My paisan Bill McGurn — once upon a time NR’s Washington Bureau Chief, where he oversaw a staff of one Fowler — also oversaw, in his capacity as George W. Bush’s chief speechwriter, a staff consisting of a few writers, including Matt Latimer, infamous now for his book kiss-and-tell memoir, Speechless. In his Wall Street Journal column yesterday Bill put one between Matt’s eyes. The title — “When Speechwriters Kiss and Tell: A man I hired was not the star he thought he was” — says it all.

Or does it? Latimer countered by broadcasting some old White House e-mails from McGurn – Politico’s Ben Smith wrote it up as “Before book McGurn called Latimer star,” and ran the (below) e-mails to prove it:

From: McGurn, William J.
Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 7:39 AM
To: Thiessen, Marc A.; Latimer, Matthew N.; Michel, Christopher, G.
Subject: Turkey remarks
Chief made a point at Senior Staff how much he enjoyed today’s…remarks. I noted it is another Latimer special. And Sully chimed in with praise for the adoption remarks…So take a bow, Matt.
From: Latimer, Matthew N.
To: McGurn, William J.
Sent: Tue Nov 20 08:01:54 2007
Subject: RE: Turkey remarks
Bill,
Thanks for the typically generous comments. They reveal, once again, your great kindness and thoughtfulness. And for someone like me – who sometimes wonders what on earth he thinks he is doing here – your encouragement means a lot.
From: McGurn, William J.
Sent: Tuesday November 20, 2007 8:10 AM
To: Latimer, Matthew N.
Subject: Re: Turkey Remarks
Hey, you don’t realize one thing: you’re a star! And that makes *me* look like a freakin genius…

Gotcha McGurn! Er, sorta. Well, no. The e-mails’ date and the subject aren’t referring to Constantinople but to the fowl you stuff with bread. And so looking on the Bush White House archives one will find on Nov. 20, 2007 President Bush Pardons “May and Flower” in National Thanksgiving Turkey Ceremony. A Latimer-penned chuckle-fest it was:

President: I also thank everybody who voted online to choose the names for our guests of honor. And I’m pleased to announce the winning names. They are “May” and “Flower.” They’re certainly better than the names the Vice President suggested, which was “Lunch” and “Dinner.” (Laughter.)

Bill’s an overly generous, shirt-off-his-back guy. I would know: I’ve been the recipient of many McGurn kindnesses over the years. Including, as an underling back in our early 90s tour in D.C., his encouraging me as a writer (a hopeless task). This little e-mail exchange says a lot about Bill McGurn, and even more about Matt Latimer. When your boss gives you a Hulk-sized pat on the back for the annual White House turkey emancipation ceremony, it’s a sign of something that, on paper, ain’t pretty. I’d have been ashamed to use these e-mails as evidence of my “star” power — unless the star is a collapsing one.