were clear," McClellan concludes. "The administration did not infuse fresh blood and new thinking from outside sources. Caught up inside the White House bubble, I publicly defended all of Bush's decisions. I didn't fully appreciate their implications for the future of the administration, nor did I recognize the serious problems they would help to create during the next four years." McClellan has been taking guff for stating positions in his book that are at odds with what he said from the White House podium: One such case is his departure from the press secretary's job in spring 2006. At the time, McClellan suggested that his resignation came at his own instigation, but "What Happened" makes it clear that while McClellan was ready to go, he was basically fired by Bolten. In an anecdote that is revealing of the new chief of staff's tough-minded approach, McClellan recounts sitting down on a couch in Bolten's office and being politely shoved out even before he had a chance to open his mouth. "This is not something pleasant for me," McClellan quotes Bolten as telling him. But I believe this is a White House that is severely crippled and in need of change. One area that I have decided needs to change is your position." Now You Tell Us The McClellan kerfuffle has brought out a standard White House talking point whenever it is confronted with criticism from former staffers: Why didn't they complain at the time?
Tony Snow-- that he was "a little bit perplexed" -- to a critical book by former White House staffer David Kuo. "It does seem at odds with what he was saying inside the building at the time he departed," Snow told reporters at the time.
Richard Clarke, back in 2004: "I mean, why, all of a sudden, if he had all these grave concerns, did he not raise these sooner? And now all of a sudden, he's raising these grave concerns that he claims he had." McClellan appears to be having second thoughts about what he said about Clarke.
Ricardo S Sanchez, the onetime commander of US troops in Iraq, who is scathing in his assessment that the Bush administration "led America into a strategic blunder of historic proportions." Among the anecdotes in "Wiser in Battle: A Soldier's Story" is an arresting portrait of Bush after four contractors were killed in Fallujah in 2004, triggering a fierce US response that was reportedly egged on by the president. During a videoconference with his national security team and generals, Sanchez writes, Bush launched into what he described as a "confused" pep talk: "Kick ass!" "If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them!
The White House says that in December 2006 McGinnis covered a live grenade with his body and saved four men from serious injury or death. It will be the 12th time in his presidency that Bush has awarded the military's highest honor. Quote of the Week "And so the fact that they purchased the machine meant somebody had to make the machine. And when somebody makes a machine, it means there's jobs at the machine-making place."
Staff researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this column. Post a Comment Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site.
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