Ex-Bush speechwriter raps former colleague

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- A former colleague says Michael Gerson, U.S. President George W. Bush’s chief speechwriter through last year, routinely claimed credit for the work of others.

Matthew Scully, who spent five years at the White House with Gerson, takes his former co-worker apart in an article in The Atlantic magazine.

"Few lines of note were written by Mike, and none at all that come to mind from the post-(Sept. 11, 2001) addresses -- not even 'axis of evil,'" Scully said.

“Axis of evil” -- a joining together of Iraq, Iran and North Korea in the 2002 State of the Union speech that has been much criticized since then -- was famously the work of another speechwriter, David Frum.

Frum’s wife spread the word via e-mail soon after Bush delivered the line. Scully says Frum's original line was "axis of hate," and Scully claims he is the one who put the "evil" in.

The Washington Post suggests that Scully’s attack is yet another sign the Bush administration is losing the discipline it was once famous for.

Gerson, who joined the Bush presidential campaign in 1999, has had a comparatively soft landing following his departure from the administration -- with a job at the Council on Foreign Relations, a column in the Post and regular pieces in Newsweek.