MoveOn to McClellan: Donate the proceeds from book to war vets.
By on Jun 1st, 2008 at 9:45 am
MoveOn to McClellan: Donate the proceeds from book to war vets.
Yesterday, MoveOn.org launched a petition drive “calling on former White House official Scott McClellan to donate the proceeds of his book to veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.” The petition reads:
Coming clean is great — but profiting from lying to the public isn’t. McClellan was a critical part of the effort to sell us the war and now he’s poised to make millions of dollars for it. That’s wrong.
You can sign MoveOn’s petition here.
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72 Responses to “MoveOn to McClellan: Donate the proceeds from book to war vets.”
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That would be a great start. It wouldn't wipe out his complicity but, it would be away to make some amends for past deeds. If he was truly sincere (which I highly doubt)he would not only give this serious thought, he would start making sure at least part of the proceeds started benefitting the veterans. We know they certainly need the help with all the new applications for food stamps that have hit in the last two months from military families.
Let's see if he picks the moral high ground..
June 1st, 2008 at 9:52 amBe real. He's still a republican.
June 1st, 2008 at 9:55 amDisagree. McClellan's professional life is over. We all know how the omerta works in Republican party. He will never get another job and will probably be under some sort of criminal investigation.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:11 amGood idea, Scotty, it might help reduce your sentence.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:14 amI say let him decide what to do with his "30 pieces of silver."
June 1st, 2008 at 10:15 amWell said Briseadh na Faire.
However this also comes under : Better Late than Never
June 1st, 2008 at 10:16 amSeeing as how deaths in Iraq are your favorite talking point, kilo, what is the ideal you are hoping for?
June 1st, 2008 at 10:26 amA particular number? A particular form? A certain demographic?
Kilo,
June 1st, 2008 at 10:30 amLet's see 10 hrs 27 minutes into May and a Bush Sycophantic Water-carrying, Hannity-wanta-be is whining about last months death tolls in Iraq!
Well there will be one thing for sure Kilo, TP is light years ahead on any reporting than the Bush Administration could ever hope to be!
TP - You should take note that the article you linked to was from the Washington Times. Everything about the article paints McClellan as a traitor to his party and (what's worse to them) his president.
The petition drive, intended to create pressure for Mr. McClellan to be asked about it on the morning news-interview shows Sunday, is the latest signal of a backlash by Democrats and Republicans alike against the former press secretary for turning on his ex-boss, President Bush.
The liberal group's move to shame Mr. McClellan into giving his money away is the most recent slam on him for being a turncoat.
Terry McAuliffe... said Mr. McClellan was "wrong” to write the book.
And, of course, they quoted Bob Dole's rant extensively. Other than quoting MoveOns' initial words of McClellan's "coming clean is admirable,” there was not a single positive thing said about McClellan in that article.
The entire framework of the article was that McClellan failed his country because he failed his president, instead of the truth - he failed his country because he supported his president. I believe that this authoritarianist mindset should be exposed and the public wanred. We have a government of people who believe that the president is above the law, and if you don't support a president who believes he is above the law, then you are a traitor to your country.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:30 amWho says he is lying? I'll take his word over that two faced War Monger Bush any day of the week.
JJ
June 1st, 2008 at 10:31 amUltimate Anonymity
This is an interesting take on the mccellan issue of him coming clean. Gets you thinking.
http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/the-naive-left/
June 1st, 2008 at 10:32 amSlug slime clean up on 666....
June 1st, 2008 at 10:32 amLet's stick to the topic of the thread, please.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:33 amLow or high, they all have died for nothing more than Neo-con ambitions.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:35 amI've now seen a couple of McClellan interviews, and as a visual person, I thought he looked very different. Even though he refused to outright apologize for his complicity, he still seemed to look almost like a relative of Scott McClellan rather than himself. I found that interesting.
If he wants to be given the benefit of the doubt that he actually is coming clean for the sake of the nation, donating his book proceeds would go a long way in matching his actions with his words. But, I don't expect it after he refused to apologize to the American people for not speaking out sooner.
Another interesting comment he made was about his interest in Barack Obama's candidacy. Some people do change. I'd like to think that maybe he is waking up. Better late than never... But I guess, time will tell.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:41 amThe administration is typically attacking the messenger as they have no basis to attack the message. Press and public fall for it every time.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:41 amWayne A. Schneider Says: We have a government of people who believe that the president is above the law, and if you don’t support a president who believes he is above the law, then you are a traitor to your country.
Precisely why I am 99% certain that we'll have a Democratic increase in Congress as well as a Democratic President come January 2009.
