No swans in this sewer

But here's a word of caution for those administration officials hard at work on their book proposals: Eager as readers and reporters seem to be for every scrap of indiscretion, there's an equally strong impulse to dislike -- or at least disdain -- the authors of these memoirs, one that extends beyond predictable denials by the dwindling band of Bush loyalists and pro-war, pro-torture, pro-government secrecy commentators.

NBC's Matt Lauer, for example, labeled McClellan "a pariah."

The New York Times' editorial page mocked the whole genre: "There are several kinds of Washington memoirs: 'I Reveal the Honest Truth,' a kiss-up-and-tell designed to settle scores (nod to honesty optional). 'I Was There at the Start,' designed to make the author appear to be the linchpin of history. And, most tedious: 'I Knew It Was a Terrible Mistake, but I Didn't Mention It Until I Got a Book Contract.' "

True to type, the Wall Street Journal's editorial page detected an intricate left-wing conspiracy to discredit John McCain's stance on the war: "We'd merely note that [McClellan's] publisher is PublicAffairs, an imprint founded by left-wing editor Peter Osnos and which has published six books by George Soros," the Journal wrote. "PublicAffairs is owned by Perseus Books, which is owned by Perseus LLC, a merchant bank whose board includes Democrats Richard Holbrooke and Jim Johnson, who is now doing Barack Obama's vice presidential vetting. One of Perseus' investment funds, Perseus-Soros Biopharmaceutical, is co-managed with Mr. Soros."

You might want to read that one twice.

In fact, all of the Bush refugee memoirs share a unifying theme, one familiar to anyone who's spent much time reporting on crimes or courts. All these books bear the imprint of what might be called "the snitch sensibility." Whether they're ratting out their partner in a convenience store robbery or their bosses in an elaborate conspiracy to game an international commodities market, all snitches speak from a distinctive perspective.

They were always there to see the crimes that occurred, but no matter how bad things got, they never were the worst person in the room, and none of it was ever their idea. Veteran prosecutors have a term to describe criminal cases in which the snitch, the accused and the victim are all crooks who've fallen out with one another. "There are," they say, "no swans in a sewer."

Some might say that pretty well describes the Bush White House.