Scott McClellan's Book To Come Out Next Week

What can I say-- loyalty is dead? Polemics sell better than facts?

Scott McClellan, the former White House Press Secretary who took over after Ari Fleischer (who was really good) and who came before Tony Snow (who was really good), was mediocre on his best days. Being press secretary wasn't really his strong suit.

Apparently, writing tell-all books and hawking them to the liberal media is. McClellan is getting his 15 minutes of fame but at what cost? I haven't read his book (it comes out Monday) but seeing what McClellan has said in interviews and what early reviews have noted, his book, "What Happened", sounds like another political scandal book that's strong on hype but questionable on fact.

Former presidential candidate and senator, Bob Dole, was angry enough to send a personal e-mail to McClellan. Dole didn't mince any words. Rumor has it that McClellan received $75,000 for an advance on the book. Now that may not seem like a great deal compared to, say, Bill Clinton's advance, but in the world of publishing, it's nothing to sneeze at. Rumor also has it that a second print run has already been ordered.

While McClellan's book may contain facts, much of it sounds like conclusions he has made based on little inside information he may have had at the time. I doubt that as the press secretary he was privy to all deliberations and internal memos. Because I was both director of media relations for National Right to Life and a spokesperson, I often didn't want to know specifics about a particular bill. This was so that I wouldn't find myself in an awkward spot if a reporter asked me point blank if I knew the strategy behind a particular piece of legislation. Of course, we're not talking national security so I frequently got the inside scoop after the fact but I seriously doubt that the White House would seek to make sure the press secretary was privy to national security memos. Quite the opposite, in fact, I'm sure.

Still, for the paranoid, far-left liberal, this book will feed their conspiracy theories and the belief that this president wanted to go to war without much incentive.

We are to believe that McClellan, working in the press office, was sent out to lie and lie again. No one can be that obtuse. If he feels now the way he did then, then he was obliged to say something then. If he knew nothing then, then he still knows nothing and his book is based on his own beliefs, inferences, and conclusions.

I'm afraid that today, most political books, in order to sell well, are polemical more than factual and it sounds like "What Happened" plugs right into that genre with ease.