It will be a peaceful version of storming the Bastille.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:45 amKilo Hmmm…. an unbiased, or at least intellectually honest, reader might ask if that was more newsworthy than May having the lowest troop deaths in 5 years.
But where would we find one of those ?
Oh look! A daisy is growing in the midst of all the carnage! Soon it'll be a whole field of daisies, when the Iraqis quit killing each other. Oops, there goes another car bomb. Now where'd that daisy go?
June 1st, 2008 at 10:46 amRussert posed the question of donating book proceeds to McClellan this morning and Scott said that he and his wife are considering it. I do think that would be a meaningful gesture. We'll see what happens.
An earlier poster observed that Scott looks like a different person of late. I agree. There is a big difference between the "flop-sweat" Scott during his press secretary days and the self-aware Scott of today who has seen the light. He is more relaxed and centered now that he has found some honesty. I would highly recommend this same type of therapy for GDumbya and Darth Cheney.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:53 amStorming the Bastille? It'll be more like handing over the keys given the Democratic Party's rebranding as pro-business (honking the horn on the privatization train). The private equity underwriting boys loaded up on ex-Clinton talent recently. That makes for a double PEU.
Don't forget their new pro gun status (coming soon to National Parks near you). Even Russ Feingold signed the letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne.
I'm afraid it will take independents to truly storm the Bastille. A pox on both Republican and Democratic houses.
As for Scotty and the MoveOn suggestion, it could be a very powerful gesture, which means Scott will probably pass. He had numerous opportunties to make powerful and symbolic gestures, instead he wagged his finger at Bush's enemies.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:56 amKilo said:
Hmmm…. an unbiased, or at least intellectually honest, reader might ask if that was more newsworthy than May having the lowest troop deaths in 5 years.
But where would we find one of those ?
Certainly not in you. More than 4000 Americans dead, hundreds-of-thousands of Iraqi civilians dead, millions of Iraqi refugees, billions of taxpayer dollars wasted and more billions yet to be spent. All for a war based on lies and deceptions. And all you care about are last month's totals?
If only there’d been more people killed so they could make it as a political talking point. How disappointing. Well, better luck next month eh TP. Keep your fingers crossed.
You favor an unnecessary war that's killed hundreds-of-thousands and it's Think Progress and the lib-a-ruls that are callous about human life?
http://progressiveworldreview.com
June 1st, 2008 at 10:56 amNo, not your favourite talking point but one that should never have happened if BushCo hadn't started this ego war and continued the illegal occupation. One life was too many for this disgusting travesty.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:58 amtroll train derailed on track 21. leave for clean up crew..
June 1st, 2008 at 10:58 amKilo Says: Deaths in Iraq aren’t my favourite talking point. TP refusing to report on any improvement on that front is. Something which anywhere else would be called “good news”.
There is no good news from falsely occupying a sovereign nation that imposed no threat to anyone, killing hundreds of thousands of its citizens, murdering their nefarious leader in order to replace him with feuding religious sects, taking advantage of American soldiers who planned to defend our country from actual threats, and putting an entire nation nto teh position of having to choose between food and gas because your "war" wasted billions of their hard-earned tax dollars.
The ONLY possible good news will be "we're leaving".
June 1st, 2008 at 10:59 amkilo
June 1st, 2008 at 11:01 amI went to Hannity's,Boortz, Rush,Malkin,Savage Beck and Snooze Nuze and there was no mention of last months death totals either! What does that tell you about their sites?
Kilo:
Do you not find it disgusting that you’re referring to change on that front as a “hoped for ideal” ? I mean even just as an American, let alone someone who’s complained about biased, partisan media coverage in the past ?
And now Aussie Kilo is telling us how we should feel as Americans.
That's rich.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:05 amI take it that was you avoiding the question. With your critique of an argument nobody was making.
The search continues.
You post, saying things are going good, but TP just isn't reporting it, called for some righteous re-framing. Too bad if your partisan myopia would't allow you to see it.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:09 amMore slime on 29..
June 1st, 2008 at 11:10 amstateofthedivision Says: Storming the Bastille? It’ll be more like handing over the keys given the Democratic Party’s rebranding as pro-business (honking the horn on the privatization train). The private equity underwriting boys loaded up on ex-Clinton talent recently. That makes for a double PEU.
I'd like to give it a try first. I know Obama won't be able to do everything we want, but I would first like to see what happens during his first year before I make that assumption. After so many years of Republican control, I'd like to see what Obama can do with a Democratic majority, and the fact that yesterday's resolution showed that the Clinton's don't own the Democratic Party.
