Scott McClellan was the White House press secretary during a tough stretch. Let’s call it the “Golden Age of Lying,” as opposed to the “I Have Feeling Bush Is Lying” (2001-2003) and “Eh, Bush Is Lying Again, Big Whoop” (2005-present) eras that bookended his tenure. McClellan always seemed like a decent guy beneath that shiny veneer of geopolitical sin, and now he’s coming out to exonerate himself. His new memoir, WHAT HAPPENED: Inside the Bush White House and What’s Wrong With Washington, comes out soon, and within it he comments on his role — the administration’s bitch — in Plamegate. He names liar peoples’ names, too — five of them! You can probably guess at least three without thinking. MORE »

The Scooter Libby trial might get interesting next week. Michael Isikoff just posted a short-yet-confusing thing on MSNBC.com that attempts to explain this latest twist. Our interpretation: MORE »

The Bush Administration’s preliminary reactions to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld are in — and they’re not terribly exciting or surprising.

At a press conference earlier today with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, President Bush got peppered with questions about the decision. Pretty much every non-Asian journalist in the room asked about Hamdan. Bush said that “we take them [the Supreme Court] very seriously.” Glad to hear it; so do we. He also stated that “we will conform to the Supreme Court.” Nothing controversial there.

Tony Snow’s PM presser wasn’t much more exciting. Every journalist present tried to get Snow to admit that the SCOTUS handed the White House its ass on a platter. But Snow didn’t take the bait, refusing to admit that the executive branch got housed by the judiciary. Quoth Tony: “You don’t sit around going, ‘Oh my gosh, the Supreme Court ruling!’ You try and deal with it.”

A few more remarks, after the jump.

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Reading Elisabeth Bumiller’s gossipy, speculative, color-over-facts White House reporting typically feels like eating Cap’n Crunch for dinner. She’s a White House correspondent in the MoDo mold.

But Bumiller’s latest piece for the Times can be read without guilt. First, it’s her farewell to the White House beat — she’s going on book leave, to work on her Condi bio. Second, as an essay in the Week in Review section, it’s not trying to masquerade as hard news.

It’s full of juicy little tidbits — like this one:

Karl Rove, the president’s top political adviser, got so mad about an article that he told me he was putting my e-mail address in his spam filter.

A few more excerpts, after the jump.

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• Washington Whispers: Tony Snow on his new gig: “I’m loving it”. . . Bush wants to eliminate malaria in Africa. . . Clarence Thomas loves being a “techno-geek”. . . Donald Powell, the czar for rebuilding the Gulf Coast, sets an example by staying low-key. . . Barbara Bush’s scrapbooks are curated for her husband’s museum. . . New questions raised about the legitimacy of the Zapruder film. [USN&WR]
• Heard on the Hill: The Radio-Television Correspondents Association is holding a public meeting today in response to the dispute between Sen. Ted Stevens and CNN’s Joe Johns. . . Kerry accidently crashes the birthday party for Republican Rep. Bob Ney’s flack. . . DeLay retains his security detail until June 9th. [Roll Call]
• Inside the Beltway: Scott McClellan will be on “The Tonight Show” tomorrow night. [WT]

He already has the wardrobe for it: MORE »

“I got the recipe from Patrick Kennedy!” “That’s really funny, Scott. Tony’s not around, is he?” [AP] MORE »

Ahem. MORE »

Having finally recovered from Prom, Chatology returned to her perch on the couch to sit through 3.5 hours of bone-grindingly obvious talking points. We’re used to butt-punishing workouts, but this is not our favorite among them. That said, a surprisingly sexy Sunday morning. ALSO: Can’t get enough of that wacky Bush impressionist? We can.

Top Topics:
• Michael Hayden, spook or just creep? Rep. Pete Hoekstra makes news by negation: Hayden “is the wrong man at the wrong place at the wrong time.” McCain is more loving.
• ‘06 sickness/Congressional “culture of corruption,” with Republicans showing Reaganesque — which is to say, delusional — optimism.
• Goss’s departure: Not did he jump or was he pushed but rather, “Pushed, shoved, or run over with a truck and stomped on the face?”

Quotes to live by:
• Saxby Chambliss on Hayden: He is “just a class individual” (as someone who questioned the patriotism of a paraplegic, he knows class!)
• George Stephanopolous makes right wing bias hunters’ heads explode: “That was not one of the top four pieces of legislation that Speaker Pelosi…ah, I don’t know why I have that stuck in my head today…”
• Chris Wallace masters the obvious: “I don’t have to tell you, you are the chairman of the intelligence committee.”
• George Will teases the Kennedy story: “One reason this story touched all of this city’s erogenous zones…”
• Bill Kristol looks on the bright side: “I’m looking forward to getting more sex into this scandal.”
• David Brooks auditions to be Maureen Dowd: “This has more layers than a Tom Clancy novel.”

Your full-on weekend chat soup after the jump.

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Scott’s last briefing? A lot like the rest of them, but everyone was being a little bit nicer. His first answer was an almost poetic blend of nearly every talking point he’s been given over the last two years and cherry-picked economic statistics. Anyone have a rush transcript? We can’t even remember the question, but his lengthy response made us fall in love all over again. Then: BREAKING NEWS: PERSONNEL CHANGE! …to be announced later. MORE »

• Reliable Source: McClellan on Bush: “He couldn’t possibly sing the national anthem in Spanish. He’s not that good with his Spanish.”. . . Rep. Jim Moran wants to lose 50 pounds, and wants you to join his challenge. [WP]
• Liz Smith: Texas may be “up for grabs” in the next presidential election; top potential candidates are wooing the Lone Star State. [NYP]
• Inside the Beltway: Al Gore drives a Lexus hybrid. [WT]