Don't Like The Message? Fire the Messenger! 
Former Bush Press Secretary Scott McLellan Heads Home
to Texas as His Mother Seeks to Run for Texas Governor 
by Sarah Whalen
www.dissidentvoice.org
May 5, 2006



 

Is it his messenger, or his message?

Which has caused US President George W. Bush to become one of the world's most unpopular leaders -- right behind North Korea's Kim Jung Il? A lesser man might do a little soul-searching to wonder why he became not just unpopular, but almost universally loathed.

And even some Republicans who think they might like to win a local election or spare their party historic ignominy beg Bush to reconsider his message.  But Bush doesn't soul-search or second guess, nor does he “do nuance.”  He mocks the word.

So why did Bush fire his junior neocon, native Texan Scott McLellan?

Is it because he's not a good enough liar?

Or maybe he's not a good looking enough liar?

The answer's simple -- when you need a snow job, you hire a snowman.

So it's unsurprising that Fox News commentator and newsreader Tony Snow -- an unabashed neocon fan -- is Bush's new pet parrot. He's glib, a big smiler, and much better looking than the pouty-mouthed, baby faced McLellan.

Still, one couldn't help but wince at the rapidity with which McLellan was cut down. McLellan's never shot a prominent Republican party financier full of holes (after drinking “just one beer” and a slew of Dr. Peppers) or given one a heart attack; he's not obsessed over the CIA's alleged “nepotism” in selecting a former Clintonite to investigate whether Saddam Hussein really tried to acquire yellowcake uranium to make weapons of mass destruction, all the while appointing every single member of his own family to cushy government jobs; he's not written any memos recommending illegal torture and detentions; he's not accused of passing secrets to foreign agents or lobbyists surreptitiously working for foreign powers; he's not under indictment nor has “The Indictor” asked him to make five guest appearances before the grand jury.

Why fire Scott?

McLellan wistfully said he'd actually resigned and would hang around to “help with the transition,” but within 48 hours, whoosh!  Snow was on the scene.  McLellan's desk contents were tossed into packing boxes quicker than the newly-installed Lyndon B. Johnson jettisoned grieving widow Jackie Kennedy's things, and McLellan was left to choke up on the dais as Bush chuckled along with a decidedly strange farewell speech, saying they would “one of these days . . . be rocking on chairs in Texas, talking about the good old days and his time as the Press Secretary.  And . . . I can say to Scott, job well done.”

McLellan's last words – “I have given it my all, sir, and I've given you my all,” have an ominous ring.  He reminded Bush, not too subtly, either, that he'd been “part of a team” and Bush had “accomplished a lot over the last several years with this team.” And he then told Bush he was “going back to Texas” and “hope[d] to get there before you.” Does Bush really think that his loyal Scott will be like a Texas hound dog, panting on the porch, waiting for years for his master to show up?

Maybe Bush comes from a line of folks who like nodding off in their rockers as the breeze blows by Kennebunkport, but McLellan comes from sterner stock. Or at least, more frenetic stock. Check out his mamma -- Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who, as we say in Texas, is “something else.”

Strayhorn, a former Democrat turned Republican, is now running for Texas governor as an Independent.  State comptroller and a former Austin mayor, she calls herself, “a common sense conservative, education watchdog, and ‘One Tough Grandma’ -- watching out for Texas.” She sounds convincingly like the homegrown, no-nonsense Texan that Bush, who fired her youngest little boy, has always tried to be but could never pull off. Her candidacy challenges “Team Bush” -- Karl Rove's gang which believes it has Texas all wrapped up: “Texas belongs to no special interest group, no special political credo, no special individual. It belongs to all Texans,” Strayhorn's petition declares. She needs 45,000 registered voters who have not yet voted in either party primary that election cycle to sign.

Will Scott become his mother's advisor on her ongoing campaign for Texas governor? Republican Governor Rick Perry fears Strayhorn. She may not win the governorship, but her candidacy could divide the vote enough to give a Democrat a fighting chance.  Strayhorn's candidacy will also highlight issues Republican candidates would rather avoid -- making upcoming state and local elections more combative, and more favorable to Democrats.

Who knows where Bush's bodies are buried? Through his feisty mamma, little Scott McLellan may get himself a brand new bag in Democratic politics.

Sarah Whalen lives in Texas and can be contacted at: sawhalen@gmail.com. Visit her webpage at: www.sarahwhalen.com.

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