Irony Alert! Clinton Spinners Carville and Stephanopoulos Slam Schwarzenegger's 'Risky' Personal Life
With a supreme lack of irony or self-awareness, former Clinton operatives George Stephanopoulos and James Carville on Tuesday chided the "amazing" revelation that Arnold Schwarzenegger had an affair and a love child.
Appearing on Good Morning America, Carville said of the former California governor: "...He put himself out here, knowing there was all this scrutiny on his personal life. That was a really risky thing he did in even getting into politics, knowing this."
Stephanopoulos agreed with his War Room pal, enthusing, "It is pretty amazing. That's a good point." Carville, of course, repeatedly defended Bill Clinton against "scrutiny" of his adulterous affairs and once said of accuser Paula Jones: "Drag $100 bills through trailer parks, there's no telling what you'll find."
[See video below. MP3 audio here.]
While introducing the segment, Stephanopoulos marveled, "One of the amazing things about this story is that he was able to keep it a secret, for more than ten years. Even there was a lot of focus on his extramarital affairs when he first ran for governor."
The GMA anchor's political life included helping squash such stories for Clinton. On page 267 of his autobiography All Too Human, Stephanopoulos wrote, "My goal was to put Paula Jones in the category as Connie Hamzy [who accused Clinton of propositioning her]- women whose stories were so suspect that their accounts couldn't be dignified by the media."
A transcript of the May 17 segment, which aired at 7:08am EDT, follows:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Let's bring in James Carville on all this right now. And, James, I want to get to this and what it means to the Republican field in just a minute. But, first, that breaking news overnight from Arnold Schwarzenegger that he fathered a child more than ten years ago. One of the amazing things about this story is that he was able to keep it a secret, for more than ten years. Even there was a lot of focus on his extramarital affairs when he first ran for governor.
JAMES CARVILLE: It is pretty stunning. Of course, the first thing anybody thinks about is he has got children, I think 13 through 21. And, boy, they're really getting blind sided by this thing. And, you know, it's not going to stop. I mean, there's still any number of questions left to be answered and they're going to have to be answered. And the third thing is, he put himself out here, knowing there was all this scrutiny on his personal life. That was a really risky thing he did in even getting into politics, knowing this. It's a pretty amazing story.
STEPHANOPOULOS: It is pretty amazing. That's a good point. Okay, let's turn to Donald Trump. I guess the big question right there, was everyone punk'd by Donald Trump?
CARVILLE: First of all, Shakespeare would have loved this broadcast. We've gone from tragedy to comedy right away. I think the press actually did a good job, particularly Good Morning America, about getting Trump out there. This guy got out because he was- realized rather late that he was making a fool of himself. And that's what the political system does. You know, you have to remember, as our friend Mark Halperin pointed out, when Trump was talking about the non-birther foolishness and was sort of focusing on his economic message, he actually had some resonance out there. And with him gone and Huckabee gone, there's nobody on the popular side of the populous side of the Republican part of the equation right now.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And is there anyone out there that can fill that space? In past campaigns, we saw it filled by Ross Perot, Pat Buchanan as well. Is there anybody really filling it right now? Maybe Michele Bachmann in Minnesota.
CARVILLE: Maybe. You know, that's the only possibility I see. I wracked my brain last night. I wracked my brain driving in for the broadcast this morning. And it's hard to see. But, somebody's going to come in. No one has a focus on this. But that populist right was represented by Trump and Huckabee to some extent. And Bachmann's the only one of the current crop that I could see filling could fill that.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Unless Palin decides to get in. Although she's been hurt over the last several months as well.
CARVILLE: Maybe Santorum, but I doubt it.
STEPHANOPOULOS: There is also just dissatisfaction among Republicans with the Republican field. With the hope that maybe there is someone out there really big. We look at the list of those that are likely to be running, that can come in and can really wow the field. Any wild cards?
CARVILLE: Jeb Bush. If Jeb Bush's name was Jeb Smith, it wouldn't be a race. I mean, he's the successful governor of a large state. He can raise a ton of money. He's a skilled politician. He got kind of an affable guy that people kind of like. He has stellar conservative credentials. It would be- on paper, I've never seen a stronger candidate. But, you know? He's obviously got the legacy issue.
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Comments
I'm pretty sure....
Submitted by almostacowboy on Tue, 05/17/2011 - 11:46am.
..."supreme lack of irony or self-awareness" is part of the job description.
Stephanopoulos was out of his league, but Carville
Submitted by daveinboca on Wed, 05/18/2011 - 12:48am.
simply is beneath contempt. This creature again and again claimed that Billy Jeff's continual and non-stop lying to the American people [in the case of his supporters, "sheeple,"] was justified because lying under oath is perfectly legal and above board AS LONG AS IT CONCERNS SEXUAL MATTERS.
You can always tell a Cajun, but you can't tell him much. Ditto for a Greek under the influence of grandiosity.
