A bomb
exploded
inside
Washington,
D.C.,
this week,
and, no, it
was not the
work of a
Middle
Eastern
terrorist.
It was the
work of
former White
House Press
Secretary
Scott
McClellan.
He, perhaps
more than
anyone else,
was the face
of President
Bush's White
House. He
faithfully
served
President
George W.
Bush for
close to a
decade and
served as
Bush's Press
Secretary
for some
three years,
resigning on
April 19,
2006. He was
also
regarded as
one of the
most loyal
and
tight-lipped
of the Bush
insiders.
However, his
new book,
"What
Happened:
Inside the
Bush White
House and
Washington's
Culture of
Deception"
has exploded
in the face
of what
history will
probably
regard as
one of the
most
deceptive
and
manipulative
Presidential
administrations
in American
government.
The
Washington
Post (and a
host of
other media)
released a
report
regarding
McClellan's
book this
past
Wednesday.
According to
McClellan's
book, the
Iraq war was
sold to the
American
people with
a
sophisticated
"political
propaganda
campaign"
led by
President
George W.
Bush
himself.
McClellan
charges that
Bush aimed
at
"manipulating
sources of
public
opinion" and
"downplaying
the major
reason for
going to
war." He
also says he
was deceived
by some
within the
President's
inner circle
about the
leak of a
CIA
operative's
name.
He has
especially
harsh
criticism
for former
White House
advisor Karl
Rove for
misleading
him about
his role in
the CIA
case. He
also accused
Secretary of
State
Condoleezza
Rice of
being "deft
. . . at
protecting
her
reputation,"
and called
Vice
President
Dick Cheney
"the magic
man" who
steered
policy
behind the
scenes.
In a chapter
titled
"Selling the
War,"
McClellan
says the
administration
repeatedly
"shaded the
truth." He
also stated,
"In the
permanent
campaign
era, it was
all about
manipulating
sources of
public
opinion to
the
president's
advantage."
In what
might be the
most
disturbing
statement in
the book (at
least among
those that
were
released by
press
reports),
McClellan
said, "What
I do know is
that war
should only
be waged
when
necessary,
and the Iraq
war was not
necessary."
McClellan
said his
motive for
writing the
book was
this: "Like
many
Americans, I
am concerned
about the
poisonous
atmosphere
in
Washington.
I wanted to
take readers
inside the
White House
and provide
them an open
and honest
look at how
things went
off course
and what can
be learned
from it.
Hopefully in
some small
way it will
contribute
to changing
Washington
for the
better and
move us
beyond the
hyper-partisan
environment
that has
permeated
Washington
over the
past 15
years."
I am
confident
the reaction
that will
spew forth
from both
sides of the
political
aisle will
simply
reinforce
McClellan's
basic
assertion.
Republicans
will attempt
to impugn
McClellan's
credibility,
while
Democrats
will shout,
"We told you
so!"
In previous
columns, I
have written
much
regarding
the poison
of deception
that
emanates
from
Washington,
D.C., which
is mostly
due to the
preoccupation
with
political
partisanship.
It seems the
only time
the
Republican
and
Democratic
parties care
about
"ethics" and
"honesty" is
when it
condemns the
other party.
Otherwise,
life in
Washington,
D.C., is
exactly as
McClellan
describes
it: a
culture of
deception.
McClellan's
book will be
a bitter
pill to
swallow. To
think that
the war in
Iraq was
"unnecessary"
creates
angst and
even anger
in the
meekest of
men. Yet,
how many
times have
governments
spent the
lives and
fortunes of
their people
for causes
and reasons
that
historians
would later
judge to be
"unnecessary"?
It might
even be safe
to say that
most of
history's
wars have
been
"unnecessary."
The
propensity
of rulers to
engage in
war for
personal,
transient,
or even
adolescent
purposes is
exactly why
America's
Founding
Fathers
created a
constitutional
republic in
this
country. In
America, the
Constitution--not
the
President,
Congress, or
even the
Supreme
Court--is
the Supreme
Law of the
land. Each
branch of
government
is to remain
separate
from the
other, and
no branch is
supposed to
be able to
run
roughshod
over the
other. It is
fidelity to
constitutional
government
that forms
the vanguard
of our
liberty, not
to mention
our safety.
This is why
our
President
and members
of Congress
take an oath
to preserve,
protect, and
defend the
Constitution
of the
United
States. They
are not
sworn to
uphold the
will of
party bosses
or special
interest
groups, or
even the
whim of the
people. They
are required
to uphold
the
Constitution.
Sadly,
America's
civil
magistrates
(especially
at the
federal
level) have
been
ignoring the
Constitution
for much of
the 20th
Century,
and--for the
most
part--still
ignore the
Constitution
today. And
it has not
mattered to
a tinker's
dam which
party has
been in
power. Both
major
parties are
equal
opportunity
violators of
the
Constitution.
None of us
(including
this writer)
wants to
believe that
McClellan's
bold
assertion is
true. None
of us wants
to believe
that we are
spending
trillions of
hard-earned
tax dollars
and sending
thousands of
brave
soldiers and
Marines (not
to mention
tens of
thousands of
Iraqis) to
their deaths
"unnecessarily."
I sincerely
pray that
McClellan is
wrong about
that.
One thing I
do believe
to be true,
however, is
this: Unless
the American
people begin
demanding
that their
civil
magistrates
uphold their
oaths to the
Constitution,
and until
the American
people rid
themselves
of this
blind
loyalty to
the two
major
political
parties, we
are going to
be
continually
subjected to
"Washington's
Culture of
Deception."
Dr.
Baldwin is
the host of
a lively,
hard-hitting
syndicated
radio talk
show on the
Genesis
Communications
Network
called,
"Chuck
Baldwin
Live" This
is a daily,
one hour
long call-in
show in
which Dr.
Baldwin
addresses
current
event topics
from a
conservative
Christian
point of
view. Pastor
Baldwin
writes
weekly
articles on
the internet
http://www.ChuckBaldwinLive.com
and
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