Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: VFJACKAL on December 16, 2002, 09:55:47 PM
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How many paid any attention to what he said. Was it after the press spun it the way they wanted and the great "Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson" started their BS? Or , would it have just gone by the way side and been no big deal if it was just a report on a 100 year old mans B-day?
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59425-2002Dec15.html
A Hundred- Candle Story And How To Blow It
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 16, 2002; Page C01
When Trent Lott praised the 1948 segregationist candidacy of Strom Thurmond, most of the mainstream press was, rather embarrassingly, caught napping.
A dozen reporters heard the Senate majority leader say the country would have been better off if Thurmond had won the presidency -- and it was carried on C-SPAN -- but only an ABC producer thought the remarks were newsworthy. Even then the story didn't make it to the network's main newscasts.
Baltimore Sun reporter Julie Hirschfeld Davis says there was so much "tongue-in-cheek" talk at Thurmond's birthday party "that a lot of us probably tuned out remarks that we might have been more careful listening to if it hadn't been such a jubilant atmosphere. Most people were writing this as a featury 100th-birthday bash."
"I wanted to use it but it seemed too parenthetical, given that the story was about Strom," says Washington Post reporter Mark Leibovich. "I feel badly about it in retrospect. I kick myself."
Even after Lott's comments were reported, though, much of the establishment press ignored them for days. It wasn't until Lott apologized last Monday night that such newspapers as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today took note of the matter. In the meantime, Lott was pummeled by a number of online Weblogs -- particularly by conservatives who agree with him on many issues -- in a way that helped force the story into public view.
The contretemps began on Thursday, Dec. 5, when Lott said he was "proud" that his state of Mississippi had voted for Thurmond in 1948 -- a time when the Dixiecrat candidate spoke of keeping "the Negro" out of "our homes, our schools, our churches." Stories by The Post, the Washington Times and the Associated Press made no mention of the remarks. A Knight Ridder report paraphrased Lott in the 14th paragraph but ignored his observation that America would have avoided "all these problems" if Thurmond had won.
ABC producer Ed O'Keefe, who was there, helped break the story for ABCNews.com's political digest, the Note, and the story was used on a 4:30 a.m. broadcast. But "Good Morning America" and "World News Tonight" passed.
The next morning, CNN's Jonathan Karl interviewed Lott but didn't ask him about the Thurmond comments -- which brought subsequent criticism from New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. Karl says he hadn't attended the Thurmond party and didn't know what Lott had said.
"At the time of the Lott interview, no major newspaper, including the New York Times, had reported on the remarks," Karl says. "Even Paul Krugman said nothing about Lott's comments in his column [that] week."
Gwen Ifill played the clip on PBS's "Washington Week in Review" that night. But while former Clinton adviser James Carville took a swipe at Lott on CNN's "Crossfire," the Democrats mostly held their fire, depriving reporters of an easy hook for their story. And there was no liberal equivalent of conservative talk radio to drive the discussion.
After overhearing chatter among his colleagues, Washington Post reporter Thomas Edsall wrote a story for Saturday, Dec. 7, resisting an editor's suggestion that it be treated as an item. "I sent a note saying that it would demean the story to put it in the political column," he says.
The next day, Lott's comments were mentioned on the "CBS Evening News" and debated on CNN's "Late Edition" and NBC's "Meet the Press." While Time's Joe Klein and The Post's David Broder criticized Lott on "Meet the Press," columnist Robert Novak said: "This is the kind of thing that makes people infuriated with the media, is they pick up something that's said at a birthday party and turn it into a case of whether he should be impeached."
By Monday, with the mainstream press still largely snoozing, Web writers were leading the charge. Andrew Sullivan: "Either they get rid of Lott as majority leader or they should come out formally as a party that regrets desegregation and civil rights for African-Americans." Joshua Micah Marshall: "The real question is why this incident is still being treated as no more than a minor embarrassment or a simple gaffe." National Review Online's David Frum: "What came out of his mouth was the most emphatic repudiation of desegregation to be heard from a national political figure since George Wallace's first presidential campaign."
Says Glenn Reynolds, the Tennessee law professor who jumped on the story in his InstaPundit column: "The guy's majority leader. Reporters, as opposed to bloggers, depend on him for access. The hinterlands are full of bloggers who don't care whether Trent Lott is nice to them or not. That makes them different from the Washington press."
