Good points by most, if not all, posters. Received, this morning, a private communication from a “Loose Cannon” fan who wants us to tackle the flap over Scott McClellan’s new book. (McClellan, erstwhile presidential press secretary, is hardly the first White House communications aide to pen a book—he’s not even the first in this White House to do so—but the harsh nature of his criticism of George W. Bush over the issue of war in Iraq clearly caught conservatives by surprise.) I covered the White House the entire time McClellan was in his job, and worked with him on coverage-related issues during my time as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association. I thought I knew him, but the tone of his tome surprised me. So all right, we’ll get into this; but only after I’ve actually read the book, which I’ll try to do tonight after fulfilling the duties of my day job as DC bureau chief for Reader’s Digest.

In the meantime, one can’t help but notice that reaction to McClellan’s basting of his former boss quickly separated along partisan lines. Republicans found it dreadful, dishonest, and disloyal. Democrats lauded it for its candor, courage, and confirmation of their low opinion of the current administration.

Tucker Carlson: “This hurts Bush, but McClellan’s been hurting Bush for a long time: Maybe the lamest press secretary in American history, a beneficiary of that weird Bush affirmative action program for the extremely loyal, of which he was one. It seems to me, he’s implicated in everything he says. If Bush was telling lies, through whose lips are those lies coming? Scott McClellan. He ought to be in ashes and sackcloth.”

Nancy Pelosi: “I totally agree (with McClellan). This is a person who was talking to the press, supplied with information that he trusted to be truthful. So I’m sure he felt zapped. Because what could he say, except what he trusted to be the case?”

Two other notes: First, I recently interviewed Speaker Pelosi about her own new book; that piece is scheduled to run in our magazine’s August issue. Second: an interesting—and unpredictable—perspective  on McClellan comes from John Feehery, former press secretary to Dennis Hastert.

Finally, I’ll leave you (for now) with this quote. See if you can guess whose it is: (I’ll give the answer tomorrow, if no one ferrets it out…)