Loyalty and discipline are the hallmarks of Bush Administration factotums—which is what makes the attack by one ex-White House speechwriter on another in this month's Atlantic so noteworthy.

In a 10-page article, Matthew Scully, one of a trio of writers responsible for George W. Bush's most famous addresses, accuses Michael Gerson of hogging credit and portraying himself as the singular architect of the president's oratory.

"The narrative that Mike Gerson presented to the world is a story of extravagant falsehood," charges Scully. "Few lines of note were written by Mike, and none at all that come to mind from the post-9/11 addresses—not even 'axis of evil.'"

Scully relates how Gerson used Bob Woodward to publicize his own, embellished version of events, a version that cut Scully and John McConnell out of the picture. In the article's most damning anecdote, Scully accuses Gerson of staging a scene for a reporter's benefit at Starbucks, where he pretended to be working on the State of the Union address, while Scully and McConnell were back at the office, writing the real thing.

"For all of our chief speechwriter's finer qualities, the firm adherence to factual narrative is not a strong point," writes Scully. "In reality, Mike's conduct is just the most familiar and depressing of Washington stories—a history of self-seeking and media manipulation that is only more distasteful for being cast in such lofty terms."

An assistant to Gerson said he is on vacation and not immediately available for comment.