Doyle McManus, Washington bureau chief of the Los Angeles Times, says his paper initially used an AP report because it had already done a Thurmond birthday story.
"The media were a step slow," he concedes. But at least there were pictures: "Imagine what might have happened without C-SPAN. C-SPAN is really the great, unfiltered, 24-hour medium that meant this didn't get missed."
Now the press is digging into Lott's history of opposing civil rights measures -- a public record that was barely mentioned when he became majority leader six years ago. Time's Karen Tumulty wrote that Lott told her in the early 1980s that he had helped prevent blacks from integrating his Ole Miss fraternity. Tumulty says she didn't report it at the time because Lott was an obscure Mississippi congressman -- who was trying to needle her Los Angeles Times boss (and future CNN chairman) Tom Johnson for also opposing integration at his own fraternity chapter....
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Lott may well have commited political hari-kari.
He gaffed the first half dozen apologies so bad its almost pitiful.
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Heh, he just said t hat he 'knew absolutely' that Strom was segregation in a person (check CNN for quote, his words).
To know this and say "if we elected this guy we wouldn't have had the problems we have today" not once but twice sort of puts his credibility at risk - and that's enough to kill a political career.
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Lott needs to go, no argument. There just doesn't need to be any grandstanding about it from the other side.
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Agreed Kieran. Dude has apologized, rest gotta be up to the reps until next election.
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will an apology be enough when he publicly says the same undeniably racist crap for a third time?
yea to republicans it seems
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It isnt the first time I've rolled my eyes as Trent Lott speaks. Boot him, elect a new speaker and move on. If we keep him, the Dems have a target for 2 years, which is what they so desire. Gotta kept that racial hatred churning.
Oh wait, didn't Strum leave the Democratic party and become a Republican in the 50s? No...don't say it...that the Democratic party has just as checkered as past in regards to race as the Republican? NAW...now now, let's not go confusing a good pig pile with facts.
Either way, there are many others suitable for the job. Off with his head.
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I still don't see his comments as being bad!
He told a guy that this country would have been better off if he had won the Presidency at his birthday party and every one makes it out like he was calling for all blacks to be killed!
Get over yourselfs and worry about REAL problems like "Who can I blame for my lazyness?" or " How do I get money for doing nothing?".
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A clarification, Mighty1, is that the person who's presidential run he praised was running as on the 'All lowly negro's must be kept away from righteous white people' platform. His entire campaign was about keeping blacks down.
Lott said the country would have been a lot better if Thurmond had won, with the implication that all this messy 'civil rights' stuff would have been avoided and we could have maintained a nice friendly segregationist culture where the only thing black people could do was work the fields.
Are you sure you don't have a problem with his comments?
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Originally posted by Mighty1
I still don't see his comments as being bad!
He told a guy that this country would have been better off if he had won the Presidency at his birthday party and every one makes it out like he was calling for all blacks to be killed!
Get over yourselfs and worry about REAL problems like "Who can I blame for my lazyness?" or " How do I get money for doing nothing?".
LOL Well said!!!! :D
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Originally posted by Chairboy
implication
Here is your problem.
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Lott's apology #1
A poor choice of words conveyed to some the impression that I embraced the discarded policies of the past. Nothing could be further from the truth, and I apologize to anyone who was offended by my statement.
Senator Lott also has close ties to the Conservative Citizen' s Council, an openly racist and anti-Semitic group.
Lott claimed he had "no firsthand knowledge" of the CCC
In 1992, Lott was keynote speaker at the Council's national board meeting, ending his speech by enthusing that "the people in this room stand for the right principles and the right philosophy." Throughout the 1990s, Lott maintained his intimate relations with the CCC, hosting a private meeting with Council leaders in 1997, writing a column for the CCC magazine Citizen's Informer for eight years, and attending at least two CCC banquets in his honor.
There's also Lott's 1984 address to the Convention of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Biloxi, Mississippi, in which he claimed "the spirit of Jefferson Davis lives in the 1984 Republican Platform."
