ADMINISTRATION
Bush's Former Mouthpiece Tells All

In his "scathing" new memoir, which will be released next week, former White House press secretary Scott McClellan accuses his former colleagues in the Bush administration of not being "open and forthright on Iraq," arguing that they engaged in a "political propaganda campaign to sell the war to the American people." President Bush "signed off on a strategy for selling the war that was less than candid and honest," writes McClellan, "not employing out-and-out deception but by shading the truth." McClellan, who is "the first longtime Bush aide to put such harsh criticism between hard covers," also claims in his book that former Bush adviser Karl Rove and former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney Scooter Libby "allowed" and even "encouraged" him to "repeat a lie" about their involvement in the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity. In one shocking revelation, McClellan "suggests that Libby and Rove secretly colluded to get their stories straight at a time when federal investigators were hot on the Plame case." The White House reacted with indignation yesterday, calling McClellan "disgruntled about his experience at the White House." Though current White House Press Secretary Dana Perino initially said Bush was not likely to comment on the book, she later told CNN that Bush "didn't recognize the same Scott McClellan that he hired and worked with for so many years." On background, White House aides were even more blunt, telling MSNBC's Kevin Corke that McClellan is a "traitor."

LOYAL BUSHIES STRIKE BACK: Bush was only one voice in a "chorus" of current and former Bush administration officials pushing back against McClellan's explosive allegations, often in very personal terms. "This now strikes me as self-serving, disingenuous and unprofessional," former Homeland Security Adviser Fran Townsend said on CNN. Rove, whom McClellan describes in the book as willing "to push the envelope to the limit of what's permissible ethically or legally," responded on Fox News by calling McClellan "irresponsible," adding that he "sounds like a left-wing blogger." Former White House Counselor Dan Bartlett called allegations in the book "total crap," saying that in hearing McClellan's criticisms, "it's almost like we're witnessing an out-of-body experience." McClellan's predecessor, Ari Fleischer, told NPR that he was "heartbroken" by the harsh tone of the book. Interviewing Fleischer for the CBS Evening News last night, Katie Couric noted that the former Bush administration officials now criticizing McClellan all sound like they "are operating out of the same playbook" by claiming "this doesn't sound like the Scott McClellan they knew."

THE USUAL AUTOMATIC SMEAR RESPONSE: McClellan is experiencing the same automatic smear response the White House deploys against former allies who dare to criticize the administration, including former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and former head of faith-based initiatives John DiIulio. In 2004, when Bush's first Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said publicly that "the Bush administration began planning to use U.S. troops to invade Iraq within days" after Bush took office, White House aides pushed back hard with personal attacks. One senior official told CNN that "we didn't listen to [O'Neill's] wacky ideas when he was in the White House, why should we start listening to him now." Last year, Bush's former chief campaign strategist Matthew Dowd publicly broke with the President by claiming that Bush had "become more, in my view, secluded and bubbled in." Bartlett dismissed Dowd's criticisms by saying Dowd had been "going through a lot of personal turmoil." Ironically, before he published his own criticisms, McClellan was often the one responding to critical books as the White House's top spokesperson. In 2004, when former counter-terrorism chief Richard Clarke wrote a book charging that President Bush had "ignored terrorism for months" before 9/11, McClellan led the White House counter-charge, claiming that Clarke was a bitter ex-employee who "wanted to be the deputy secretary of the Homeland Security Department."

MCCLELLAN'S CREDIBILITY CHALLENGE: As ABC News's Jake Tapper pointed out yesterday, "some of the same language now being used to trash McClellan he himself used to trash previous administration authors." For instance, when Clarke published his tell-all book, McClellan claimed he was doing it for money because "he has written a book and he certainly wants to go out there and promote that book." But McClellan's credibility challenge goes beyond the fact that he once attacked people in his current position. McClellan charges the White House with not being "open and forthright on Iraq," which is a drastic shift from his past rhetoric regarding the war. As a White House spokesperson, McClellan repeatedly defended the conduct of the war, justified the case that was made to launch it, and defended Bush's handling of the war. "There were irresponsible and unfounded accusations being made against the administration, suggesting that we had manipulated or misused that intelligence. That was flat-out false," said McClellan in a 2006 press briefing. "We've been very straightforward about where we are, in terms of the theater in Iraq," he claimed in another. In 2004, he insisted, "This President is someone I think the American people recognize as a straight shooter."

Under the Radar

MEDIA -- CNN'S YELLIN SAYS NETWORK EXECUTIVES PUSHED PRO-WAR STORIES: Last night, Jessica Yellin, a CNN journalist who covered the White House for ABC News in 2002 and 2003, said that during the lead-up to the Iraq war, "the press corps was under enormous pressure from corporate executives" to present the war in a way "that was consistent with the patriotic fever in the nation and the president's high approval ratings." She said that "the higher the president's approval ratings, the more pressure I had from news executives." "They would turn down stories that were more critical and try to put on pieces that were more positive, yes," Yellin added. Last September, Katie Couric said she felt "corporate pressure" from NBC executives to "not rock the boat," particularly after a tough interview with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Former MSNBC pundit Phil Donahue, on last year's award-winning Bill Moyers documentary, said, "Our producers were instructed to have two conservatives for every liberal." Salon's Glenn Greenwald emphasizes that, though there was in fact a vigorous debate about the war in 2002 and 2003, journalists "ignored it and silenced it because their jobs didn't permit them to highlight those questions." 

