Here's another Bush administration mystery man. Who is/was Matt Latimer, a former special assistant to the president for speechwriting?

In brief, here's another guy who denounced Bush (of course, Scott McCllelan was the first one). In a book/memoir entitled "Speech-less: Tales of a White House survivor", Latimer makes various embarrassing statements about Bush, the most damaging of which is "the former president was confused about the very concept of the conservative political movement". So the most recent ex-president didn't even know what his party stood for. This is not a good indication.

More allegations from Latimer include: Bush "made a highly derogatory comment about Hillary Clinton" (without specifying the exact words Bush used), said then presidential candidate Barack Obama had "no clue" (looking back now who "has no clue": Obama or Bush?) and was uncertain about the identity of Sarah Palin when Sen. John McCain picked her as his running mate (that's not necessarily a bad thing; Palin was the main reason,if not the only reason McCain lost so badly to Obama in November, 2008). This book is due out on September 22.

According to Ed Gillespie, a former senior adviser to Bush and former chairman of the Republican National Committee, "A lot of people just don't know who Matt Latimer is. A lot of us are going 'Who is this guy again?' Who is this writing a book? It's not within most people's view of how you serve the public, but that's his call". We must focus/zero in on the phrase "It's not within most people's view" because it is often the more obscure people who make headlines.

"Gillespie said that he was in the room with Bush when they learned that McCain had picked Palin and that Lattimore's account doesn't stack up". Bush and McCain are clearly trying to find a scapegoat. It's so obvious that McCain made a horrendous/laughable/almost comical choice in picking Sarah Palin of all people as his running mate. PALIN IS A REGULAR ON SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE AS THE SUBJECT OF AS MANY OF THE JOKES AS SHE MAKES (if Palin MAKES any jokes). If what Gillespie says is true, he and Bush should have chided McCain into picking someone else as a running mate instead of searching for people to blame.

Specifically, Gillespie said Bush "knew exactly who she (i.e. Palin) was (really?) and that she was the governor of Alaska". Did Bush know this before or after McCain picked Palin? "Matt Latimore did not spend a lot of time with (the) president WHEN THERE WAS ANYTHING OF SUBSTANCE GOING ON". This is yet more GOP name-calling and blame-casting. "He was there for speechwriting meetings, but in those meetings, WE WEREN'T TALKING OVER POLICY DECISIONS". What went on in those meetings then? "A lot of it does not ring true with me. It doesn't strike me as an accurate portrayal". Ah. The accusations of lying and smearing.

"Both Gillespie and former deputy press secretary Tony Fratto pointed to Latimore's contention that then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson DID NOT HAVE A FULL GRASP ON THE ADMINISTRATION'S PLAN TO SHORE UP THE FINANCIAL SECTOR IN LATE 2008 as evidence that Latimer is way off base". So Bush didn't understand his own Republican Party while Paulso DIDN'T UNDERSTAND HOW THE FINANCIAL CRISIS STARTED. This is getting really interesting and these are some pretty damning accusations.

As far as the Bush administration's response to the financial crisis is concerned, Latimore alleges that Paulson either "didn't seem to know (i.e. was ignorant), changed his mind, had misled the president or some combination of the three". Here are some more damning accusations. So it seems as if Latimer is blaming the financial mess on Paulson.

Gillespie's response: "He said that Hank Paulson had been a non-entity at the White House, but HANK PAULSON WAS IN AND OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE ALL THE TIME. How the hell would Matt Latimer know?" Just because Paulson was going into and out of the White House doesn't necessarily meanthat he was productive.

We should also consider that "Latimer wasn't exactly a nobody. He served in the Bush White House from May, 2007 until October, 2008 (a month before Obama's landslide victory over McCain) and was promoted to deputy director of speechwriting". Considering that this was the period at the beginning of the worst recession in frecent memory (assuming that we didn't live through the Great Depression), if Latimer got a promotion, he couldn't have been that bad.

Rick Horgan, vice president and executive editor of Crown defended Latimer's book as "a memoir chronicling Matt's entire career in DC, including his time as a speechwriter for George W. Bush". A chronicle is a breakdown/analysis/commentary and these include both positive and negative comments. Bush must be the only leader (besides Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang) who cannot handle negative appraisals.