Don’t forget their new pro gun status (coming soon to National Parks near you). Even Russ Feingold signed the letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne.
There's a big difference between being pro-gun and being a supporter of the second amendment. My father had guns. We were educated about guns. Guns aren't the problem. Uneducated people having unrestricted access to semi-automatic weapons is the problem. There was a good reason our very liberal Founding Fathers believed we needed the right to bear arms (against tyranny). I happen to agree with them.
I’m afraid it will take independents to truly storm the Bastille. A pox on both Republican and Democratic houses.
Possibly. In fact, I think the Independent majority as of late might keep the new Democratic Party (under Obama) in check. They know we will fire them too. I just with the Independent Parties would pick viable candidates and not extremists. With a viable third and fourth party, I do think it would help.
Guess I'm just willing to be a little optimistic right now because we are just 65 delegates away from change.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:10 amSo Kilo, are there any other things that we as Americans should be disgusted about? Since you're now the clearly established authority on such things...
June 1st, 2008 at 11:12 amKilo Says:
I don’t care about their sites. I don’t even know WTF a “boortz” a “beck” or as “snooze nuze” is.
Yea,right. Of course you don't.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:13 amWow, it's impressive to see that reich-wing loons like kilo believes ThinkProgress is the standard-bearer for war reporting.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:14 amKilo, *flagged* off-topic
June 1st, 2008 at 11:15 amSo that’s what the kids are calling it these days. A re-framing. Used to call it a straw man argument in my day.
Thanks for the compliment, but at 50, I'm probably a little older than you. And you use a strawman (that I'm just a kid) to complain about strawmen?
Classic!
June 1st, 2008 at 11:16 amI'm pretty happy with Scott. He doesn't have to appease MoveOn.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:18 am#21 Kilo
Deaths in Iraq aren’t my favourite talking point. TP refusing to report on any improvement on that front is. Something which anywhere else would be called “good news”.
What is scary about your idea of "good news" is that 19 men died in Iraq. How in this world can you possibly consider that good news. I'm certainly glad none were your family members. Try telling them your " good news".
The fact that TP hasn't reported it yet could be because that usually falls on a Think Fast Thread, which is Monday through Friday. Which you perfectly well know. So your point is mute.
Next time you have "good news", please don't share with the rest of us. And make sure it's on thread..
June 1st, 2008 at 11:20 amComing clean is great — but profiting from lying to the public isn’t. McClellan was a critical part of the effort to sell us the war and now he’s poised to make millions of dollars for it. That’s wrong.
*************************************************************
I think MoveOn has a very good point here. Talking the talk is easy enough -- but walking the talk is something else again. If McClellan wants to prove that he's truly seen the error of his ways and is genuinely sorry for having assisted the Bush administration in perpetrating a gross deception -- and not simply looking to make a fast buck by turning upon his former associates -- then I think he should donate at least fifty percent of the proceeds from the book to nonprofit associations which provide services to veterans. If what I've heard is true, McClellan comes from a wealthy family -- so it doesn't seem likely that he's in danger of being sent to the poorhouse any time soon. For that matter, even if he is struggling financially, then let him do what the rank and file inevitably have to do in that situation by trimming the unnecessary expenses from his budget. Let him put his money where his mouth is!! If eh can't do that, then it's not too hard to see where his priorities really lie.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:21 amIt's interesting that an Australian is lecturing us about Iraq when Australia just pulled their troops out today:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/01/australias-iraq-combat-op_n_104521.html
'Bye 'bye kilo...
June 1st, 2008 at 11:22 amIt would be a grand gesture on the part of McClellan to donate the proceeds of his book; but let's remember that even though he has found his backbone today, altruism was not always his strong suit. Right now he he being challenged by Dems and Reps for either being a traitor or being too little, too late. He may find his backbone becoming stiffer.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:23 amSurely, McClellan will find a position in academia since his political future is dead.
What does this say about the credibility of Fleischer, Snow, and Perino -- silly question -- we all know the truth. It's just that now there will be more skeptics and that's a positive outcome.
BTW, is Snow ailing -- he's out of the news -- I've seen no comment from him regarding this book.
What’s the new term for “black out” ?
I don't know. Go ask Cheney or Rove, they seem to have cornered the market on "black out". Seen any funerals for soldiers lately?
June 1st, 2008 at 11:23 amBushBot Aussie Prezident pulls out of Iraq. Yes, I believe some MSM outlets are carrying this. TP?
June 1st, 2008 at 11:23 amMaking a plea, scrub the troll on 43
June 1st, 2008 at 11:23 am"he he" should be he is
June 1st, 2008 at 11:23 am"...goddamn certain Fox News broadcasts outside it..."
