Former Clinton advisor and current CNN contributor Paul Begala thought he was being clever Friday evening when he took a cheap shot at George W. Bush on HBO's "Real Time."
Without skipping a beat, St. Louis Tea Party founder and Big Government editor Dana Loesch smacked down her CNN colleague with a delicious jab at his former boss (video follows with transcript and commentary):
DANA LOESCH, EDITOR BIG GOVERNMENT: The opposition I think is being a little bit underestimated. These are people who are barely armed and they have no air support and they've been able to beat back Gadhafi’s forces and accomplish as much as they have without anyone busting up through the door and providing them support. So, I don't understand why it would be necessary to essentially create the exact same strategy that everyone complained about in Iraq with the Bush Doctrine and replicate it in Libya, because that’s exactly what this is.
BILL T. JONES, CHOREOGRAPHER/ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: You think we should wait this out?
BILL MAHER, HOST: I think we should finish the quagmires we already have on our plate before we order more.
FORMER REPUBLICAN REPRESENTATIVE TOM DAVIS: No, Bill, we need to bring other countries into it with us…
MAHER: Right.
DAVIS: …other countries into it with us.
MAHER: Yes. Where’s the Arab League? Where’s the Europeans?
PAUL BEGALA, CNN: I’m just glad we have a president who when we have a problem in Libya doesn't freak out and invade Liberia.
MAHER: Right.
BEGALA: Which is what the last guy, that’s what Bush would have done.
LOESCH: Or you know what? Or accidentally bomb a medicine factory like Clinton did.
For those that forget the reference, in August 1998, President Clinton bombed the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Sudan as a reprisal for terrorist attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
The incident ended up being rather embarrassing for the Clinton administration as Sudan and other governments disputed any connection between the factory and Osama bin Laden.
Nicely played, Dana. Brava!
