The Shallow Manhole

A grouchy old man sends an email, and Wingnuttia erupts with joy.

Bob Dole yesterday sent a scalding email to Scott McClellan, excoriating the former White House spokesman as a "miserable creature" who greedily betrayed his former patron for a fast buck.

In an extraordinary message obtained and authenticated by Politico, Dole uses his trademark biting wit to portray McClellan as a classic Washington opportunist.

"Biting wit"...?

"There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who don’t have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues," Dole wrote in a message sent yesterday morning. "No, your type soaks up the benefits of power, revels in the limelight for years, then quits, and spurred on by greed, cashes in with a scathing critique"....

"In my nearly 36 years of public service I've known of a few like you," Dole writes, recounting his years representing Kansas in the House and Senate.  "No doubt you will 'clean up' as the liberal anti-Bush press will promote your belated concerns with wild enthusiasm. When the money starts rolling in you should donate it to a worthy cause, something like, 'Biting The Hand That Fed Me.' Another thought is to weasel your way back into the White House if a Democrat is elected. That would provide a good set up for a second book deal in a few years."

That wit might bite a bit more if the dentures were in. I hope The Politico manages to likewise unearth and authenticate scoops like Dole's stern denunciations of those sickos at Modern Bride.

At least McClellan hasn't taken to the national airwaves to inform us of what medication he swallows to unshrivel his penis. Advantage, Scottie!

Comments

[Jay B.]

What is with these fuckers and "scored a book deal?"

First, it's with "Public Interest", not "Random House" -- second Scotty was a motherfucking PR flack with uber-connections in Texas and DC. He was in the White House communications (and was there at the start in Austin) team and served as Press Secretary -- that kind of juice can help one name a price with almost any Fortune 500 company in the country, lobby for the Zimbabwe government for lucre on K St., or get a a "campaign adviser" gig for six figures on almost any campaign he chose.

Finally, even if he only did it for money -- that's a rich criticism coming from the literal poster boy for ED who never met a price for which he couldn't be bought.

Of course, BobDole's never considered a book deal in his life that might make him a buck -- which is why his nearly-posthumous look at his life in WWII One Soldier's Story: A Memoir is being sold at remaindered prices.

God bless that selfless man. I mean whore.

[spencer]

As I posted somewhere else, Bob Dole would certainly know a thing or two about recognizing a greedy, weaselly hack. Since he is one himself, and all that.

Seriously, anyone who goes from the Senate to lobbyist for Archer Daniels Midland has no standing at all to criticize the ethics and moral fiber of someone like Scott McClellan (who, it must be said, did accept money to catapult Bush's propaganda, and is thus hardly an innocent bystander).

[rageahol]

i kind of think that given the star power (or lack thereof) the wingnuts are energizing to juice this mclellan-as-turncoat meme, that they rather agree with it. they are just contractually prohibited from saying so.
i mean, really. bob dole? was dennis miller booked solid or something?

[Pug]

Ya think Scooter Libby and Karl Rove did lie to Scott McClellan about outing that CIA agent, Bob?

I guess Bob thinks that kind of thing is not important.

And, no, Dennis Miller is not booked solid.

[Ripley]

"I used to be a liberal, until Scott McClellan was a traitor!!"

[actor212]

I still hold reservations about the conversions of Arianna Huffington and David Brock, so you'll pardon me if I don't but mildly disagree with Dole.

[Jemand von Niemand]

More of the "Move along; nothing to see here; just the ravings of a disgruntled / angry / crazy / greedy ex-employee, whom Our Sainted Leader treated like a son".

Why is McClellan's book notable? Because 99% of the MSM not only didn't do it's job -- they actively spread lies and propaganda to sell the war, and bask in the radiance of Our Awsome Wondrous Boy-King Leader.

The MSM won't be bringing any mea culpas to the American people for that. The big Boy and big Girl anchors, and news directors and corporate executives who bent over for Cheney / Bush are far too important for that. After all, they believe we have teeny-tiny attention spans, and exist solely to buy the Big Products they advertise, and when our sons or daughters die or are badly wounded in a war they helped to manufacture, we should have the decency to keep the sobbing down so others can watch American Idol.

McClellan shares in the responsibility for that war, and might have been motivated by conscience to tell as much of the truth as his lawyers will allow... since few others have been.

Our Sainted War Leader apparently feels that breaking silence of a conspiracy which touches on potential war crimes is a form of betrayal -- as if he were expected to live up to some Skull & Bones creed of brotherhood, some ideal of loyalty to your Elders and Betters that exists in the Beautiful Mind of people like Poppy's wife.

[Thers]

I still hold reservations about the conversions of Arianna Huffington and David Brock, so you'll pardon me if I don't but mildly disagree with Dole.

Fair enough, but that doesn't mean Dole's letter is "witty" as opposed to "raving."

[Jay B.]

I still hold reservations about the conversions of Arianna Huffington and David Brock, so you'll pardon me if I don't but mildly disagree with Dole.

Attaboy! Never let the facts on the ground and observable reality get in the way of a good shunning.

[theperilouspea]

Why is it that people ruin a perfectly fine rumination on the low level of painful oddities who feel exceptional with the Dennis Miller calendar boy pinups ?
Isn't it enough that the once adorable are now merely precious ? Why mix molehills when you can enjoy nuts ?

[Righteous Bubba]

I still hold reservations about the conversions of Arianna Huffington and David Brock, so you'll pardon me if I don't but mildly disagree with Dole.

Can we all agree that the replacement of the actors in this drama with smoking craters would be a gain for the planet?

[theperilouspea]

Kissing a neocon is like licking a dirty bush stamp .
Please !
While enjoying your hot smoking crater needs , Please repect the motion sickness of our other patrons !

[Me]

I can't get too riled up about what Dole said. McClellan is a cowardly little weasel, like one of those jailhouse snitches in the cop shows, who rats out his cellmate in exchange for a few years off his sentence. Yeah, it's fun to see the really BIG villains get taken down, but like Henry Hill in Goodfellas, there's something that's just not quite right about seeing him live happily ever after. The guy's a dick, after all.

[J Neo Marvin]

Funny how none of these critics have much to say about what McClellan actually SAYS. It's all "disloyal" and "traitor", etc. Don't look at the actual accusations, which corroborate everything any sensible observer has already known. No, mustn't look at that, God forbid.

[sightunseen]

What? Dole is alive?

[herr doktor bimler]

There are miserable creatures like you in every administration who don’t have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues
I'm inferring from this that Dole himself has greater integrity, and an inspiring record of speaking up or quitting at the time of his disagreements with his boss or colleagues.
I'm hoping that someone can fill me in with the details.