ADMINISTRATION -- TOP DHS OFFICIAL CRITICIZES ADMINISTRATION USE OF 'WAR ON TERROR': The Financial Times reports that Charles Allen, the senior intelligence official at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said that the United States should stop using the term "war on terror." "[It] has nothing to do with political correctness," Allen said. "It is interpreted in the Muslim world as a war on Islam and we don't need this." Several administration officials have criticized the use of the phrase. In September, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, banned the phrase "Global War on Terror" from "any future correspondence." But in November, Bush attacked critics of the term "war on terror," saying that "people who deny we are at war are either being disingenuous or naive." DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff disagreed with Allen. "We are at war with terrorism, and its underlying ideology -- not Islam -- and we've gone out of our way to make that point," said his spokesperson, Russ Knocke. "In truth, war has been declared upon us." But DHS told employees last month "not to describe extremists as 'jihadists,'" stating that linking Islam to terrorism offends moderate Muslims and gives extremists "religious legitimacy." "While we want to be mindful to the way our messages are heard by Muslim audiences, we also think war on terror accurately describes the fight we are in," echoed National Security Council spokesperson Gordon Johndroe.  

IRAQ -- FALLUJAH RESIDENTS SAY SOME MARINES ARE 'ACTING AS CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES': At an entrance to the Iraqi city of Fallujah earlier this week, "Muamar Anad handed his residence badge to the U.S. Marines guarding the city. They checked to be sure that he was a city resident, and when they were done, Anad said, a Marine slipped a coin out of his pocket and put it in his hand." According to Anad, one side of the coin asked, "Where will you spend eternity?" while the other was imprinted with Gospel verse. The incident apparently was not isolated. McClatchy reports that "residents of the city are abuzz that some Americans whom they consider occupiers are also acting as Christian missionaries," saying that "some Marines at the western entrance to their city have been passing out the coins for two days in what they call a 'humiliating' attempt to convert them to Christianity." Sheikh Mohammed Amin Abdel Hadi, leader of a Sunni endowment that oversees the city's religious establishments, said, "We say to the occupiers to stop this," adding that the American efforts to promote Christianity in Fallujah "can cause strife between the Iraqis and especially between Muslim and Christians." The U.S. military has said they are "investigating" the matter.

Think Fast

Speaking at the Air Force Academy commencement, President Bush acknowledged that his administration is "learning as we go" in Iraq. Bush offered a "nod to realities that have made the Iraq and Afghanistan wars more protracted than his administration had once expected."

CQ writes although Attorney General Michael Mukasey was supposed to be more independent than his predecessor, he has largely been "Gonzales, take two." "He's just Alberto Gonzales with slightly more brains, but with no ability to say 'no' to the president," said Bruce Fein, a former Justice Department official in the Reagan administration.

Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) is calling on Scott McClellan to testify under oath before the House Judiciary Committee about the "earth-shattering" allegations in his new book.

Reacting to McClellan's book, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, "I'm not going to comment on a book that I haven't read but I will say” the threat from Saddam Hussein "was well understood." She added, "I would really ask do people really believe that he was not a threat to the international community?"

Vice Adm. Kevin Cosgriff, the top U.S. Navy official in the Persian Gulf, warned that war with Iran would be "pretty disastrous," with "echoes and aftershocks" reverberating throughout the region. Cosgriff added that "we have years" to deal with Iran's nuclear program.

More than 100 countries "have reached an agreement on a treaty which would ban current designs of cluster bombs." However, the United States did not join the ban, calling the controversial munitions "an integral, legitimate part of its arsenal." A Pentagon spokesman said the bombs "have demonstrated military utility."

Col. Morris Davis, who spoke out against the military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay, "said he was denied a medal for his two years of work building military commissions cases against terrorism suspects because he resigned and later spoke out about problems in the Pentagon's Office of Military Commissions."

Some of the nation's top scientists "sharply criticized the diminished role of science in the United States" at the World Science Festival today. "They cited U.S. officials and others questioning scientific evidence of climate change, the reluctance to federally fund stem cell research, and some U.S. officials casting doubt on evolution as examples that have damaged America's international standing."

And finally: Dunkin' Donuts has yanked a commercial featuring tv cooking personality Rachael Ray because of complaints that she is promoting terrorism. In the ad, "the domestic diva wears a scarf that looks like a keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn by Arab men." Right-wing blogger Michelle Malkin was pleased with the response, stating, "It's refreshing to see an American company show sensitivity to the concerns of Americans opposed to Islamic jihad and its apologists." The scarf has also been spotted on Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) daughter.

Good News

New York Gov. David Paterson (D) "has directed all state agencies to begin to revise their policies and regulations to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions, like Massachusetts, California and Canada." In a message to LGBT leaders, Paterson called the move "a strong step toward marriage equality."

State Watch

LOUISIANA: "Historic New Orleans is reinventing itself as it recovers from Hurricane Katrina, with efforts under way to help make this a safer, more vibrant city," according to Mayor Ray Nagin.

OREGON: Portland sponsors project to help "white people better understand the effect gentrification can have on the city's longtime black and other-minority neighborhoods."

ENVIRONMENT: "The West Coast's metropolitan areas had among the lowest carbon emissions per capita in the country in 2005, according to a new ranking of 100 urban areas."

Blog Watch

THINK PROGRESS: Highlights from the Sidney Hillman Foundation journalism awards.

WONK ROOM: Fox News blames "mainstream media" for recession.

DAILY DISH: New poll shows that for the first time ever a majority of Californians support same-sex marriage.

OLIVER WILLIS: MSNBC's David Gregory rewrites history and claims the press did a good job on Iraq.

Daily Grill

"I've known this President a long time, and this President is someone I think the American people recognize as a straight shooter."
-- Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan, 7/1/04

VERSUS

"Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan writes in a new memoir that the Iraq war was sold to the American people with a sophisticated 'political propaganda campaign' led by President Bush and aimed at 'manipulating sources of public opinion' and 'downplaying the major reason for going to war.'"
-- Washington Post, 5/28/08

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