1980 Republican campaign rally for Reagan, Lott -- in a statement eerily similar to his "lighthearted" musings last week --announced that if the country had elected the segregationist Strom Thurmond "30 years ago, we wouldn't be in the mess we are today." The rally and Lott's statement were covered by the Jackson Clarion-Ledger on Nov. 3, 1980, and again by the Washington Post this week.
San Francisco Chronicle also highlighted Lott's well-known fight in 1981 to restore the non-profit tax status of South Carolina's Bob Jones University, which the IRS had revoked due to the school's prohibition of inter-racial dating. At the time, Lott issued a "friend of the court" brief arguing that "racial discrimination does not always violate public policy."
Back to the CCC:
On December 12, Senator Lott's press secretary told several media outlets that Lott's involvement with the white-supremacist CCC amounted to a single speech to the group when Lott was in the House of Representatives more that a decade ago. Lott's spokesperson also claimed the senator had no knowledge of the group's beliefs.
But.....
In 1997 Lott met held a private meeting with CCC leaders in his Washington, D.C. office, a photo and account of the meeting appeared in the CCC's publication, Citizens Informer, later that year.
In 1997 the CCC used an endorsement quote from Lott for direct mail.
In 1995 Lott addressed a Mississippi-based CCC function.
In 1992 Lott was the featured speaker and issued strong praise of the CCC at its national conference.
In 1991, according to Gordon Lee Baum, Lott addressed another Mississippi gathering of the CCC.
The Spring 1989 edition of Citizens Informer, the CCC's newsletter, features a photo of Lott with his uncle, who is identified as an executive of CCC, and his cousin, who's identified as a CCC member.
Lott's column has been a regular feature of Citizens Informer for years.
Smells like a duck....... he needs to step down and out.
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...Who does his hair. He-LLO, can you say Ward Cleaver? Trent, get some hi-lites done and use styling gel. And those GLASSES!! Ewwww!! Not even Elton John could make THOSE glasses work!
Please, Trent, we know you were elected by people who still consider leisure suits to be in style, but must you make yourself look like my father, who never accepted me and considers me his biggest disappointment in life?
I think making Trent resign for something he did at a birthday party is unfair. Why, you should have seen MY last birthday party! At least Trent didn't break out a Twister game and several bottles of Mazola.
Instead of resigning I think we should make Trent Lott get a makeover-from his frumpy looking suits to his 1950s era glasses to his injection molded hair. The only part of his wardrobe I would allow him to keep are the women's thong underwear he wears.
Ciao.
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Sorry Chairboy my skin color does not allow me to be concerned OR offended by any comments or actions made by others.
Since I am not Gay or a Woman I am only allowed to take the blame for past /future comments or actions of anyone with my same skin color!
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Originally posted by LePaul
Oh wait, didn't Strum leave the Democratic party and become a Republican in the 50s? No...don't say it...that the Democratic party has just as checkered as past in regards to race as the Republican? NAW...now now, let's not go confusing a good pig pile with facts.
Yeah, lets look at some of those facts....
The racist, segregationsit Democrats left the Democratic Party in 1948 when Democratic President Harry Truman put a Civil Rights Bill before Congress that proposed ending racial segregation. They followed Strom Thurmond into the short-lived segregationist Dixicrat Party.
So, he left the Dems because of their wanting to end segregation...that's a fact!
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Originally posted by Mighty1
Sorry Chairboy my skin color does not allow me to be concerned OR offended by any comments or actions made by others.
Since I am not Gay or a Woman I am only allowed to take the blame for past /future comments or actions of anyone with my same skin color!
you bi+ch & moan like a woman.
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Oh It's squeaking and moaning like a woman when I mention skin color but when some one of a different color does they are OK?
Why can't I feel sorry for myself like the others?
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wasn't his comment made in a joking/roast type style?
is razing someone at their birthday party now off limits or do ALL jokes have to be 110% PC correct or you'll be slammed for it as if it were fact....
you'd think Lott was walking around with a Rebel flag t-shirt on, spittin tobacco while threatening to string up the help or something ...................
if many of the reps didnt want someone else in his spot, they'd circled the wagons much tighter and quicker
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I tell you what I am not liking about Lott... he's threatening to step down from the senate (taking the slim Republican majority with him) if he is asked to step down from the chair. That isn't right. The screw-up was his, not the party's; he shouldn't try to blackmail them that way.
