I was raised on the values of speaking up and making a positive difference in a very political family that believed in the importance of public service.

The permanent campaign is inherently deceptive.

As I have heard Bush say, only a wartime president is likely to achieve greatness, in part because the epochal upheavals of war provide the opportunity for transformative change of the kind Bush hoped to achieve. In Iraq, Bush saw his opportunity to create a legacy of greatness.

When I was knowingly misled but only learned that much later, that's really when I started to become disillusioned at the White House.

Critics have stepped up their attacks on the President for authorizing the National Security Agency to listen to international communications of known al Qaeda members or affiliated terrorists during a time of war. The American people expect their leaders to stay a step ahead of the enemy, and the National Security Agency authorization is a critical tool in the War on Terror that saves lives and protects civil liberties at the same time.

I'm done with my job. It was my job to be the advocate and spokesman for the President of the United States.

I fell far short of living up to the kind of public servant I wanted to be.