Conservatives Try To Smear McClellan By Calling Him A ‘Left-Wing Hater’ Reciting ‘Blogworld Talking Points’
Conservatives Try To Smear McClellan By Calling Him A ‘Left-Wing Hater’ Reciting ‘Blogworld Talking Points’
The White House and its allies have gone out and attacked former press secretary Scott McClellan as “disgruntled,” a “traitor,” and even “Judas.” But one of the insults increasingly popping up is probably, to the Bush administration, the most insulting: comparing McClellan to a left-wing blogger.
Today, for example, the Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes went on The Diane Rehm Show and tried to undermine McClellan’s allegations by saying that he was simply reciting “left-wing blogworld talking points” in order to get attention:
HOST: Steve, do you think this deserves all the attention it’s getting?
HAYES: I don’t know that it deserves all the attention it’s getting, and I think, as Eamon points out, Scott’s not necessarily saying much that’s new, he’s just saying a lot that’s new for him. And you know, to see Scott go from White House talking points to these new, almost left-wing blogworld talking points, is enough to make our colleagues in the Washington press corps pay close attention to it.
Listen here:
Some more examples of this right-wing meme:
Former White House aide Karl Rove: “First of all, this doesn’t sound like Scott. It really doesn’t. Not the Scott McClellan I’ve known for a long time. Second of all, it sounds like somebody else. It sounds like a left-wing blogger.”
Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer: “We were wrong about whether Saddam had a WMD but that didn’t mean the president manipulated anything. And Scott uses the very same words that the far-left uses and I find that troubling because I find it inaccurate.”
Former counselor to the President Dan Bartlett: “But he uses these very infammatory and explosive words like, ’shading the truth,’ ‘propaganda,’ all these touchstones of the liberal left, which really makes me pause to think, ‘are these Scott’s words or are they the words of a liberal publisher who’s the guy behind this book.” [The Mike Gallagher Show, 5/30/08]
The Politico’s Mike Allen also said that Scott has adopted the “vocabulary, rhetoric of the left-wing haters.”
The right wing needs to get over its conviction the “liberal left” is responsible for any criticisms of the Bush administration. According to the latest Quinnipiac poll, 67 percent of the American public disapproves of the job Bush is doing. Sixty-seven percent also disapproves of the way he is handling the Iraq war. It’s highly doubtful that all these people are left-wing bloggers.
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Lord. These wingnuts are just …pathetic.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:19 pmThe wingnuts are the minority and they hate that. They operate best when nobody asks any questions. Truthful answers are poison to them.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:20 pmMaybe what the talking points are really saying is that there seem to be a LOT MORE left wingers than before and the number is growing every day!
May 30th, 2008 at 6:21 pmI’m sure that Stephen Hayes knows what a blog is…NOT!
The WH must be dispersing trucks with two flavors of their KoolAide now…Green and Brown…either will do but they got tired of everybody looking/sounding like each other…
Amanda makes a good point ’bout the 67 percent folks…big blog, hey??
These people are SO stupid it continues to amaze every day…
May 30th, 2008 at 6:22 pmThe right wing finally is realizing that “truth” has a left-wing bias.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:23 pmThis is great! The Bushists keep saying that telling the truth is synonymous with left-wing blogging! Thank guys. We already knew that, but it is nice for you to advertise for us!
May 30th, 2008 at 6:27 pmLord. These wingnuts are just …pathetic.
You can say that again! And again. And again. And again…
May 30th, 2008 at 6:28 pmThe Politico’s Mike Allen also said that Scott has adopted the “vocabulary, rhetoric of the left-wing haters.”
And you, the rhetoric of the RNC shill. We know how hard you pushed the bogus off-the-record administration WMD revelations as fact, and got badly burned for it. You’re little more than a pudgy, balding Novak.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:31 pmDesperation at it’s worse, flailing about, grasping at straws, drowning in truth…so much fun to watch the repubuscum choke to death on truth.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:32 pmDoes Scotty have an ample supply of bus repellant?
May 30th, 2008 at 6:34 pmWe all have to consider the sources when learning of their comments.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:35 pmThey are are like jackals. They are responsible for the state of the country today, not to mention their role in the deaths of thousands of Americans, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and the uncertain future of our children. They have banded together in their ad hominem attacks, unable to debate the points of argument. They cannot alter the facts; they can only shoot the messenger.
barfly ~ You’re little more than a pudgy, balding Novak.
