Memo to Scott McClellan: Here's what happened

From McClatchy's Nukes & Spooks, many links and comments:

Until now, we've resisted the temptation to post on former White House press secretary Scott McClellan's new book, which accuses the Bush White House of launching a propaganda campaign to sell the war in Iraq.

Why? It's not news. At least not to some of us who've covered the story from the start.

But the responses to McClellan from the Bush administration and media bigwigs, history-bending as they are, compel us to jump in. As we like to say around here, it's truth to power time, not just for the politicians but also for some folks in our own business.

Bush loyalists have responded in three ways:

1) Scott, how could you? This conveniently ignores the issue of what Bush did or didn't know and do about intelligence on Iraq, converting the story line into that of wounded leader and treasonous former aide. (That canard was the sole focus of a CBS news radio report Wednesday night).

2) Invading Iraq was the right thing to do. Okay. When do Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, et al *not* say that? Dog bites man.

3) It was an intelligence failure. The CIA gave us bad dope on WMD and, well, they're the experts. More on this in a second.

So far, I haven't heard the administration actually deny any of the charges, just try to shoot the messenger and blame others for their failures. Typical Repug spin, slime, and smear.

The news media have been, if anything, even more craven than the administration has been in defending its failure to investigate Bush's case for war in Iraq before the war.

So the Pentagon tells the media what kind of reporting is in- and out-of-bounds?

Hogwash. Hogwash! HOGWASH.

Enough self-aggrandizing trumpet-blowing. OK, Scott, What Happened?

Here's what happened, based entirely on our own reporting and publicly available documents:

Looong list follows.

We could go on, but the rest, as they say, is history.

That's what happened.

The only new thing I've heard outta McLiellan is that the Chimp couldn't remember if he snorted cocaine. That doesn't pass the, you should please pardon me for this, sniff test. His supporters say he used to drink a lot and that may be why he doesn't remember.

Bull-fucking-shit.

I've snorted cocaine when I was so drunk I could barely stand so I could drink more, but I also snorted it when I was sober. If you do one, you do the other. Period. I don't remember each occurrence of cocaine use, of course. There were hundreds, if not thousands.

Bush is lying about that like he lies about everything else.