McClellan's Kiss and Tell
By David Aikman

Kiss and Tell is an old tradition in American politics. Insiders from all sorts of administrations have left their jobs and then written books unflattering to their former employers. The Bush administration has generally suffered no worse than previous administrations.

But the latest blast from former White House press secretary Scott McClellan, a book called "What Happened," is unusual in at least two ways. First, McClellan fulsomely denounced other Bush White House insiders who had decamped and then written their kiss-and-tell stories. Second, one has to wonder why McClellan stayed six years in a job serving people he thought were incompetent or were misleading Americans.

Well, money is an obvious answer as "What Happened" leapt to the top of bookstore best-seller lists. Kiss and Tell still pays.