Ooooh, a nut shot!
May 30th, 2008 at 6:36 pmi heard a caller on CSPAN this morning refer to him as a “liberal mole”
May 30th, 2008 at 6:37 pmAs reported earlier, McClellan would be “happy” to testify before Congress because he’s one of the few people who will not need a pardon at the end of this thing.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:40 pmThese inbred wingnuts must have used ‘the google’ which is ‘a bunch of tubes’ to access ‘the internets’ to find these ‘blogworld talking points’.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:48 pm“First of all, this doesn’t sound like Scott. It really doesn’t. Not the Scott McClellan I’ve known for a long time. Second of all, it sounds like somebody else. It sounds like a left-wing blogger.”
Sounds like a compliment to me. Then again I am a left wing blogger.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
May 30th, 2008 at 6:49 pmConservatives Try To Smear McClellan By Calling Him A ‘Left-Wing Hater’ Reciting ‘Blogworld Talking Points’
BwaaaaaaHaaaaaaaHaaaaaaa
Their desperation becomes more apparent every day. And the “talking points” as well. Look at all the idiots who are saying how “puzzled” they are! Now it is that he is part of the liberal left!
What is so funny about this “left” crap and being a “liberal mole” is, is that he was so successful at it for all these years. Had the whole administration completely fooled including Der Fuhrer. Funny though, if he was a mole, how come he never gave us, here on the left, all that great info he had been collecting for us?
Really funny in their desperation these neocons are.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:51 pmI’m not used to having people in supposed positions of power being so afraid of me.
Heh…
May 30th, 2008 at 6:54 pmwell, scotty, you should be very honored!
truth and honor being equated with liberal blogs – w00t!
and i love that picture… but somehow it doesn’t fit -
May 30th, 2008 at 6:54 pmmore than likely, he’s talking about 2 of something…
bandwagon Says:
What Truth?? The book doesn’t hold any water.
Geez, do we have to go over this again? Ok, one more time: Books are to read, they do not hold any water – or any other liquid. Glasses, pitchers, and other vessels are used to hold liquids. Should we use this an an example of your particular brand of home schooling? Please try and re-learn the basics of everyday life. You will be glad you did. So will we…
May 30th, 2008 at 6:55 pmSome bloggers are independents. Others are experts in their field. Not everyone with a perspective different than this White House is a left wing blogger.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:56 pmExplain what has been reported that is demonstrably false? Thank you.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:56 pmIf you wrung out of this book all the water it held, you’d fill up lake Superior.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:58 pmAnd rogers, haven’t we asked NOT to blog drunk?
Now, i realize it’s Friday afternoon, you’re trolled hard all week and you deserve to kick back with a cocktail, but, really, to avoid embarrassing yourself, log off, power down your computer, and go enjoy your margarita on the toilet like you usually do.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:59 pmYou know it turns my stomach to listen or hear Rove speak as if he is taking some kind of moral high ground. That would have to be somewhere just below my shoe.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:59 pmMemo to Scotty ~ have security check underneath your car and engine hood for concealed explosive devices prior to turning the ignition key.
May 30th, 2008 at 7:00 pmThe Cookie is crumbling and they are nervous!!!! Not a single official from this criminal administration came out and disputed Scott’s allegations! It is the same ‘modus operandis’, that is, trying to discredit dissent and criticism. The difference now is that we know where the Truth lies. Their bubble is getting smaller and they are geting restless.
May 30th, 2008 at 7:06 pmWhen Scotty Mc was telling them what they wanted to hear he could do no wrong, now he’s scum when he tells the other side of the story.
Neocons are surely a mixed-up lot of people. It must hurt to be one.
May 30th, 2008 at 7:06 pmRUCerious – re: #28 – That’s exactly what I was thinking – that, and that I hope he avoids flying on any small planes in the near future. I think he needs to have a little “come to Jesus meeting” with Congress, on camera, ASAP.
McClellan is no hero, he’s a summer patriot – he told the truth only when it became convenient to do so. Still, he may provide a few more nails for the neo-conservative coffin.
And if he helps nail Rove, I’d almost be willing to forgive him for helping to “catapult the propaganda” for so long – I said almost.
