Thursday, June 5, 2008

What Happened to the Truth

by Keith Cooper

From Broader View Weekly, June 6, 2008

During his service as White House press secretary, Scott McClellan embodied the unwavering loyalty that the Bush administration expects from its high-level staff. In daily briefings, McClellan would consistently present the official line to the media and the American public, and reporters could count on the secretary’s full support of every policy and decision of the administration.

I am no fan of the man, but as I frequently watched these exchanges, often horrified by implications of the policy being formulated, I remember remarking on more than one occasion that Mr. McClellan must have the worst job in the country. It must be exhausting, I thought, to be continually forced to publicly defend a president whose policies so clearly alienate the majority of Americans, while serving the political machine and feeding corporate greed. Still, McClellan stayed on task, even through his betrayal by Karl Rove and I. “Scooter” Libby, when he made assurances to America that neither the political strategist nor the vice president’s chief of staff had any involvement in the public outing of federal agent Valerie Plame. He was considered a stand-up guy at the time and Bush himself couldn’t heap enough praise on him as he presaged at McClellan’s resignation, that the two would find themselves on a front porch in Texas one day. Bush was sure he would still hold the same “well done” sentiment for Scott on that far off day.

Well, times and sentiments may have changed. The White House and other former staffers have changed their tunes. The words “disgruntled” and “turncoat” seem to be on the lips of most administration proponents, in the few days since it was learned that McClellan’s new book was highly critical of the administration’s direction and policy in the post-911 world.

In addition to describing the disillusionment McClellan felt over the Plame incident (the CIA agent was outted to silence the dissent of Plame’s husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, and his questioning of WMD evidence used to make the case for war with Iraq), What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception reinforces the belief that the intent to bring down Sadaam Hussein was set early on and that intelligence was being manipulated to implement the policy. McClellan talks about the decision to run with the weapons of mass destruction angle as an easier sell than the less convincing motivation of transforming the region with democracy.

Amid the criticism and harsh attacks stirred a variety of questions. From the White House and the Bushies the prominent questions were of motivation. Why write a book so critical of the administration? Was it a matter of revenge for being pushed out of his position? Was McClellan seizing the opportunity to capitalize on his former position? And why now? Was the book a part of a vendetta and a last shot at a sitting president? Was the timing designed to maximize the book’s profitability?

I haven’t had time to read the entire book, and cannot vouch for Mr. McClellan’s thoughts or feelings, but he seems sincere when he explains his motivation as a way to offer his experience as a lesson. He says that in the current election season it is important to examine the “permanent campaign” culture of Washington, which seeks to manipulate the narrative to maintain power and influence, in order to reform politics and transform our government into the republic it should be.

Regardless of the motivation, the book has had the positive result of bringing more important questions to the forefront. It offers no groundbreaking revelations, but the fact that the book was written by an administration insider who had access to the most vital information about the most important policies confirms claims critics have been making for years. The admitted secrecy and deception employed by this administration should be cause for concern.

If, as McClellan seems to believe, the real motivation behind our invasion of Iraq was the noble cause of bringing stability to the region through democracy, the administration should have never manipulated the public with fear and rage over 9/11 to sell the war. This bait and switch tactic has defiled the trust a leader must earn to lead effectively. Whenever we commit young men and women to die, we must do so with the greatest care. We should never lead a nation into war using deception and obfuscation.

What Happened speaks much about the Washington political machine and how the game is played, but the effects of the current culture extend beyond the beltway. Too many of the nation’s citizens fall prey to the mentality that effects our politicians. We too often follow blind nationalism into bad policy. When “our guy” says something we too often accept it as right and true. We wave banners of liberalism or conservatism, of Republican or Democrat, and fall for the party line, then fall into line and allow the self-deception of which McClellan writes.

We can fall into the easy debate about this book that the media has facilitated. We can praise McClellan’s courage at making the enemies he has invited or vilify him for his lack of loyalty. We can question his motivations, or how his views suddenly changed, or his choice of timing. We can play into the “one side vs. the other” political game. We can choose to completely ignore it or call it commercial opportunism.

Or we can take heed of the warning. When Bush, Condoleezza Rice and other officials travel the world beating the drums of war against Iran we can start paying attention to the echoes of the Iraq lead-up. We can choose to be stirred by reason and not fear. We can focus on issues and not bumper sticker slogans. We can send a message to our leaders that we will not tolerate being manipulated no matter the agenda. We can send a message that lives should not be committed lightly and only as a last resort. We can stop blindly supporting “our guy” when his policies violate our interests. We can reject politics-as-usual and force the reform Washington needs. We can choose democracy over sensationalism and blind nationalism.

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