In his controversial new book, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception, former White House press secretary Scott McClellan reflects on some of the outright lies told to the American people.

Equaled only by the quagmire that is the Iraq war, the most devastating of George W. Bush’s many failures as President was his response (or lack thereof) to the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

According to Scott McClellan, the famous photos taken of George Bush overlooking New Orleans from his plane after the storm were entirely staged.

The brainchild? You guessed it, former Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove. Bush’s brain, the sultan of sleaze and master of media manipulation recommended taking the photos to show just how much Bush cared. *sniff*

The duplicity of Rove and Bush has tarnished the office of the presidency more than any two photos can adequately describe. But the staged images below are some of the most chilling examples of this culture of deception …

George W. Bush poses for the cameras as he surveys New Orleans.

For a change, Scott McClellan isn’t answering questions about the news.

The former press secretary to George W. Bush is making it.

In his new book, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception, McClellan holds little back. He writes that the Iraq war was sold to the American people with a sophisticated “political propaganda campaign” led by President Bush and aimed at “manipulating sources of public opinion” and “downplaying the major reason for going to war.”

Harsh, accurate words for sure.

McClellan admits to standing at the White House podium and attempting to lead reporters in the wrong direction on issues such as the Valerie Plame case. Watch his exercise in tap dancing around questions regarding it below:

Unsurprisingly, some of those criticized in McClellan’s book - such as Karl Rove, who McClellan says he unknowingly exonerated when discussing the issue of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq - aren’t pleased with this turn of events.

Rove responded to the book by saying it sounds like it comes from the mind of a “left wing blogger.” Here he is on his home away from home, Fox News:

Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, a.k.a. “Bush’s Brain,” is the sultan of slime. The king of slick. The best at the worst.

Even he can’t hide it any longer.

Interviewed Sunday by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Karl Rove betrayed his guilt as he bungled his own tactics. Instead of changing the subject without appearing to be changing the subject, as is the custom of true, evil, conniving manipulators like himself … Rove just flat out changed the subject.

Asked by Stephanopoulos about his involvement in the Don Siegelman case, the master of cover stories absolutely bungled his non-denial denial.

The Lou Pearlman look-alike claimed he found out about it by reading the newspapers, while not refuting that he talked to anyone in the DOJ…

Karl Rove.

The name alone evokes awful memories. Fortunately, the one-time White House Deputy Chief of Staff and de facto brain of George W. Bush has left public life and isn’t ruining the U.S. anymore - just annoying it with columns.

Hey, it’s progress. But we still detest the man.

No, Karl Rove just won’t go away. We still have nightmares about him sometimes. In fact, we swear we saw him in the news the other day, though it actually turned out to be someone else, thank goodness.

Follow the jump to find out who …

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President George W. Bush plans to personally wade into the controversy over fired federal prosecutors today, returning to the White House to deliver a statement of confidence in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the president is also looking to make the argument that he is showing great cooperation with Congress.

But has offered up some of his closest advisers to talk about the firings of several U.S. attorneys whom one has dubbed “the USA Eight.”

The president’s statement in the Diplomatic Room of the White House, when he returns from a day-trip, is planned for 5:45 pm EDT.

The White House has offered to let Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove and former counsel Harriet Miers be interviewed by members of Congress about the firing of eight federal prosecutors - but only behind closed doors, with no transcripts and not under oath.

To that, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) responded:

“It is a unique offer with a lot of pitfalls [that Democrats] want to evaluate.”

Schumer said White House Counsel Fred Fielding “indicated he did not want to negotiate,” but that Democrats are going to push back anyway. A copy of Fielding’s letter to Democrats is here.

According to USA Today, Schumer has been leading Senate Democrats’ efforts to investigate the controversial Justice Department moves.

The threat of subpoenas over the prosecutor firings isn’t the only political fire that the White House is attempting to dampen on Capitol Hill.

With Democratic leaders calling for Gonzales’ resignation, Bush telephoned his attorney general, also a friend from Texas, shortly after dawn today with “a very strong vote of confidence.”

We’ll see how far that gets the A.G., or whether he soon joins Scooter Libby on the list of disgraced Bush Administration cronies fall guys.