May 30th, 2008 at 7:10 pmThe Politico’s Mike Allen also said that Scott has adopted the “vocabulary, rhetoric of the left-wing haters.”
Please pardon my confusion, but, taken literally, wouldn’t a “left-wing hater” be, in actuality, someone who hates the left wing?
May 30th, 2008 at 7:12 pmie: a neo-con?
caption: (with the other hand’s fingers crossed behind his back)
“I am not a crook!”
May 30th, 2008 at 7:14 pmIf being agaisnt War Crimes and War Criminals, despise traitors (Chenney; Libby; Rove) is to be a left-wing… count me in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 30th, 2008 at 7:22 pmwhy is it that anyone who calls the administration on its BS and criticizes it on principle is automatically a (gasp) liberal. If being correct about every bungled policy and every transparent smear and lie makes me a (gasp) liberal — well then SIGN ME UP NOW!!!!! I’ll wear in proudly on my lapel next to my little lapel pin! These people are like little infants. Most, if not all, of we progressives have know for a long time the emperor had no clothes — like in September of 2000 perhaps!
May 30th, 2008 at 7:27 pmFormer White House press secretary Ari Fleischer: “We were wrong about whether Saddam had a WMD but that didn’t mean the president manipulated anything. And Scott uses the very same words that the far-left uses and I find that troubling because I find it inaccurate.”
But the words “WMD’s in Iraq” , “mushroom cloud” and “greeted as liberators” you found spot-on , eh Ari ?
Why ?
Because they weren’t words used by the “far-left” ?
Good call……….
May 30th, 2008 at 7:31 pmWorse yet, not only is McClellan a “left-wing hater”, he’s injuring the troops:
Was it an act of bravery or betrayal?
Editor – The revelations from ex-White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan are a sucker punch to all Americans, and they especially violate the virtue and honor of our fighting volunteer soldiers who have borne every sacrifice asked of them. Whether true or untrue, to come out against his previous employer now, after thousands of soldiers are dead and untold damage done to military families, is a classic example of the cowardice of a political criminal. How many more Scott McClellans are employed by the Bush administration?
DAMIEN CASTANEDA
San Mateo
Cheers,
May 30th, 2008 at 7:32 pmMethinks they doth protest too much.
May 30th, 2008 at 7:36 pmOh my gosh politics is SUCH a joke. Why cant the country be run like a BUSINESS? Just imagine how efficient things would run if a CEO was in charge of the country.
JT
May 30th, 2008 at 7:38 pmUltimate Anonymity
“How many more Scott McClellans are employed by the Bush administration?”
I’m not sure of the exact number, I’m certain however that it amounts to every employee.
May 30th, 2008 at 7:39 pmSo… has bandwagon identified any falsehood from Scotty’s book that led to his conclusion that the book “doesn’t hold water”?
Or did the troll mean that Scott doesn’t carry water anymore?
May 30th, 2008 at 7:40 pmDana Perino must be peeing her knickers watching this whole thing unfold. She’ll never even get the chance to write a book.
May 30th, 2008 at 7:41 pmOn PBS’s “News Hour” tonight, Conservative columnist David Brooks repeated the falsehood that there was “total agreement across the intelligence community that Saddam had WMD’s” in his criticism on McClellan.
Moderator Suarez quickly responded in the last seconds that he did not believe Hanz Blix and Mohammed al-Baride (sp?) were among those in the intelligence community that held that belief. :)
May 30th, 2008 at 7:43 pmI like the thought that two-thirds of Americans are “leftists”.
May 30th, 2008 at 7:45 pmWe must not be harsh, and we must not hate.
But it’s okay to intensely dislike the neocon dirtbags.
May 30th, 2008 at 7:51 pmIt is pure unadulterated crap to twist this around to the point that somehow Scott McClellan becomes the whipping boy. The WH and those who are spouting off their holier than thou moral judgment of him have found convenient cover for their own part in all this . At least they will be able to say they were loyal. Now, that should be comforting to the families of our fallen soldiers.
May 30th, 2008 at 7:54 pmCaption Contest:
“Make it a double, Bartender. I’m gonna need it.”
RUCerious Says:
Memo to Scotty ~ have security check underneath your car and engine hood for concealed explosive devices prior to turning the ignition key.
May 30th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Letterman once had a Top Ten list from a mob informant named “Jimmy the Weasel”. One tip was “Call AAA to start your car, in the event you should want it started.”
