memeorandum: What Happens When the Ex-Press Secretary Doesn't Trash His Boss (Rich Noyes/NewsBusters.org)

12:45 AM ET, May 29, 2008

Top Items:

Scott McClellan's Confession — Scott McClellan worked as a loyal press spokesman for George W. Bush for eight years, ultimately becoming White House Press Secretary . He resigned from that position in 2006, in the wake of the controversy over the Valerie Plame leak scandal.

Discussion: Political Punch, alicublog, The Trail, On Deadline, Taylor Marsh, Attackerman, Tuned In, The American Mind, Washington Wire, Media Blog, Clayton Cramer's BLOG, Slog, Whiskey Fire and Romenesko

Ali / Think Progress:

MSNBC: White House Officals Are ‘Flat Out Angry,’ Calling McClellan ‘Traitor,’ ‘Benedict’ — When Scott McClellan resigned as Press Secretary on April 19, 2006, his White House officials colleagues heaped praise on him: … Yet news of McClellan's tell-all book seems to have soured White House officials' impression of him.

Discussion: MSNBC, Salon, The Sideshow, FishBowlDC, Commentary, The Corner, The Political Carnival, Balloon Juice, The Vanity Press and A Tiny Revolution

Scott McClellan / CNN:

Bartlett rips McClellan, calls allegation ‘total crap’ — McClellan and Bartlett worked closely together in the White House. (Getty Images) — Watch Dan Bartlett respond to McClellan at 4 p.m. ET on The Situation Room — (CNN) — Former White House counselor Dan Bartlett lashed …

Discussion: SFGate, The Crypt's Blogs and Wonkette

Rich Noyes / NewsBusters.org:

What Happens When the Ex-Press Secretary Doesn't Trash His Boss — Before Scott McClellan was President Bush's Press Secretary, there was Ari Fleischer, and when Fleischer left the White House he wrote his own book, “Taking Heat: The President, the Press, and My Years in the White House.”

Discussion: Power Line, Gateway Pundit, Sadly, No!, Salon, TBogg, michellemalkin.com, Lynn Sweet, American Power and Hot Air

Henry Blodget / The Huffington Post: McClellan Book's Real Message: “I'm a Loser”

Ali / Think Progress:
Loyal Bushies Smear McClellan: ‘Disgruntled,’ …

Discussion: The Trail, CNN, Taegan Goddard's …, Wall Street Journal, The Corner, The Huffington Post, QandO, The Carpetbagger Report, The Democratic Daily and Firedoglake

Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:

Democrats Are Advised to Seat Half of 2 States' Delegations — Democratic Party lawyers have determined that no more than half the delegates from Florida and Michigan can be seated at the party's August convention, dealing a blow to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's efforts to seat the full delegations from those states.

Discussion: The Field, TIME.com, Comments from Left Field, Political Machine, Commentary, A Blog For All, the talking dog and Don Surber

Hillary Clinton / CNN:

Rendell: ‘Very unlikely’ Clinton will win — (CNN) - Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell - who has been one of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's biggest backers - said Wednesday that she would make a “far better candidate” than frontrunner Barack Obama in major swing states, but is “very unlikely” she will be the Democratic nominee this fall.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs and The Political Carnival

Harold Meyerson / Washington Post:
Clinton's Two-State Two-Step

Discussion: The New Republic, Matthew Yglesias, Daily Kos, The Corner, TalkLeft, The Carpetbagger Report and The Hill

Hillary Clinton / CNN:
Florida court throws out DNC suit

Discussion: The Trail, MyDD, Wake up America, 2008 Democratic …, Associated Press and The Political Carnival

Nitya / Political Radar:
Rendell: Clinton ‘Very Unlikely’ To Win

Discussion: TIME.com

Mark Halperin / TIME.com:

Clinton's Letter to Superdelegates — The stakes in this election are so high: with two wars abroad, our economy in crisis here at home, and so many families struggling across America, the need for new leadership has never been greater. — At this point, we do not yet have a nominee …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, Wake up America, Salon, Irish Trojan in Tennessee, Booman Tribune, Sister Toldjah, QandO, Spin Cycle and TalkLeft

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Hillary Clinton's Swing-State Advantage — Clinton says her primary wins are indicative of general-election results — PRINCETON, NJ — In the 20 states where Hillary Clinton has claimed victory in the 2008 Democratic primary and caucus elections (winning the popular vote) …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, TalkLeft, Hot Air, Redstate, Taylor Marsh, TPM Election Central and PSoTD

Gallup:
Gallup Daily: McCain 46%, Obama 45%

Discussion: The Caucus, MyDD, The Swamp and NO QUARTER

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
The Selfless Leader's Final Appeal

Discussion: James Poulos

Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:

Obama Says He Is Considering Iraq Trip — THORNTON, Colo. - Senator Barack Obama said today that he is considering visiting American troops and commanders in Iraq this summer. He declined an invitation from Senator John McCain to take a joint trip to Iraq, saying: “I just don't want to be involved in a political stunt.”

Discussion: Hot Air, Redstate, TIME.com, Stop The ACLU and Sister Toldjah

GOP.com:
RNC Launches Online Clock Counting Days Since Obama's Last Visit to Iraq

Discussion: Comments from Left Field, The Caucus, Wake up America, Top of the Ticket, Minnesota Democrats Exposed, Needlenose and Redstate

Fox News:
Obama Considering Solo Trip to Iraq, After McCain Challenge

Discussion: Boston Globe, Spin Cycle, The Swamp, TPM Election Central and Sister Toldjah

Transterrestrial Musings:

The Uncle Seems Real — OK, Occam's Razor would indicate that Barack Obama has a maternal great uncle (i.e., his mother's mother's brother), named Charles Payne (middle initial unclear) who served with the 355th Infantry that liberated one of the camps in the Buchenwald complex, despite previous concerns on that score.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, PrestoPundit, The World Wide Rant and Weekly Standard

Stephen Adams / Telegraph:

John Bolton escapes citizen's arrest at Hay Festival — John Bolton, the former US ambassador to the United Nations, has escaped an attempted citizen's arrest as he appeared at the Hay Festival. — George Monbiot is held off by security guards — Security guards blocked the path …

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, Atlas Shrugs, Moonbattery, Pat Dollard and Nice Deb

Bob Smizik / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Madden removed from air by ESPN — Mark Madden, who made his reputation with bold, outlandish attacks on famous people, has been permanently removed from the air by ESPN. — His dismissal, which came down from ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn., came five days after he made a scurrilous remark …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Moderate Voice and The Radio Equalizer

Human Events:

Outlook — Sen. Hillary Clinton's comment that Robert F. Kennedy's assassination in 1968 justified her staying in the presidential race was an event that crystallized the antipathy to her inside party ranks. Even old-time Clintonites were appalled. — The most important political impact …

Tuned In:

Keith Olbermann Blows Last Remaining Gasket — So while we were away, Sen. Hillary Clinton apparently made an ill-advised reference to the RFK assassination (and the June timing thereof) by way of explaining her continuing run in the Democratic primary. And apparently Keith Olbermann had a thing or two to say about it:

Discussion: Hot Air, The Vanity Press, Political Machine and Moonbattery

Walter Alarkon / The Hill:

Wasserman Schultz: Judiciary Committee Willing To Arrest Rove If He Doesn't Testify — Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said that the House Judiciary Committee would be willing to arrest Karl Rove if the former White House official doesn't testify about his role in the firing of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006.

Discussion: Think Progress and The Political Carnival