Scott McClellan

I think he believes that. He's convinced himself to believe that, but I don't think it's true.

This is a White House that doesn't like to look back. The president doesn't like to spend time reflecting.

But the federal government should have taken more responsibility, because, to the American people, I think, the federal government is the failsafe backstop to all that.

Yes. No, I was sincere at the time. Now, looking back and reflecting on that, I have a different perspective on it.

We should have embraced a high level of openness and forthrightness, in addition to that, and then the expectations wouldn't have gotten so out of whack, and we wouldn't have been in the problem we were -- we came to later when the…

Colin Powell was apparently the only adviser who even tried to raise doubts about the wisdom of war. The rest of the foreign policy team seemed to be preoccupied with regime change or, in the case of Condi Rice, seemingly more interested…

You have a lot of good people that come there for the right reasons, to make a difference, but they get caught up in this permanent campaign culture, where it's all about manipulating the narrative to their advantage.

If the president is committed to embracing a high level of openness and honesty, then we can move Washington beyond this partisan warfare that has been so destructive.

Unfortunately, I think too many people today do look at Washington and say, 'All they're giving us is spin and manipulation, and they're not working together to get things done.'

It's too much about party and too little about the country. And we need to put the country first and put the party much lower.

The federal government should have taken more responsibility, because, to the American people, I think, the federal government is the failsafe backstop to all that.