Carville claimed again and again
Submitted by Jer on Wed, 05/18/2011 - 12:58am.
it is perfectly legal to lie under oath as long as it concerns sex?
Then you shouldn't have a problem producing the quote.
Jer
This is too easy
Submitted by zachlind on Tue, 05/17/2011 - 11:55am.
Thinking of Carville I can see where it’s unlikely he would ever have the opportunity so why not look good and criticize someone else.
Wow. Considering how Bill
Submitted by rbosque on Tue, 05/17/2011 - 12:25pm.
Wow. Considering how Bill Clinton got a love child from Juanita Broderick and sent both of them to Australia during Clinton's presidential campaign....
I'll be on my Back
Submitted by Jack Bauer on Tue, 05/17/2011 - 12:32pm.
Of course, the first thing anybody thinks about is he has got children, I think 13 through 21.
Good Lord, Arnie has 21 children? I guess the effects of steroids on the male youknowwhat's has been greatly exaggerated.
All of the above Mr Obama? --- How about ALL OF THE BELOW, instead.
LOL
Submitted by stunned on Tue, 05/17/2011 - 12:36pm.
He kept it a secret for ten years! They sound jealous.
tired of liberal lies
Quote
Submitted by Blorg on Tue, 05/17/2011 - 1:28pm.
To quote Pink Floyd and Bill Clinton: "Have a cigar."
Arnie Proves He's a Kennedy at Heart Afterall
Submitted by jqc1985 on Tue, 05/17/2011 - 1:37pm.
Those of us in CA have known old Arnie is really a liberal with an R after his name for a long time. This just is just more proof. Arnie wanted a job with the Obama administration. Now he has the liberal credentials to fit right in.
Well said jqc1985
Submitted by woburn828 on Tue, 05/17/2011 - 8:10pm.
I heard on a Boston radio station this morning that if the Kennedy brothers were still alive they would embrace Arnold as one of their own. In massachusetts it's called "resume enhancement".
Yeah. I thought Shriver was
Submitted by Slyrr on Tue, 05/17/2011 - 2:05pm.
Yeah. I thought Shriver was a part of the Kennedy cabal.
I would have thought, growing up amongst the likes of Teddy and all the rest, that Shriver would be USED to this kind of thing.
Still, no excuses for Arnold. Adultery is bad - no matter WHO does it. When you marry, you make promises and covenants to your spouse, and both parties involved must do their best to keep them.
Since liberals and lefties are such big fans of islam and terrorists and their ways, maybe Shriver should submit herself to be stoned to death or beheaded for 'allowing' the adultery to take place. After all, the islamists think that adultery, rape and other whoredoms that men commit are all the fault of the women, right? To show their solidarity, hollywood liberals and all their cabal should mimic their 'enlightened' ways, should they not?
double standard as usual
Submitted by shirley schmidt on Tue, 05/17/2011 - 3:08pm.
Two men who knew better than to smoke any of Clinton's cigars have no right to comment on Arnold's problems.
Arnold made his mess
Submitted by felizagain on Tue, 05/17/2011 - 3:37pm.
Arnold made his own mess. His children and wife have to put up with the ugly media daily because of what he has done, no one else did this. True, he knew what he was getting into, & how the media can work. Clinton was a jerk, like Arnold....and, yes he got a lot of passes for womanizing & lying. It is pretty rich to see the Clinton gaggle bash Arnold for his affairs. But, it's deserved....there's a double standard. So what? in this case, serves Arnold and the GOP in California right this is being handled in the international press. Don't tell me someone in the GOP did not know of this affair, baby, & his pathetic behavior..... It will remind us again of Spitzer & Clinton & Sanford & Ensign.....men are jerks in equal numbers in the two parties.... Arnold, get lost.
Carville is jealous. Look at
Submitted by LAM SON 719 on Tue, 05/17/2011 - 3:46pm.
Carville is jealous. Look at the guy, he's a mess, he looks like a refugee from Deliverence or one of those freaks who get caught having sex with goats.
Hey Carville...
Submitted by Motormouth KOS on Tue, 05/17/2011 - 4:37pm.
First off, you still look like a penis, but I digress...
Is this the same sage advice you gave to fat Bubba, the Womanizer-in-Chief just before he stuck his flaccid noodle into that dopey intern's cakehole?
Do you see the irony, baldy?
The Obamination... A crisis leading to a catastrophe..(please donate to MRC)
Great comment Motormouth KOS
Submitted by woburn828 on Tue, 05/17/2011 - 8:14pm.
Laughed my ass off reading your comment. Was thinking the same thing today. It's going to be fun watching the MSM trip all over themselves trying to explain this mess.
Thanks for that
Submitted by Ozconservative on Wed, 05/18/2011 - 1:57am.
I now have to explain to these good people at Brunei International Airport why I have now sprayed Coke all over their coffee lounge.