On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 09:11:56 -0800, "ScottW"
wrote:


"dave weil" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 08:23:40 -0800, "ScottW"
wrote:


"dave weil" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 19 Mar 2004 21:31:33 -0800, "ScottW"
wrote:

So, does that make Matalin a puppetmistress?

No, she held a legit post as Communications director for the VP
(IIRC) until she left. I don't know if she has any current role
within the government or the Republican party.

You need to read the book, because you really *are* clueless.

That book is 10 years old.

Of course it is. Does that make it any less informative and
entertaining? It's a real page turner. It's done from a "he said, she
said" perspective, and neither of them are shrinking violets, *that's*
for sure. Even though I fundamentally disagree with almost *all* of
Matalin's political stances, I find her extremely entertaining,
ascerbic, insightful, and intelligent. Just like Carville, she takes
no prisoners. And as much as I despise Carville's annoying pit-bull
public personna, I find him quite the mirror image of Matalin on the
printed page.

At least read a bio of her.

I did read a bio. Nothing I said is in error.

No, it just left out the first 20 some-odd years of her life as a
political operative (excatly what Carville is).

Did Carville ever serve in government? No.

Sure he did. He was a senior advisor to President Clinton after the
election. Very similar to Matalin's short stint in government
recently. Up until her recent government service, she worked for the
RNC, which really isn't "government work", as you seem to define it.

She was a key player
(actually higher up the chain than Carville, who was the chief
campaign strategist for the campaign) in the first Bush reelection
campaign. She was his POLITCAL DIRECTOR for reelection.

Insert Weil bash on spelling here.

Whatever *that's* supposed to mean.

Carville was
just an consultant (a very effective one after his initial string of
losses on a regional level). Perhaps if he hadn't been advising
foreign polititians rather than Gore, Gore might have won. Carville
*also* does not have a role within the government or the Democratic
Party. In fact, he's been out of the Democratic Party structure for
far longer than Matalin has been. He's been consulting for foreign
politicos for many years now.

I guess I could call Ms. Matalin the bagman (sic) of the RNC instead
of the puppetmaster. No wait, she was that too. Not only did she run
envelopes of $10,000 to party hacks for Rich Bond, she coordinated
much of the fund-raising effort as well as setting up the grass-roots
organizational structure of the Republican party.

I see your confusion. When you asked if Matalin was also a puppetmaster
I should have said, "No, not currently".

Well, Carville isn't "currently" a "puppetmaster" for any candidate
and hasn't been one for any American candidate since 1992 (the same
time that Matalin was doing the same for Bush). He *has* done some
consulting for the Democratic party though, AFAIK. So has Matalin, for
that matter.

So what's yer point?

Carville is still playing in the shadows I'm afraid.

Not for any American candidates at this point. And if you call
Crossfire "the shadows" (or appearing on shows like Meet the Press),
then I guess you're entitled to spin this however you like.

You're propensity to leap to insults without
cause reveals the depths of your distress.

And your poor grasp of the language undermines even the shreds of
credibility that you might have when discussing issues of import.

You just can't help yourself. The elitist left has always thought
they are just smarter than everyone else.

Ahhh, the ole Agnew strategy. Yes, it's a horrible thing to try to get
the English language correct. And no, just because someone makes an
occasional error doesn't make them stupid. It's when people can't even
get some of the most fundamental grammatical concepts correct that
they become fair game. And yes, I make myself a target on occasion. I
*do* make an attempt to get it right though. I've know for years the
difference between your and you're, even as I might transpose the two
once in a blue moon.

BTW, your line is a parrot of a Sorkin line in the West Wing from the
first season, when he used the character of Mary Marsh to fling the
same claim at a couple of White House characters. it was just as venal
sounding then as it sounds now.

It's kind of sad that some people could become just so
much 'hot air'. Well, whatever makes you feel better.
Don't get to hatred and endorsing violence ala Sanders
if your frustration with my "grasp of the language"
exceeds your ability to contain it.

You're the one who seems to be burning up with hatred. The problem is,
you can't really express yourself very well. Yes, I guess that's *my*
problem as well as yours since I have to suffer your communications.

Once again, you are missing a great opportunity to see the inner
workings of the American political process (with all of its warts) on
a very personal and fundamental level, simply because you despise one
of the authors.

Yup, I despise that piece of the American political system and
I won't reward the participants by buying their books.

....even if it gives you valuable insights about the way things are
done (as I said, warts and all). Just stay ignorant.

I suppose you rush out and buy Hannity's books or Savage's?

No, I haven't been so inclined. I *did* read part of one of Limbaugh's
books though. If Tucker Carlson wrote a book, I doubt I would read it
either. I'm not all that interested in reading talking heads' books,
unless those talking heads have also been involved in the process.
This book is a primer about the modern political process *as it is*.
Anyone interested in the process (even those disgusted by it) would be
stupid to ignore the book. I'm sure the Bush team isn't ignoring it.

Hannity isn't doing what he does to follow his heart, he's in it
for the money and you're being duped.

How am I being duped by not being interested in a not-very-interesting
and not-very-informative right wing commentator? BTW, I find Colmes
even more of a joke and wouldn't touch any book that he wrote either.