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MrLars,
Was that the same Civil Rights Bill that Al Gore's father and several other Democrats voted against, only to be pushed through by the party of Lincoln?
It was either that one or one that came along a lilttle later, can't recall.
As far as Lott goes, he's gotta go. Just like Byrd shoulda went. There is no difference.
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I agree. I think eventually Lott will see the light. I think he's just going through a process... like the steps in grieving a loss... before he steps down form his leadership post.
If I'm wrong, and Lott insists on fighting this, I'm sure he will be voted out by the Republicans. If Lott then decides to quit the senate, allowing a Democrat to take his place - so be it. It would be a shame, but principles are principles.
But if I'm wrong about that, and the Republicans do not vote him out, I swear I'm going to resign from the Republican Party.
I'm so pissed at Lott that I could just spit.
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Kieren if you go by that thinking then Jeffries(?) or McCain should have been gone a long time ago.
Hell I don't blame him for threatning to quit. His comments were twisted to make him sound racist and he gets NO support from his party!
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Originally posted by Mighty1
...Why can't I feel sorry for myself like the others?
you seem to be suggesting that others are wrong for doing what you're doing...if lott goes (dont look back mrs. lott!) GOP still has the tie breaking vote, so they dont lose the majority...i wonder what happens in the case that the VP dies & there is nobody to cast the tie breaking vote (until they appoint a new VP)
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Lott has shown a repeated lack of sensitivity to racial issues. (see my post above). He will just be a lightning rod for the Democrats to use as a target during the next elections. I think it would be in the best interest of the Reps to get him out of the leadership position.
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Don't get me wrong, Mighty, I see the hypocracy. The fact is though the party will suffer if he stays. The Dems will raise the racism flag high, and they would have a basis for an argument.
In the end, Lott (being the majority leader) has to do what's best for the party- step aside.
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Originally posted by Kieran
..... the party will suffer if he stays. The Dems will raise the racism flag high, .....
how high can it go?
they've been playing that card for as long as it has been in the deck
yes, lott should go, the media and the dems should get their way AGAIN
maybe he can perm his hair and become a dumbacrat :)
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The Democratic party is adrift looking for a cause- the midterm elections prove this. Lott, if he stays, will provide the compass they need to get back on course. Anyone can see this.
Anyway, it isn't just letting the Dems have their way. It was a stupid racist remark, and it doesn't matter how many racists the Dems have- heck, I've said many times the hypocracy pisses me off. But it just won't matter. A Trent Lott as majority leader is the catalyst the Democratic party needs.
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No steps are being taken to remove Lott from office. Prominent democrats and republicans are attempting to persuade him to step down as Senate majority leader. Even if he does so, or is removed by a vote of the Republican majority, his vote as a Republican senator will remain. The power structure in the Senate will not change at all.
Shuckins
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Originally posted by Eagler
maybe he can perm his hair and become a dumbacrat :)
Permed hair?!? Perms are SO 1970s! Can you say "Michael Brady?" :rolleyes: Typical Republican lack of fashion sense.
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No steps are being taken to remove Lott from office. Prominent democrats and republicans are attempting to persuade him to step down as Senate majority leader. Even if he does so, or is removed by a vote of the Republican majority, his vote as a Republican senator will remain. The power structure in the Senate will not change at all.
Shuckins
Lott himself is threatening to quit his office if he's asked to step down as Majority Leader.
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Originally posted by Apeboy
MrLars,
Was that the same Civil Rights Bill that Al Gore's father and several other Democrats voted against, only to be pushed through by the party of Lincoln?
This is a brief on Trumans action that lead to the Dixicrats creation and subsequent move to the Republican party....
Truman, however, was no quitter. He had broached the idea that General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the victorious supreme commander of Allied forces in World War II and the most popular man in America, should take the presidential nomination. When Eisenhower turned it down, there was no stopping Truman, who relished the idea of taking on the Republicans. The fight for the nomination and the election began with his inaugural speech on January 7, 1948. On that occasion, Truman presented his agenda for the next four years: (1) a national health insurance program, (2) a massive housing program; (3) increased support for farmers; (4) conservation; (5) a raise in the minimum wage from 40 to 75 cents an hour; and (6) a "poor man's" tax cut whereby each taxpayer would deduct $40 for himself and each dependent from his tax bill. One critic sarcastically remarked that old Boss Pendergast had paid $2 per vote, and now Truman had hiked the bribe to $40.
