by Geoffrey Bennett

Scott McClellan
Paul J. Richards, AFP/Getty Images

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan responds to reporters' questions during the daily briefing on July 18, 2005.

On yesterday's show, we took a closer look at a new book by Scott McClellan, former White House press secretary and Bush loyalist, which lambastes the Bush administration for its handling of the war in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina, among other things.

Here's more on the book from Politico, which broke the story:

* McClellan charges that Bush relied on "propaganda" to sell the war.

* He says the White House press corps was too easy on the administration during the run-up to the war.

* He admits that some of his own assertions from the briefing room podium turned out to be "badly misguided."

* The longtime Bush loyalist also suggests that two top aides held a secret West Wing meeting to get their story straight about the CIA leak case at a time when federal prosecutors were after them — and McClellan was continuing to defend them despite mounting evidence they had not given him all the facts.

* McClellan asserts that the aides — Karl Rove, the president's senior adviser, and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the vice president's chief of staff — "had at best misled" him about their role in the disclosure of former CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.

Are you surprised by any of these claims? How will it impact Bush's legacy and the current race for the White House? And do you find McClellan's scathing account to be a matter of disloyalty or courage?

McClellan: Plame Leak Case Was Turning Point
McClellan: Bush Embraced Political 'Game' Too Often