OK, I promise this will be the last time I post a string of political entries, it's just all too interesting for me to resist. In response to Scott McClellan's book bashing the Bush administration, former senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole wrote this email to McClellan:
Scott,
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. 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. 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.
I have no intention of reading your "exposé" because if all these awful things were happening, and perhaps some may have been, you should have spoken up publicly like a man, or quit your cushy, high profile job. That would have taken integrity and courage but then you would have had credibility and your complaints could have been aired objectively. You're a hot ticket now but don't you, deep down, feel like a total ingrate?
BOB DOLE
By the way, an "ingrate" is a thankless wretch, or an ungrateful person.
16 comments:
We may grow old, but with age comes wisdom. Some truly wise thoughts from a good man!
Wow! I didn't know Bob Dole had it in him. He took the words right out of my mouth.
I don't think my first one went through, so delete if this is a duplicate...
I think this just screams Hoax. I can't imagine that a statesman like Bob Dole would write something so infantile. If he did then I lost a lot of respect for him. The junior high name calling is unbecoming for someone of his alleged stature.
Jeremy
I think Dole said it very well.
I'm getting some pretty funny and nasty off topic posts from serious Bush haters that I'll not likely publish...
This has nothing to do with whether McClellan is right or wrong about Bush in his book.
It has to do with his disloyalty as an employee combined with his hope we are all supposed to think he wasn't a knowing participant in the alleged deception, and further notion that the public would be stupid enough to think his action wasn't part of a quick grab for serious cash.
I think Dole says it just right.
Now time to play the all time popular game show Which McClellan wrote it? Gen. George McClellan or former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan?
I find myself in a new and strange position here—Presdt, Cabinet, Genl ... & all deferring to me—by some strange operation of magic I seem to have become the power of the land. ... I almost think that were I to win some small success now I could become Dictator or anything else that might please me—but nothing of that kind would please me—therefore I won't be Dictator. Admirable self-denial!
"ingrate" ... that's a word I never heard until Pink Floyd's "The Final Cut" album. I'm not sure I'd heard it used since ... until tonight.
But ... is that a word Bob Dole would actually use?
I asked him and he said, "That's not a word Bob Dole likes to use, but sometimes Bob Dole gets so upset that he'll speak of another human, besides himself, in the third person and be agitated enough to use the label 'ingrate.' That's just what Bob Dole is all about."
Now you know it, I know it, the American people know it, Bob Dole from Russell, Kansas, never had a White House Press Secretary, never was elected President of the United States, didn’t have 40 foot yacht or the silver spoon in his mouth, or the ivory league education.
I don't believe my good friend Scott McClellan - he's lying, he knows it, you know it, I know it, the people at home know it, the American people know it, we all know it. You see, Bob Dole grew up in Kansas in a small farm town, he didn't have the prep school education, or the sterling silverware, or the bumper pool table in the basement.. didn't have the shower & massage with five-way adjustable heads.. or the sit-down lawnmower. Bob Dole didn't have these things!
Gunny, what you wrote doesn't sound a thing like me. First of all, I don't run around saying "Bob Dole does this" and "Bob Dole does that." That's not something Bob Dole does. It's not something Bob Dole has ever done, and it's not something Bob Dole will ever do!
P.S. "Bob Dole thinks Bob Dole should run. Actually, Bob Dole just likes to hear Bob Dole talk about Bob Dole. BOB DOLE!"
Wow! Bob Dole posted on my blog!
One question for you. When I said "if" on the previous post, thereby suggesting that perhaps there had been deceit on the part of the Bush administration your response was that you're not on the inside so you don't have any way to know what really went on. Why is it, then, that when it comes to McClellan, you not only seem to know what he did and didn't know, and what he was and wasn't a part of - but you are also quite comfortable judging his motives and rationalle for coming forward? This seems inconsistent. For what it's worth, I'm also having a really, really hard time thinking that all these Republican attack dogs would have had quite this much of a developed sense of honor had one of Clinton's former aides come forward with a tell all. I doubt Bob Dole would have taken time away from his busy schedule to call that person a "miserable creature" and an "ingrate." I just can't seem to muster up any indignation about this situation at all.