Horgan goes on to say "Matt is a dry observer and a witty raconteur and the book is a deft portrait of A STAUNCH CONSERVATIVE WHO ULTIMATELY BECAME DISILLUSIONED WITH POLITICS. Those who've actually read the book on both sides of the political fence agree that Matt is a fresh and talented new voice and we look forward to all who are challenging Matt's access and experience to read the book and judge for themselves". This is the best way to avoid a situation where things may potentially get out of hand.

According to Kevin Kellems, communications director for former vice-president Dick Cheney, Lattimer's memoir is being "misrepresented". Specifically, Kellems said "The book does not say (that) President Bush did not know who Gov. Palin was". Well, Sarah Palin is now the ex- or former governor of Alaska: who knows what she's going to do next? "It captures with nuance that he had doubts about how tough the early going would be on a relative newcomer to the national stage - a prophetic analysis. Nor does it state that Secretary Paulson didn't frequent the West Wing". This reinforces the notion that Bush is old fashioned. Why do secretaries have to "frequent the West Wing?" (i.e. physically go there). OK, they have to go there for briefings and urgent matters, but other than that, they can simply communicate with the president and vice-president VIA E-MAIL. Bush probably never would thought of this.

Kellems continued: "This is an idealist's look at THE SILLINESS THAT IS WASHINGTON. People should read the book and then judge for themselves if Matt was in the room". What can we say? Politicians are paid to make scenes/headlines.

Fratto's first comments were: "He was writing on the economic crisis and I was the point man on economic communications". Since when does Tony Fratto, a former White House deputy spokesman, have a degree in economics or business management/administration? "I never had any direct communications with him on anything about the economy. When you read the excerpts, there are things in there that are laughably wrong, comically wrong". Bush has made worse mistakes that are even more "laughably wrong" and "comically wrong". "Maybe from Matt Latimer's office way over in the Executive Office building, he didn't notice Paulson WALKING IN AND OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE ALL THE TIME or the ten times a day he was on the phone with the president". Latimer must have been doing his work, Mr. Fratto. What were you doing? Observing people walking in and out of the White House? "His access was episodic. Look, his office was not in the West Wing and he was a junior or mid level staffer over in the Executive Office Building so he would occasionally be in big group meetings". Perhaps that was his job. And he must have done it pretty well to get a promotion to that post from his previous position. At least, he didn't get fired (like Donald Rumsfeld: Latimer also worked for Rumsfeld) or have to resign under pressure (like Scott McCllelan). "He wasn't someone who had regular access to the president. He has a reference in there from an over-caffeinated Karl Rove". We are seeing more personal attacks and irrelevant stuff now. Karl famously doesn't drink caffeinated drinks. Everybody in the White House knew that". The question is: why is this important/relevant? "I was in maybe two dozen meetings with him and I couldn't tell you what his voice sounds like". Latimer was a speechwriter,not a PRESENTER. "The most common question really has been 'who is Matt Latimer?' That is the most frequent e-mail I've gotten in the last two days". This article was released on September 17 and Bush left the White House on January 20. So, nearly 8 months after Bush left office, people are suddenly interested in finding out about obscure and more junior White House officials.

Former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino would probably call Latimer "disgruntled" as she called one of her predecessors, Scott McCllelan. Specifically, here's what she had to say: "Do you know how many people have e-mailed me and asked 'Who the heck is Matt Latimer? Who is this young man? What is he talking about?" Perino is talking as if Latimer has lost his mind. "He doesn't think (that) the president understands the conservative movement?" Perhaps Perino thinks that Bush is still "the president?" "This is a man who won the presidency twice, with a larger margin on the re-election so how could he not understand the conservative movement?" OK saying that Bush doesn't understand "the conservative movement" is most likely stretching the truth, but it is true that most of Bush's problems appeared toward the end of his first term and throughout his second/final term.

Fratto's final comment was: "Are we surprised that a former White House staffer sold out his friends and colleagues for what amounts to a few pieces of silver and what passes for fame these days in Washington DC?" He then answered his own question: "No".

Perino summed up: "I'm not saying (that) he never saw the president because he did. He had his group photo. But he certainly wasn't a confidant". Why does he have to be? This was only a professional relationship. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell always seemed like an outsider as Secretary of State, but he is still influential after relinquishing his White House post. Tony Snow stayed influential after resigning as White House Press Secretary a little over 1 year after assuming the post before losing a valiant battle with colon cancer. "He's a young man who was given the opportunity of a lifetime to advance his career and for some reason, he felt (that) it was appropriate to demean the people who gave him that opportunity". It seems like both Latimer and Perino are "disgruntled" now.