02-Apr-02
Monday night James Carville and Paul Begala made their debut on CNN's Crossfire, and made the more experienced Bob Novak and Tucker Carlson look like amateur bullies masquerading as political analysts. If you missed it and don't want to pore through the transcript then at least read our favorite exchange. Neither Carlson nor Novak can manage to craft a coherent sentence in defense of the Bush Administration's incoherent and indefensible policy toward the outbreak of full scale war in the Middle East. Way to go, "Carvala"!
Excerpt of transcript of CNN's Crossfire, Monday 4/1/02
BEGALA: There's a hell of a difference between failure and success and the difference is measured in blood. Right now, our policy in the Middle East has been an abject failure. Our president is rudderless and clueless. He doesn't know the Middle East from the Midwest...
NOVAK: There you go again. There you go again.
BEGALA: ... and we ought to get somebody in there who knows what the hell they're doing.
CARLSON: That's totally outrageous. If I can inject a serious note into the kind of ludicrous soliloquy you just delivered? This president is not in control of every car bombing or every nuance...
BEGALA: He ought to be in control of his mouth...
CARLSON: These are two different countries that are not this country. And this president is not in any way responsible for what happens in the Middle East, and the guy is trying to do his best.
CARVILLE: Let me apologize to Mr. Novak because, my goodness, we attacked President Bush and defended Bill Clinton. You know what? I'm happy that he's disgusted that we are telling the American people what happened.
CARLSON: You are not telling the American people anything.
CARVILLE: I'm going to stand up there and tell the truth. This president, according to the "Washington Post", made an error of historic proportions when he disengaged from the Middle East and he ought to be held accountable for it and I'm going to do it.
NOVAK: James, why don't you get over Bill Clinton? He is history. It's over. Let's discuss what the problem is instead of engaging in this cheap histronics.
CARVILLE: Bob, I'm talking about the Middle East. This is happening right now...
BEGALA: The president should be responsible for America's policy, not for the Middle East violence, but for our policy. His policy has been incoherent.