As a woman. As an American. And most of all, as a Christian.Yesterday Tucker Carlson, the conservative talk show host, referenced a long-ago interview he did with then-Governor Bush regarding the execution of Karla Tucker. I couldn't believe I heard him correctly, so I looked it up. Here's how it was covered in The National Review (so don't go saying I'm not being "fair" or "balanced"):
In the week before [Karla Faye Tucker's] execution, Bush says, Bianca Jagger and a number of other protesters came to Austin to demand clemency for Tucker. "Did you meet with any of them?" I ask.
Bush whips around and stares at me. "No, I didn't meet with any of them," he snaps, as though I've just asked the dumbest, most offensive question ever posed. "I didn't meet with Larry King either when he came down for it. I watched his interview with [Tucker], though. He asked her real difficult questions, like 'What would you say to Governor Bush?' "
"What was her answer?" I wonder.
"Please," Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, "don't kill me."
The ugliness of a sitting governor mocking a prisoner's plea to spare her life horrified Carlson, especially after he looked up the transcript of Karla Faye Tucker's appearance on Larry King Live and discovered that nowhere did it show the prisoner asking Bush to stay the execution.
Let's not forget that 1999 was also the year that, during the Republican Presidential Debates, Bush insisted that Jesus Christ was the "political philosopher or thinker" that he identified with most because, as Bush claimed, "He changed my heart."
I wonder how arrogant, how callous, an asshole Bush was before his heart got changed. I wonder if I'll ever be in 100% agreement with Tucker Carlson again.
I think part of why I'm so GWB-weary is that when you look over all this stuff (and there are literally tons of muck to wade through), Bill Clinton's sex lie looks almost quaint. Ah, the good old days …