May 30th, 2008 at 7:55 pmLumpyDunky Says:
——————————————————————————–
Oh my gosh politics is SUCH a joke. Why cant the country be run like a BUSINESS? Just imagine how efficient things would run if a CEO was in charge of the country.
JT
Ultimate Anonymity
May 30th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
But , it has been run in that manner …………
Like Enron and Bear Stearns.
May 30th, 2008 at 8:11 pmThe response from the Bush administration and its amen corner to the blistering charges in former press secretary Scott McClellan’s new book has been quick, brutal and predictable. Of course, it wasn’t always this way. Once upon time, Scott McClellan was the perfect mouthpiece for the Bush administration and its right-wing allies.
Here, then is:
May 30th, 2008 at 8:21 pm“A Look Back at Scott McClellan’s Greatest Hits.”
LumpyDunky Says:
Oh my gosh politics is SUCH a joke. Why cant the country be run like a BUSINESS?
So, what business would you like the government to emulate? Enron? GE? Boing? Chase Manhattan? Blackwater?
Better the government be a “joke” as you put it than anything that acts like these.
May 30th, 2008 at 8:30 pmWhy cant the country be run like a BUSINESS?
It is. That’s the problem.
May 30th, 2008 at 8:40 pmIf Bush and Cheney had bothered to watch some other news besides Fox maybe they wouldn’t have the lowest approval ratings of all time.
May 30th, 2008 at 9:04 pmBecause they both choose to listen to the yes men they believe those that are wise to them are crazy bloggers.
They are mad at McClellan in the White House and Fox network because he broke their main law.
May 30th, 2008 at 9:46 pm“Either you are with us or against us”.
‘Us’ means here Bush,Cheney and the small ring around them.
Well, if the right wing nut jobs were so easily duped by this now “left wing hater” one has to wonder which terrorist organizations are or were represented in this administration. Regardless, how can the right wing nut jobs protect us from the “boogie man” when they can’t even keep “‘merican hating liberals” from infiltrating their ranks.
May 31st, 2008 at 1:07 amI heard Sean Hannity claiming that Scott McClellan will vote for Obama. Then I saw the interview with Keith Olbermann and found out it’s not true, he doesn’t know who he’s voting for. Well there goes a few million listeners of Hannity walking around misinformed and parroting the same junk to other people, who will parrot it to others and a false rumor is flying along.
How does Sean and many of these radio talk show hosts get away with this crap?
I’m sick of hearing these guys shout down opposing callers or mocking them over the air. What kind of a talk show does all the talking and none of the listening? Sounds like propaganda to me. Very scary and dangerous.
May 31st, 2008 at 1:32 amit never fails to happen…you could take the conservative with the most bona fides to the conservative movement, someone like a Chuck Hagel who is pretty conservative, but once they speak out against what these wingnuts cherish, they seem to contract TEH LIBRUL, a disease akin to TEH GAY…
May 31st, 2008 at 1:38 amI mean the wingnuts seem to think that these conservatives have caught TEH LIBRUL…
May 31st, 2008 at 1:39 am“Left-wing” is a much more damaging description than just, say “leftish,” in the way it affects the more or less uninformed and hence centrist-by-default reader. There is a perspective effect involved here, like foreshortening or parallax : from the right-wing persepctive, looking leftwards, everybody seems to be in the same place, viz. “on the left” – one cannot see the distances between them since they are all distributed along the same axis and thus the more extreme ones are hidden behind the closer ones. Conversely, if one looks at the inhabitants of the political spectrum from the “left-wing” end, they all appear to be due right, and hence indistinguishable.
May 31st, 2008 at 1:39 amlEFT-Wing Hater? there is much projection going around and it’s not from us liberals…
May 31st, 2008 at 1:40 amWhat is it with you guys and your issues with the institutes of higer learning/thinking in this nation? Okay so let me get this straight… The education system is controlled by the left. The entertainment industry is controlled by the left. The media is controlled by the left. The labor unions are controlled by the left. Is it just that you guys are good at many different things or is it that you are grossly outnumber? What gives?
May 31st, 2008 at 2:22 ammake that aren’t
May 31st, 2008 at 2:22 amWell if that’s the case, I’m calling the right a bunch of pussies for being outcompeted in so many areas and than to be super pussies, pissing and moaning about their alledged lack of representation in these very areas that they claim to be dominated by the left. Freakin’ babies!
