Will Scott McClellan's book tour and his perceived betrayal of Bush condemn an already feeble White House press corps to an even leaner diet of spoon-fed news?

It's a question I never considered until now because I have been too busy loathing the former press secretary.

Being the publicity hound that he is, I am certain Scott subscribes to Google alerts. So here is my open plea to the man: I beg you to go away. Stop going on late-night talk shows, responding to media inquiries and feasting at the buffet of all-you-can-eat free PR.

You’ve had a good run. You stirred up reporters, the White House and the PR community. Now it's time to head for the speaking circuit along with your former White House bretheran. If you hadn't burned the Bush bridges, you could have joined Karl Rove at Fox News, but I don't think that's in the cards now.

So exactly how does McClellan's book damage future White House press relations?

Members of the White House press corps say it’s likely to cut down on the little information currently doled out to reporters. “This might put some distance between the president and the press secretary,” veteran Associated Press White House correspondent Terence Hunt told Editor & Publisher.

Others predict more tension in the West Wing. “Any time something like this happens, it places a greater burden on the White House press secretary and the White House Press Corps,” said Chicago Tribune bureau chief Michael Tackett.

To understand what Tackett is talking about, you must first understand what it's like to cover the White House. My colleague Mark Ragan did this for several years as a political reporter for Copley News Service in Washington.

"It's kind of like waiting in a crowded cafeteria for food to be served," he told me. "Every once in a while the door opens and the press secretary walks in with a few Lean Cuisines for a starved room packed with salivating reporters.

"If that press secretary isn't trusted by the president's inner circle, you starve to death."

McClellan's confessional book will now throw up even more barriers between the Karl Roves of the world, those powerful few who control the President's airspace, and the press secretaries who deliver the news.

So come on, Scott. Have a heart. Please go away.