WHAT HAPPENED TO WHAT HAPPENED
Saturday June 14, 2008
-EUGENE LINDEN
Former colleagues and friends hint that Scott McClellan's White House tell-all book, What Happened, reflects the influence of liberals during the editing process. "Something changed," said Ari Fleischer on NPR on May 28, "...parts of the book just don't sound like Scott to me."
Excerpts from Scott McClellan's Diary:
Nov. 6, 2007
First trip to Public Affairs to discuss the manuscript with Peter Osnos! Exciting! POTUS is going to love this book! Need a title that conveys the majesty of W., something like "A Man in Full" (too bad it's taken).
Nov. 7, 2007
Weird scene today.
Came in to Public Affairs and saw George Soros in Osnos' office. The body language was all wrong; it looked like Osnos was dictating to the billionaire... Osnos was leaning back, completely in command, almost sinister. And Soros? Well Soros looked submissive, defeated.
Don't know what was going on there, but no New York editor is going to tell Scott McClellan what to write!
Nov. 8, 2007
OMG! I should have seen this coming!
When Osnos was called out of the office I picked up my chapter on Iraq and WMD. I'd written that the WMD were there all along, camouflaged as crates of Halva. What I was reading, however, was entirely different. It was my book, but the words were saying that Bush was going to invade Iraq from the get-go, regardless of whether WMD were found.
It wasn't even my tone (a cut-to-the-bone minimalist narrative style leavened with throwaway lines that are pure American authentic a la Will Rogers)!
When Osnos got back I let him have it with both barrels. He airily brushed me off, saying, "oh we'll get that changed in copy edit."
I'm not sure this is over.
Dec.4, 2007
Osnos has been quiet -- too quiet. On the other hand, they're coming at me from a new angle.
Last week it was Samantha, that long-legged editorial assistant fresh out of Sarah Lawrence. She offered to "fix" the section on Valerie Plame. She's driving me mad, constantly brushing by me as she saunters off to that conference room next to Peter Osnos' office, while hinting at all sorts of possibilities.
Damn! I wish I could see what goes on in that room. When I asked Osnos, he simply said, "Oh that's just where we liberals go to 'de-stress.'" Something about the way he said it made me tingle. I can't see through the blackened windows, but sometimes when the door opens I hear laughter... and moans.
Dec. 5, 2007
If only I had Cheney's will-power! This is driving me mad! Samantha walked by hand-in-hand with the dark-haired Rebecca, and they both gave me long looks over their shoulders before entering what I used to scorn as the "liberal room," but which is seeming more and more like paradise.
I remember W talking about how during Vietnam, liberal co-eds wore T-Shirts reading, "Girls say yes to boys who say no." W joked about how he made that work for him. Damn, he's good!
It's not that much of a change they want.
I'd written, "Valerie Plame is a self-seeking publicity hound who was outed as a covert agent by her husband, Joseph Wilson IV."
All they're asking is that I change that to read that I was set up to lie by Rove and Libby and also assert that Bush knew about the Plame outing all along.
Christ, here they come out of that room. They're both breathing heavily and look flushed.
God help me!
Dec. 10, 2007
When you think about it, the changes they want are really more issues of tone and word flow rather than substance.
Dec. 11, 2007
What have I done?!!!
Dec. 17, 2007
I'm ruined.
Osnos walked by my desk and slapped some photos down. "Hey Scotty boy," he said, "As of now, you're my bitch."
Then he pulled out some notes. "Let's talk about WMDs," he said.
I have no choice.
Dec. 18, 2007
It's almost over. Osnos is now dictating the last chapter to me in his office. I look up from writing and see Andrew Card walk by. I can't warn him - Osnos is watching me like a hawk.