Jeremy,
I readily confess to conjecture regarding McClellan.
I could be totally wrong about him. I'm sure money has nothing to do with any of this.
Further, I'm not saying there wasn't or isn't a culture of deception in the Bush administration, I just don't know. McClellan's claims are inside information, his choice in writing a "tell all" book at this particular opportunistic time, is not.
But hey, I could be wrong.
You're angst and ire for the Bush Administration has tainted your ability to appreciate an apparent ingrate in this instance.
:)
Bob,
I downloaded my email to my pocket PC and planned to read them during a meeting that was anticipated being less than exciting this morning.
When I read your post I was actually giggling, loud enough that I got an emphatic "Shh!"
Thanks, Bob, for reminding us of what Bob Dole does, does not do, and overall what Bob Dole is all about.
Norm McDonald couldn't hold a pen to you!
Oh, I do appreciate the ingrate. I suppose that's not what you meant though... :)
I also appreciate your choice of words - angst and ire. I do feel "dread, anxiety, and anguish" over what this administration has done, and yes, I'm quite angry about it too. However, as scripture exhorts in Matthew 5, I don't hate them. I'm angry about what they've done and I'm angry at those in the church whose devotion to the republican party borders on the religious, but I certainly don't hate them. I'm not a "bush hater" and I truly appreciate your recognition of the difference.
Jeremy, by all means, I do understand your frustration. I have been VERY disappointed with this administration also.
I've been out of town for a number of days and am catching up on the blogosphere, including this interesting discussion. when this first came out, I found it fascinating how the GOP talking heads immediately rushed to Bush's defense without proper investigation of these claims. Their only argument was to impugn McClellan's motives (which may or may not have been wicked, that's something that no one can really know for sure though). But, if he's telling the truth, shouldn't we be a bit concerned? I didn't hear anyone ask whether or not there was any truth to it. As Christians, aren't we supposed to love the truth regardless of the one who speaks it? And, as Calvinists, shouldn't we be unsurprised by corruption and immorality on the part of our leaders regardless the political persuassion? It would be equally wrong for a liberal to jump to McClellan's defense. But, why do we rush to the defense of any Republican if it isn't because we secretly worship the state and therefore the "party" that we surmise supports it the way we like it (big defense, police, corporations, etc. instead of big welfare programs for poor people, public schools, social security like that other anti-American party) The only time the GOP (and most of the evangelical American church, unfortunately) was more quick to rush to a publicly declarative conclusion was when someone made similar negative claims against Clinton or other Democrats. Only in these examples, the claims had to be true! Notice how quickly we believe all the trashy tabloid attacks on Obama or Hillary. And, no, I don't hate Bush either (I also don't love either cadidate in the Democratic party, just to be clear). Not only would that violate the law of God as Jeremy noted; I just don't think in the great scheme of things and in the scope of the kingdom of Christ he's very important at all. Sorry, I just don't see it. Honestly, I hope we can all begin to see that the issues aren't about Rep. vs. Dem. or Lib. vs. Conserv. It's really about the kingdom of the Lord vs. the kingdom of man/Satan.
If Bob Dole said it, then he's right. If he didn't say it, he should have. Dear Scott, former White House Press Secretary and right hand man to the leader of the free world, you will be praised by the liberal leftist elite media for falling off the fence in the direction the current winds of politics are blowing. But winds do change direction and it ain't over 'til it's over says Yogi Berra. Even if you did not intend to do a "hatchet job" on your former boss and possibly friend, the perception by all is that you did. And as Epictetus said over two thousand years ago, "Perception is stronger than truth." If Bob Dole is quoted correctly, then it's about time someone spoke out against the nattering naybobs of negativism. I'm sure the elite media was waiting to swoop down and jump on the carion within this book (but I have not read it and do not intend to read it). I'm sick of politics at this point and can "hardly wait" for the 2012 campaigns to begin.
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