It is standard fare on armed forces broadcasting in the middle east.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:24 amYou don't really have any valid contributions, kilo, you're simply an obnoxious sputterer.
I disagree with this MoveOn meme. In actuality McClellan isn't profiting from lies. That's what he was doing as press secretary - getting paid to lie to Americans on a regular and formal basis. The book is the contrast where he's actually approaching some truths about what was done to America, Americans and the world in the name of America.
I'm no fan of McClellan. I've commented elsewhere that I think he released this book, not for any need to disclose the truth, but for monetary reasons. Unlike Ari Fleischer, McClellan doesn't seem to have a cushy position to continue spouting the Republican line and lies. He seems to have been given the "heck of a job Brownie" treatment, quickly forgotten for his robotic stonewalling of legitimate questioning of Bush group actions.
So from my view it is about money. McClellan couldn't get the "con" cash to continue lying so he went with some truth. The book money is based on that bit of truth. If he'd have written a hagiographic piece on his Bush time it wouldn't have made much. The various well moneyed conservative foundations didn't seem inclined to buy up hundreds of thousands of copies to make it into a "grass roots" best seller. Only some truth seemed to be the way to get the attention and the bucks rolling in.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:25 amGood catch, unbelieveable.
Kilo has no room to criticize Americans, now that his compatriots have turned tail.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:26 amAnother case of shooting the messenger. Scott McClellan has effectively turned state's evidence against the Bush crime syndicate. We now have more important issues to pursue than Scotty's complicity. Get Bush & company solidly behind bars first, then worry about Scotty's role.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:27 ambarfly Says: Kilo has no room to criticize Americans, now that his compatriots have turned tail.
Never seems to stop a neocon :D
June 1st, 2008 at 11:32 amAl Jazeera has more integrity than Murdock propaganda channel. These right wing fanatics refuse to discuss the actual message that Scott is delivering. They only want to attack him personally or change the topic to "number of deaths". Whatever the number, they have all died for nothing more than neo-con ambitions.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:36 amThis thread is now irrelevant: Scotty's decided to donate portions of the book to vet orgs.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:36 amGood news: Kilo took a dump.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:38 amKilo Says: Got anything relevant to that ?
Yes, post 25.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:44 amActually I was lecturing TP on it’s double standards for reporting good news vs bad news, based on the partisan desire to promote one over the other.
Got anything relevant to that ?
Please go to Fox and lecture them on why the NEVER report American Deaths. Oh yeah, you don't get Fox. Funny, I thought they had a web site. I guess it's just your partisan desire to love Bush and the Neocons.
Next.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:46 amKilo's trying to act dumb as a rock not knowing who Boortz, Beck, et al is! He's just as dumb,maybe dumber (only his momma knows for sure,) as Bush is! He has no curiosity to find out who these clowns are! He knows who they are,cause he's part of their Posse'!
June 1st, 2008 at 11:47 amAh. You can be whatever you want on the Internetz. Kilo says he's an Australian, but you can be whatever you wants on the internetz. I say I'm a winged kitten! Why? 'cause I can be whatever I wants on the internetz. I don't believe that Kilo's actually an Australian. Why? 'Cause it's almost 2AM in Sydney, and though I'm not all that familiar with timezones in Australia, i doubt it's much earlier than 1AM anywhere in Austrilia. But...(sung to the tune of 'Alices Restaurant') You can be anything you want, on tha great Internets...
I think Kilo's nothing more than the 12th Sock Puppet of the same troll that pollutes our site and tries to distract. Typical bull, he doesn't even stay in thread (and for extra laughable goodness, tries to admonish someone else to 'stay in thread'), bringing up some BS that TP won't report his good news he wants trumpeted. Faux Noos could give him that report.
So tell us, Kilo, what does your shiny thing have to do with McClellan coming out about Bush's snake-oil on Terrorism?
June 1st, 2008 at 11:50 amThis has gotten sort of boring
June 1st, 2008 at 11:56 amSo why is a Bush offical worth voraciously defending when he's in office, but then becomes a POS when he leaves? He's still the same person.
You can't have it both ways...
June 1st, 2008 at 11:57 amIn my experience, Australians seem to have a sense of humor, as well as general intelligence.
June 1st, 2008 at 12:00 pmKilo sounds more like a South Carolina conservative...
Kilo Says: Who are you talking to ? I assume it’s not me since I just said he’s the same lying POS he’s been since he took the job.
You know what they say about assuming...
Try to follow: You say that now - after the fact - but you (as in 'you conservatives') defended him when he was in the position. I never once heard a conservative call him a POS while he was a Bush official. Only now, trying to claim that you thought it all along. I call bullsh*t.
