Paul Begala Has No Qualms About Nakedness

Despite his Communist leanings, Paul Begala is, as Imus put it, an “all-around good guy,” and one who was thrilled to be a part of today’s line-up. “You can say anything you want about me if I’m on the same program as the Doobie Brothers,” he said.
 
A few days ago, James Carville, Begala’s pal and former fellow advisor to President Bill Clinton, said, “If Hillary gave up one of her balls and gave it to Obama, he'd have two.” Imus, however, offered a more practical solution this morning.
 
“I have, as you perhaps know, three testicles,” he told Begala, and then offered to donate one, because, as any mathematician could figure out, “I’ll still have two.”
 
Though Carville could have worded it differently, Begala thinks he articulated a deeply-held view on the part of Democrats. “We’ve got to toughen up here on my side of the team,” he said. Even the President? “Especially the President.”
 
Begala likes and admires Obama, he claims, but said that he seems to not understand that the role of the opposition party is to oppose. “It’s sort of their job,” he said. “I don’t really fault them for that, but that mean’s he’s got to fight.”
 
Rather than try to change the culture of Washington, as Obama has expressed he’d like to do, Begala suggested he focus on things like the unemployment rate. “I’m not the most for bipartisanship, per se,” he said. “I’m just for creating jobs.”
 
When Begala’s former boss was faced with a Republican House and Senate after the 1994 midterm elections went badly, he handled it by finding places where he could compromise, Begala explained.
 
“Jefferson, in his inaugural, said, ‘Not every difference of opinion is a difference of principle,’” Begala said, knowing how much Imus enjoys a good history lesson. “What he didn’t say is knowing the difference is the art of leadership.”
 
And so Clinton compromised with Republicans, namely House Speaker Newt Gingrich, by helping them cut the capital gains tax rate, and by signing a very extreme Republican-written welfare bill, which he later got them to fix. At other times, Clinton stood firm.
 
“When Newt and that gang wanted to shut down the government in order to cut Medicare for senior citizens, he said, ‘No,’” Begala recalled. “He pointed to that desk in the Oval Office, and said, ‘You’re going to have to get another man sitting behind this desk, because I’m never going to sign those cuts in Medicare.’”
 
Clinton had an uncanny ability to take a principled stand while still compromising on matters of opinion, something Begala thinks benefitted the country in the long run. “It’s knowing when to hold them, and when to fold them,” he said.
 
Since he flies more than 100 times over the course of a year, by his estimate, Begala reported having gone through the full-body scanners, and wondered when people became “such Victorians” about their body image.
 
Which was not at all surprising, considering that he was once employed by The Big Dog. “Why would you care if somebody saw your weiner or not?” Imus knowingly observed.
 
-Julie Kanfer