The Gist

What the McClellan Gay "Smear" is About

There's been a lot of discussion here and elsewhere about the Bush supporters now insinuating that Scott McClellan is a closeted homo and furthering unsubstantiated rumors that have been around for a long time. Some people see this as part of the right's strategy to damage his credibility, now that he's confirmed what we all knew about the White House lies and distortions. But I think those people are confused about exactly what White House supporters and Bush backers are doing here.

There have been a few different talking points advanced by the White House in order to attack McClellan's credibility. (Note that no one has outright called him a liar, which is very curious.) One has been that he's somehow lost his mind, or become brainwashed or indoctrinated into left-wing orthodoxy. We hear this is in the constant refrain from White House spokespeople and former White House hacks, saying "he's not the Scott I knew" (and in fact, Jeff Gannon throws this one out there too).

There has also been the claim that he's just doing this "for the money," which is an easy, often desperate, old standby. It's also an argument that is pretty comical coming from hyper-capitalist Republicans. Many of the individuals making the charge, like Newt Gingrich and Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly, have written books and made a lot of money, but they'd never say they are just doing it "for the money," though they would certainly say there's nothing wrong with making a lot money while doing something you believe in. Another old standby is the talking point claiming that McClellan is disgruntled. Again, an easy one to put out there but it doesn't nearly explain fully McClellan's motives or negate anything that McClellan has said.

The Bush supporters have also pushed this ridiculous talking point: McClellan's editors "tweaked" the book, obviously radically, in order to made it sell, apparently after McClellan got his last pass. But McClellan has now completely denied this laughable claim as well, and stands by every word.

Then there is the loyalty argument, which is not so much meant to attack McClellan's credibility as it is meant to underscore that, even if McClellan is telling some semblance of the truth, he is being horribly disloyal and betraying someone who did nothing but good things for him and for his career. This one, however, is limited too, appealing only to people who obviously still like Bush enough -- and don't think what he has done is so terrible, even if they're unhappy with him -- that they will reject anyone who would turn on him.

Those are pretty much the talking points we've seen -- though I may have missed one or two others -- and for the reasons I've described they're not working that well. The media is less likely to fall for them but more so the American people aren't buying it anymore.

The White House and its enablers realize this, so they need to use some other strategies to stop any further hemorrhaging. Their very lives and futures are at stake if more people talk: They could even be charged with crimes. So, they need to send a message to everyone else that speaking out is an exceedingly dangerous thing to do. The gay insinuations are not being employed as a way to damage McClellan's credibility. Just the fact of being gay in 2008 doesn't diminish a person's trustworthiness in the eyes of most people. Sure, perhaps there's the idea that McClellan will appear like some disgruntled gay Republican who was burned by George Bush, angry by his antigay policies, no longer willing to be deluded. But that's a stretch too, since McClellan is married to a woman and certainly has not and is not speaking on behalf of gay rights.

No, the gay "smear" -- perhaps best employed by "Fox and Friends"' Gretchen Carlson, who threatened McCllellan with his "closet" being exposed because of what he's now done -- is all about sending a message to any other would-be White House aide or former aide: Proceed at your own risk, because we will destroy you and drag you through the mud and destroy your reputation. It's going to be interesting to see how all of this plays out.