What Happened: Scott McClellan at Town Hall

It ain't easy being Scott McClellan. He's considered a traitor, snitch, and turncoat by the right, while the left decries him for not blowing the whistle sooner—either way, he's not getting many Christmas cards this year.

Last night, McClellan appeared at a sold-out Town Hall to discuss his memoir What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception. Barry Mitzman moderated, and thankfully, the Q&A was handled via notecard submission, thereby avoiding the long-winded, pat-on-the-back questions that usually plague such events.

Fresh off of testifying before Congress, Scott's put on a little weight (everyone hating you will do that), but Bush's former press secretary is, as you might expect, quite the talker. He covered everything last night that you've heard about his book already: the Iraq fiasco led to a breakdown in bipartisanship; Karl Rove promotes the permanent campaign culture that has so degraded American politics; McClellan was unwittingly made to stonewall the public on the outing of Valerie Plame; and Scott's final disillusionment with the administration came when Bush admitted that he had anonymously leaked the National Security Estimate on Iraq. McClellan also offered his tips for future administrations and future press secretaries (more transparency, focus on deliberation, compromise, and governance over marketing, yadda yadda yadda).

Scott talked some smack about his former boss, describing Bush as "incurious," "unable to admit mistakes," and "convinced that he will be vindicated by history." He also faulted Bush for lacking serious reflection and giving too much deference to Cheney and Rumsfeld, while describing the administration as "misguided." But ultimately, it's pretty clear that McClellan still likes and respects Dubya, and despite all of Scott's criticisms, that's what keeps liberals from fully embracing him. In fact, when McClellan said that he didn't support the impeachment of any figures in the administration, because it's too late (true) and because he genuinely believes they didn't plot to mislead the American public on Iraq (um, Scott, you weren't invited to those meetings), the crowd quickly turned on him, with scattered boos and hisses growing louder the longer he spoke on the topic.

In the long run, we're sure that Scott's going to end up just fine. He'll go on to be a consultant or work for a think tank, and, hell, even Karl Rove has a job as a "correspondent" for Fox News. His main talking point then will probably be the same as it is now: "I talk about that in my book...."

Photo care of The White House