A MULLINGS Hiatus

On Monday I will begin a new job as the Senior Counselor to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX).

The last time I worked in the US Senate was in 1981-82 when I was the press secretary to Sen. Dan Quayle (R-IN). I said to the Mullings Director of Standards & Practices that once every 26 years or so everyone should take another turn in the Senate.

I have known Sen. Hutchison since we lived in Dallas through most of the 1990's. When we started talking about this, I am not certain that either of us thought it would lead anywhere, but lo and behold it has.

The reason for the title is that the Senate Ethics Committee is mulling over whether or not I can be on the public payroll and continue to write MULLINGS. I am perfectly willing to abide by its decision, but until it does, MULLINGS will take a little break.

But not until we spend a little time together on the book allegedly written by Scott McClellan.

Speaking with David Jackson of USA Today yesterday I said, "When he stood behind that podium, nobody believed a word he said. Now that he's saying bad things about the president, he's a Delphic oracle."

That's what Jackson put in his front pager in USA Today. I also said that I wondered who had actually written the book because it would surprise me to find (given it is 368 pages) that McClellan actually knows that many words.

More. I also said that while he was the press secretary, reporters told me that they knew he was told what to say, but not told why he was to say it. Reporters knew McClellan had not been in the meetings when policy was being discussed or decided. And they knew he hadn't been in the meetings because he would have had nothing to offer.

It was generally known in Washington that McClellan was such an ineffective spokesman that he would have done better to tack the talking points he had been given to the briefing room wall and leave, rather than waste the press corps' time hectoring him for an hour-or-so every day.

I have, on rare occasion, been offered a book deal to write about a former boss. My response has always been (and will always be): When you make the choice to take someone's money you have, in effect, signed a contract to be loyal. Nothing, short of a grand jury subpoena, should be able tempt you to break that contract.

The good news about McClellan's book is found in a paragraph in a Fort Worth Star-Telegram piece by Ken Herman:

"Democratic Rep. Robert Wexler of Florida said that McClellan should testify before the House Judiciary Committee to tell what he knows about the White House role in the leak of a CIA operative's name."

How poetically judicial would it be if a big chunk of the money McClellan was paid to have this book written ended up in the hands of attorneys he had to hire to advise him in Congressional testimony which was only made necessary by the fact he put his name on this book?

I hope McClellan makes enough money on this book to see him through the rest of his life. I can't imagine anyone hiring him because I can't imagine anyone trusting him.

Would you?

Final thoughts: I am very much looking forward to this next chapter. We lived in Dallas for most of the 1990's and had a wonderful experience. The Lad is a product of the University of Texas at Austin. This will be fascinating.

See you soon.

On the Secret Decoder Ring today: Links to Ken Herman's Fort Worth Star-Telegram piece and links to Sen. Hutchison's official web pages. Also a Mullfoto of my new home and a Catchy Caption of the Day which demonstrates the state of Hillary's campaign.