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As featured on p. 218 of "Bloggers on the Bus," under the name "a MyDD blogger."

Friday, August 05, 2005

Novakula Strikes Again

I almost pissed myself watching this. Yesterday on Inside Politics, Bob Novak lost his shit and stormed off the set, cursing like a drunken sailor. Here's the transcript:

HENRY: And the "Strategy Session" continues on INSIDE POLITICS. Still here: James Carville and Robert Novak.

Katherine Harris made a name for her self during the Florida recount in the 2000 presidential race. She was then Florida's secretary of state. She went on to the House of Representatives.

Now she wants to move over to the United States Senate. Today she got the news that the speaker of the Florida House won't challenge her for the Republican nomination. In the meantime, Harris is blaming unnamed newspapers for tarnishing her image by doctoring her makeup with Photoshop. -- that computer program. Bob Novak, have you been investigating this make-up story?

NOVAK: No, but I've had the same experience that she did. A lot of my trouble in the world is that they've doctored my make-up and colorized me in a lot of newspapers on my picture. So, I sympathize with her.

HENRY: This is breaking news. I've haven't heard this.

CARVILLE: Breaking news. Who did it? What paper?

NOVAK: Well, I don't. I can't tell you.

CARVILLE: Yes. You know the two happiest people in America today about this decision, is Bill Nelson and Jay Leno. I mean --

HENRY: Bill Nelson the Democratic Senator.

CARVILLE: The Democratic Senator and Jay Leno. That -- I mean, they're going to go nuts over this. They're messing with my make-up, but you really don't know who it is. I mean, let's say this: She's going to be good for the humor circuit. She's going to be good for the speech circuit and she's good for a lot. And I think that Nelson -- I think, it's probably no secret that the White House wanted the speaker to run and I suspect that the Nelson people are, you know, feeling pretty good here today.

NOVAK: A couple of points here: The first place, don't be too sure she's going to lose. All the establishment's against her and I've seen these Republican -- anti-establishment candidates who do pretty well. Ronald Reagan, I guarantee you that the establishment wasn't for him. We just elected a senator from Oklahoma, Senator Tom Coburn, everybody in the establishment was against him. She might get elected -- So, wait. Just let me finish what I'm going to say, James. Please, I know you hate to hear me, but you have...

CARVILLE: He's got to show these right wingers that he's got backbone. Show them you're tough.

NOVAK: Well, I think that's bullshit. And I hate that. Just let it go.

(Novak leaves set.)


Many have pointed out that Carville wasn't really saying anything that inflammatory, at least not on the surface. Of course, in today's Republican Party, questioning someone's manhood (he's got to show that he's a tough guy) is inflammatory. Atrios raised the possibility that Carville was speaking in code. (as in, you have to show right-wingers you've got backbone by... not selling Karl Rove down the river.) Others have speculated that Novak was running away from a copy of "Who's Who in America" that Ed Henry had on the table (Novak famously said that naming Valerie Plame was not wrong because anyone could look up who Joe Wilson's wife was in that book); obviously Henry was going to ask him about the CIA leak case, and Novak doesn't want to hear any of it.

But maybe Novak was under orders from the CNN bosses. Desperate for ratings in the absence of missing white girls or celebrity trials, perhaps they just wanted to create some pizzazz by throwing a couple s-bombs around. If that's the case, some thanks he's getting!

NEW YORK (AP) — CNN suspended commentator Robert Novak indefinitely after he swore and walked off the set Thursday during a debate with Democratic operative James Carville.


Once CNN gets rid of all of their political reporters, they may be able to get down to the business of reporting the news.

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