Those who even casually follow the news probably realize that Scott McClellan guy has a book coming out. “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception” promises to give us insight into the disaster of Hurricane Katrina, our entry into the Iraq war, and the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame. McClellan began his media tour today, but before he had spoken out, he was already being attacked. Some Republicans claim he should have said something sooner.
Karl Rove said on Hannity & Colmes that “If he had these moral qualms, he should have spoken up about them.
Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary before McClellan, who worked closely with him, said “Never once did he have any misgivings about the build-up to the war” and “If Scott had such deep misgivings, he should not have accepted the press secretary position.”
After Newt Gingrich called the book “fiction,” Sean Hannity chimed in as well, with “Scott, if you felt this way, why didn’t you leave at the time?”
Why didn’t he leave? At the time, he didn’t have deep misgivings. He, like so many other Americans, put trust into the administration.
His attackers fail to consider one important factor. He was not an advisor to the President. He was the press secretary. While press secretaries are often former journalists, upon taking the position, they become public relations specialists.
While my PR teachers have talked about how it’s nice if communications people have advisory roles, they usually don’t. They can share opinions, but it is not the function of their job. Their function is to portray the company (or in this case, the White House) in the best light possible.
And even if he had wanted to give an opinion, let’s face it, would anyone have listened?
(washington post/getty images)
