former press secretary scott mcclellan has a new book out, called "what happened: inside the bush white house and washington's culture of deception," which talks about everything from the valerie plame scandal to the iraq war and how the bush administration sold (mislead) it to the world.
the thing about whistle blowers like mcclellan, is the obvious criticism against him and others who come out, is why wait so long? why not tell the truth when it is most important and prevalent? why wait until after the fact? the only reason i can come up with is the obvious: self preservation. i mean, consider the average joe and their careers. how often do you see someone stick their neck out for anything? how often have you seen things at work that may not be right, but you swallow it anyway? or better yet, the times when you have spoken out, what happened? were you rewarded for your honesty? did other employees back you? or did they back off with their tails between their legs, leaving you to get your head chopped off? now imagine that type of situation, only with about a million times the pressure. now imagine that situation when you're a part of the government that's running the sole superpower in the world. i don't know too many people that would have the balls to come out like that.
ultimately, is it better late than never? i don't know, but what i do know is that mcclellan basically confirms what all the critics of the bush administration knew years ago. there have been many books like this, the difference this time is that it's from an insider. at this point, i don't know what good it will do. the administration is on the way out. i suppose it would help people learn from the past and not let what happened in iraq happen to iran, but are people really that smart? certainly history doesn't record that. the human species seems doomed to repeat its mistakes, grooming itself for self destruction. never again? that saying seems like a joke sometimes. i hope i'm wrong.
part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5
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