May 31st, 2008 at 2:38 amSure on AM. Talk about freakin’ lame!!
May 31st, 2008 at 3:23 amThe Issue is NOT who Scott McClellan “sounds like”.
The Issue is the VERACITY of his assertions.
H e claims that President Bush RUSHED into War with Iraq, by cherry picking Intelligence, and Not considering the considerable amount of evidence to the contrary.
He did so by discounting the advice of our Allies, and he precluded the weapons inspectors from completing their inspections.
TRUE or FALSE? Does Colin Powell wish he could AMMEND his case before the UN?
TRUE or FALSE?
May 31st, 2008 at 7:15 amWhy do NPR and the Diane Rehm Show habitually book guests from conservative think tanks, the Washington Times, Weekly Standard, et al., while excluding (apart from the occasional appearance of David Corn) any liberal-left speakers?
May 31st, 2008 at 7:48 amWhy do NPR and the Diane Rehm Show habitually book guests from conservative think tanks, the Washington Times, Weekly Standard, et al., while excluding (apart from the occasional appearance of David Corn) any liberal-left speakers?
“Keep your friends close, and your adversaries closer…”
May 31st, 2008 at 8:19 amjohnsom Says:
May 31st, 2008 at 8:30 amAre you over 12 years old?
—-
So I can assume you have given up on addressing my premise that either the right is grossly outnumbered or just incapable of competing in the marketplace against liberals who alledgedly control all these areas. The third option is that these areas the right whines about really aren’t dominated by liberals. Which is it my big grown up friend?
Public radio is controlled folks. They are a bit more intelligent and a bit more subtle than the MSM blowhards, but that just makes them a better tool for influencing intelligent listeners.
NPR is a well-honed tool.
May 31st, 2008 at 9:11 amPoor johnyydoesn’tgetmuch
May 31st, 2008 at 9:16 amI still follow the Political Science faculty and curriculum at my alma mater, UCSB, and it’s pretty balanced. Which universities and colleges specifically are you attacking? Facts please or shove your innuendo where it don’t radiate it’s stink.
nineteen84,
Just curious. Who or what do you think is at the controls of NPR?
May 31st, 2008 at 9:23 amUsing the old “Left wing blogging points” excuse again. This excuse I guess would mean “truth” in the real world.
May 31st, 2008 at 10:12 amYou know, if the former Bush Administration Press Secretary is sounding like a left-wing blogger, then maybe the left-wing bloggers are–you know–right?
Huh? Could it be? Possible?
May 31st, 2008 at 10:31 amWell, I for one am enjoying watching the Bushies falling all over each other to discredit McClellan. Ah, sweet schadenfreude.
May 31st, 2008 at 10:44 amScott turned on the lights and the cockroaches are scattering.
May 31st, 2008 at 11:22 amIt’s time to start stomping them out.
The same people who got Judith Miller and the New York Times to help drag us into an immoral war.
Let me give you an example of what I mean:
Some months ago there was quite a bit of discussion about American “imperalism”. NPR did a piece on this. But rather than talking about tanks in Iraq, NPR discussed “cultural imperalism”, the way American cultural icons like McDonalds, blue jeans, rock and roll, etc. have spread to other countries. They did their cultural imperialism piece with a wink and a smile, polished, urbane, sophisticated in the usual NPR manner.
BUT THE DISCUSSION WAS ABOUT TANKS AND WAR DEAD, AND NPR SHIFTED THE FOCUS TO STARBUCKS IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE!!!
Subtle and insidious, I would argue.
May 31st, 2008 at 11:26 amSo far all I’ve read from the fear factory is name calling. Nothing to refute specifics in the book. A book I will be reading.
May 31st, 2008 at 11:55 amWe are harvesting the fruits of the IDIOT’S FAILED PRESIDENCY! Failed war : started on false pretenses Failed Economy : devalued dollar and outrageous gas prices housing slump Failed Policy : loss of civil rights Constitutional Rights all to the benefit of the very few.
May 31st, 2008 at 12:51 pmFirst there was Sparticus. No I’m Sparticus, Oh no I am sparticus. Remember………..
Well, Scotty isn’t a left wing hater, Its me. And I want them to stop insulting me by calling Scotty me.
June 1st, 2008 at 2:46 am