By the way, you can't find post 25?
June 1st, 2008 at 12:14 pmI notice Kilo didn't bother to answer the question at the end of the post. I guess its honor being question blinded it to the entire post.
As for being able to get local footage, I know that all it takes is a little research and some luck to net Australian feeds. Hell, I remember using a program a little while back that pulled streams from countries TV across the world for viewing on my PC. Streams from both Canadian and Australian TV shows, plus streams from much more exotic places, including Asia and the Middle East. I still believe Kilo is nothing more than Sock Puppet #12 of the Troll that pollutes this site, and instead of living anywhere in Australia, the controller behind Kilo the 'Australian' is actually living...like Nevar postulates...in South Carolina, in the back room of its mother's double-wide, in a dingy room surrounded by half-eaten chips bags, barely able to get out of its chair, in front of a relic of a computer, paid for by its mom out of her welfare check, spewing about the Evil Libruls (tm). As I've said, anyone can be anything they want...on teh internetz.
But that's pretty much beside the point. What is the point of this thread is McClellan's tell-all about Bush. I do agree with Kilo in one respect: This guy isn't doing this out of the goodness of his heart. He's writing a book and though some of the proceeds are going to the troops he [CENSORED] (rhymes with hucked) over by carrying Bush's water, he's still making bucks off it. However, just because the book wasn't written for an honorable cause doesn't change the fact that it was still written. What I don't agree with Sock Puppet #12 about is that the book is as much a lie as the crap he spewed while he was President. That'd be what a congressional inquiry would be for -- finding out where the truth lies in all this. Personally, I think that the truth lies closer to the book than to Bush's admin, simply because these guys react much the same way as vampires react to light, except replace burning and the cross with foaming at the mouth, flinging spittle around and the Truth...
I wonder if ol' Kilo gets paid by the post, or if it just does this cause it's a heartless [CENSORED] (fatherless son).
June 1st, 2008 at 12:16 pmAw, did I hit a nerve? Methinks the troll doth protest too much. I ain't gonna spend the time to prove this. I do have better things to do. The troll just been trolled, I say. Maybe now Sock Puppet #12 knows how we feel reading its BS. Become a better troll, troll. :)
And two posts on the same message, and both of them STILL missed the real point in that message. Third time's the charm?
Man, I'm enjoying this Whack-A-Troll game TOO much...
June 1st, 2008 at 12:20 pmOne of my brothers is a foaming-at-the-mouth conservative who can not handle being wrong (which, being a Republican, he is quite often). He has selective hearing. I would speculate that selective reading is also a traditional conservative tactic for avoiding their habitual fallability.
Well, I'm bored. Gonna go make peach sorbet in my new ice cream maker...
June 1st, 2008 at 12:22 pmGood News: a former administration official is daring to speak the truth.
June 1st, 2008 at 12:22 pmTake it easy, unbelievable. Your name says it all about the conservatives both here and on places like Craigslist. I wonder if they'll still be sputtering their insanity as the Neocon boat sinks under a massive Democratic cleanout of the House and Senate and Presidency this fall. And enjoy your icecream, I'm jealous. :)
June 1st, 2008 at 12:23 pmUnbelieveable:
June 1st, 2008 at 12:35 pmI used to think they were just a stupid kitchen gadget but those mango cutters really work well if you wanna try some mango sorbet which I myself adore
Bad News: The administration lied and propagandized us into an illegal immoral war of aggression.
June 1st, 2008 at 12:35 pmGood News: one former administration official is coming clean.
So Kilo, there were plenty of dead Iraqis in May, where's your comment on those figures. Or do you think the deaths of those people doesn't need to be reported on?
Flag this racist, death monger.
June 1st, 2008 at 12:43 pmMaybe Kilo should try that mango cutter on his head, db.
June 1st, 2008 at 12:44 pmthe mango can't be overly soft
June 1st, 2008 at 12:50 pmLOL! Looks like TP got to takin' out the trash. Buh-bye now, Sock Puppet #12. waiting for Sock Puppet #13 now.
June 1st, 2008 at 1:25 pmAw shucks, that leaves Kilo's head out then? Why'd you have to tell him?
June 1st, 2008 at 2:05 pmJeremy - Mostly definitely. Though it has been interesting to see how few of them are in the blogs anymore to argue with us about it. I imagine they will be more likely to whine amongst themselves for the next 8 years :)
Thanks for the mango cutter advice dbadass, I too love mangos, but hate cutting them. Will try that next!
June 2nd, 2008 at 8:57 am