While I’ve long admired Senator Bob Dole’s service and sacrifice for our country, I was always skeptical of his tenacity, or more precisely, the lack thereof, while in a position of power. Well, as my wife’s Dad (also a WWII hero) is wont to say,
Hold the phone!
As reported by Jonathan Martin at the Politico, Bob Dole has unloaded on former presidential spokesman- turned -whistleblower Scott McLellan over the allegations "revealed" in his new "tell-all" book. I’m not sure if per chance the Kansas Senator maybe took an extra Viagra by accident, or he has exceed the oft-warned caution about the dangers of its… er, ah… "effects" stretching (oops, me bad!) beyond four hours, but man, Bob Dole, we hardly knew ye…
In an email sent to McLellan obtained and authenticated by Martin, Dole had this to say to Bush’s former press man:
"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," Dole wrote in a message sent yesterday morning. "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."
It doesn’t end there…
"In my nearly 36 years of public service I’ve known of a few like you," Dole writes, recounting his years representing Kansas in the House and Senate. "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"
Dole assures McClellan that he won’t read the book — "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," Dole concludes. "You’re a hot ticket now, but don’t you, deep down, feel like a total ingrate?"
He signs the email simply: "BOB DOLE"
Ouch! How does Senator Dole REALLY feel?
Well, as reported in a follow-up story by Martin, he
asked Bob Dole spokesman Michael Marshall why the former senator felt compelled to speak out against Scott McClellan.
Dole himself explains in an email sent over by Marshall:
"It’s just not right but it happens in nearly every administration. It sort of happened to me in a very small way when a low level employee in my Senate office left and published a book in 1995 titled ‘Senator for Sale.’ He claimed to be a close confidant, etc. The book bombed because neither he nor his rambles had any credibility with the media or the public.
Bottom line is that I have little respect for turncoats like McClellan who have it both ways. Some in public (and private) life have no shame when big bucks are involved. If their motive is ‘good government,’ O.K. but that’s rarely the case."
The book Dole refers to was penned by one Stanley G. Hilton in 1995, right as Dole was gearing up for his third and final White House run. Hilton had been an aide to Dole between 1979 and 1980.
It was described in Publisher’s Weekly as "so vitriolic that it will shock even Dole’s foes."
In other words, a hatchet job.
While unexpected, I applaud Senator Dole’s candor in his opinion regarding this somewhat ugly matter. Beyond that, I, like See-Dubya writing at Michelle Malkin‘s blog about this, wonder who’s really behind all of this. Almost sounds like the stuff of a movie. Except that it’s much more serious than two hours of escapism…