Then Truman dropped a bombshell by announcing that he would be sending Congress a special message on civil rights. When the civil rights message came three weeks later—the first ever delivered to Congress—it called for a tough federal law against lynching, strong protection of voter rights for African Americans, and legislation that would strike down poll taxes (used in southern states to keep blacks from registering to vote). Truman also advocated the creation of a Fair Employment Practices Commission to halt discrimination by employers and unions, a halt to discrimination in the armed services, and recognition of the claims made by Japanese Americans who had been confined in concentration camps during World War II. Enraged at the president's proposals, southern senators and representatives nearly walked out on the speech.
As far as how Gore Sr. voted, I realy don't GAS, he's not currently in the game and Bird, well, it isn't too danged amazing that he's still in office considering the amount of pork he brings to his state.
Now, IF he were the House Majority Leader then he would be taken to task just as Lott has been IF his brain/mouth interface had BSOD'ed like Lotts did.
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Mighty1,
Your name sounds a bit short.
How does; "High & Mighty1" sound?
eskimo
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Sounds good to me!:p
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anyone know how long ago Sen. Byrd [D-WVa] quit the KKK?
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It's moot, he's Democrat. ;)
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Originally posted by whgates3
anyone know how long ago Sen. Byrd [D-WVa] quit the KKK?
did he quit? are you sure? does he remember?
as the Rep mouth piece on Fox said this morning, this is just the start ... the dems have their "NEW" platform - racism
now if/when the republicans are against ANYTHING the dems want, the dems will spin it and play the race card and try to make it fit. Watch and see.
sad, really - but funny at the same time :)
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Bird, well, it isn't too danged amazing that he's still in office considering the amount of pork he brings to his state.
Oh, so the amount of pork and having damn near everything in the state named after you makes it ok. ok..I see...yea right
Now, IF he were the House Majority Leader then he would be taken to task just as Lott has been IF his brain/mouth interface had BSOD'ed like Lotts did.
I'm sitting here thinking if I would be better off if I could justify things like this as you can. Naw, I think I'm better off not caring what position somebody holds to dictate how I react to them.
Just a question. If David Duke was elected to office and brought back a bunch of pork to his state, would that make it ok in your book too?
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Here we go... the circus has begun.
Clinton speaks out (http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/12/18/clinton.lott/index.html)
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Clinton's just searching for some relevance.
I wish people would stop calling him a "Bubba." He has done nothing to earn it. He doesn't smoke, chew, spit, or say grace. He never played football nor owned a working man's pickup. He doesn't drink RC's or eat moon pies. He's got no upbrangin'. I've never seen him open the door for a lady or offer one his seat on Air Force One. He expected a young White House to perform a "favor" for him that he would be unwilling to do for someone else. Talk about selfish!
Shuckins
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Those darn Democrats are up to something....
Carville accepts Lott's apology (http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/12/18/carville.lott/)
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Indeed, MT... just suppose Lott stays SML, and supports any bill that erodes minority rights. "The Republican Party is racist!" will be the battle cry of 2004.
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Originally posted by midnight Target
Those darn Democrats are up to something....
Carville accepts Lott's apology (http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/12/18/carville.lott/)
forgive and forget right?
yeah, sure
carVile is a smart handsomehunkcrat - he knows a good target/cause when he sees one
its the dumb handsomehunkcrats that want lott out - they hope he quits like a baby bringin it to 50/50 while eyeballin another jumpin jeffery - hmm maybe they ain't so dumb after all :)
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I thought the same as soon as I read about it . Carville is shrewd.
Dems want to milk this for all its worth, for as long as they can.
"Don't kill the goose that layed the golden egg."
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Yup, if Carville had headed the 2002 elections, you almost certainly would have a Democratic Congress now and Jeb Bush would be gone.
I really don't view all Democrats this way, but Carville is one major reason Clinton was a successful as he was.
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Watch Carville closely. Look at his eyes. Notice the catty smirk?
Would you buy a used car from that man?
Shuckins
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james carville & mary matlin are two of the most disgusting people on the face of the planet