Video sources from Crooks and Liars:
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[Choose one. They are the same video, different players.]
Extended discussion of Novak's blowup over at TPM Cafe.
[This discussion includes some real insight together with enjoyable snark.]
Link to CNN transcript. Search for the term "Bullshit".
CNN Inside Politics with Ed Henry, James Carville and Bob Novak (for a while.)
[Relevant portion of the transcript - I "bolded" key points]
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.)
HENRY: OK. James, what do you think though, seriously about this Senate race, James, that the -- that basically the Katherine Harris and Bill Nelson, if they do square off, what do you think -- what will that mean for Bill Nelson? He's considered an endangered incumbent.
CARVILLE: Yeah. I don't think -- I think it's actually pretty good news that far down, because I think they thought this speaker would be a tougher guy. It was just one of these things. I think Nelson's feeling pretty good right now. It won't be a primary. He'd rather not have a primary. But I suspect he's feeling pretty good.
HENRY: Yeah. In the balance of power though, among some of the hottest Senate races, Florida being one of them, that's a state that's gone red in the last couple of cycles. Bill Nelson being a Democrat who could face a pretty tough race.
CARVILLE: He could. He could. It was -- it was, actually obviously hotly contested in 2000, it was a 50/50 thing. Bush won it by a little bit in '04. But, you know, most people think it could be a pretty good Democratic year. Nelson's got great credentials. I suspect he'll do fine down there.
HENRY: OK. But what do you think about sort of the broader balance of power, Florida being one of many hot races across the country? New Mexico is another one Republicans have their eye on. Do you think -- sense the Democrats may be nervous. There are a lot more Democratic seats up for grabs that they have to defend in '06.
CARVILLE: Sure. But then, you know, we've got a really good shot in Rhode Island. We've got a really good shot in Pennsylvania. We've got a really good shot in Ohio. And I think if you don't have a trend, and the likelihood, of course, is that the Democrats don't gain enough seats to take the Senate back or 50/50.
But if my gut is right in Ohio, that there is a trend, then you're going to win some seats that you never thought you'd get before. I mean, it usually, these things don't happen in a vacuum. The Republicans had a trend in '02, they picked up seats. So it surely won't come down 50/50, you know? So I'd just kind of wait and see.
Look at it yourself, read the transcript, then go over to the TPM Cafe discussion to see what others think really happened.
My opinion [You were waiting for this, weren't you?)
It looks staged to me.I think that Novak had a contingency plan to walk off if the Plame subject came up and got uncomfortable. Then I think he slipped with the statement "Bullshit" and got embarrassed. So he stood up and walked off. One comment in the TPM Cafe discussion states that Novak told the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) that he was going to cut back his radion and TV appearances. The Fitzgerald investigation of Novak's act of treason appears to be getting to him.
There is also the back story at CNN itself. Both of Novak's regular shows, Capital Gang and the other, have been cancelled. Since then, CNN has announced that it is going to try to differentiate itself from the competition by focusing on "real news." [Shock, that one is.]
Ed Henry may well have set this up, knowing that he could possibly get Novak to overreact and get a ratings boost. The ratings boost for CNN is a lot better than just announcing that Novak was no longer being used on CNN, or worse, just doing it with no publicity.
The real pleasure in being a cynic is how often you end up being correct. It would be hard to lose money betting that the media would gladly slit their grandmother's throat on TV for ratings if they could do it without legal repercussions. But in this case they could have just shown pictures of Novak drinking puppy blood. This seems to be a bit more intellectual than that kind of stuff, but the motivation and the characters are no better.
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