Washington Watch for June 8, 2008

• By GERARD SHIELDS
• Advocate Washington bureau
• Published: Jun 7, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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The new book by former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has hit Washington like a scud missile.

The Bush White House instantly rolled out the spin machine after McClellan criticized his former boss over everything from the handling the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to the decision to go to war with Iraq.

In “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception,” McClellan contends that he was duped by the Bush administration when it came to  going to war with Iraq. White House officials are saying the book is sour grapes from an ex-employee.

But for Louisianians, the most interesting aspect of the book is the inside-the-clubhouse look that the two-year press secretary provides in regard to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

McClellan advised that President Bush not be photographed staring down from Air Force One at the effects of the tragedy. The picture made Bush seem disconnected to the disaster, McClellan said.

“One of the worst disasters in our nation’s history became one of the biggest disasters in Bush’s presidency,” McClellan writes.

After the photo was taken, McClellan argued against it being released on the same grounds. He was overruled by Bush wizard and chief political adviser, Karl Rove. Speaking recently on Fox News, Rove defended his decision.

Having the president land in or near New Orleans would have disrupted rescue efforts, Rove said. If you don’t show the picture “then you’ve got the president turning a blind eye,” Rove said.

McClellan and Rove also wrestled over Bush’s infamous quote supporting former FEMA Director Michael Brown as doing “a heckuva job.” McClellan calls the event a “clinker” that showed Bush prized loyalty over competence.

The president made the comments after hearing initial praise of Brown from state and local officials, Rove said.

“Now what is the president going to do there?” Rove said. “Accept their compliments and not say a word about Brown?”
Rove must’ve been on another planet during Katrina because no one else heard the compliments. And the picture showed what many Bush critics after the hurricane said all along: that the president had his head in the clouds.

Bush had no problem appearing at Ground Zero after the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Louisianians should have expected nothing less.

McClellan asserts that the federal-response gaffe at the hurricane would define the president’s second term. That’s a bit of a stretch, seeing that it competes with the loss over 4,000 soldiers and the spending of $750 billion in the endless Iraq War.