Scum And Proud Of It
by digby
On Blitzer this afternoon:
Alex Castellanos: I know Krugman won the Nobel Prize, but so did Al Gore. It can't be that hard. (laughter.)
And if economists were that good, they'd all be rich and they're not. So let's take all this with a grain of salt here.
What the Democrats are telling the country now is, they're having a debate, "we're gonna take a big pile of money and set it on fire. we're going to borrow it, make a big pile and set in on fire. And the argument is that the pile of money is not big enough.
You remember Castellanos. He's the guy who made Jesse Helms' infamous "Hands" ad. He is, in fact Karl Rove's biggest rival for most negative campaigner in the GOP, which is quite a feat:
One characteristic that sets Castellanos apart from some of the nondescript Washington-based political consultants is that he's a red-meat ideologue, who offers no apologies for his assertive -- some would say crude -- attacks.
"Other consultants create hard-hitting ads but tend to be more apologetic about it," says Dan Schnur, a California Republican strategist who served as communications director for Sen. John McCain's presidential run in 2000. "Most consultants like what they do, but they also want to be invited into polite society. He creates sharp-edged stuff and will admit it. That's made him some enemies and earned him attention."
"He doesn't just make the ads and say, 'It's just a business and somebody has to do it,'" says Hickman. "He makes the ads and really believes them. He's not above politics, which is admirable in a way."
Castellanos is also not above spreading disinformation. In 2002, trying to turn the Enron scandal against the Democrats, Castellanos appeared on CNN and ABC, insisting that Enron CEO Ken Lay had slept in the Lincoln Bedroom at the invitation of President Clinton. The tale was reported far and wide, but it was completely false.
This person was on CNN throughout the presidential campaign, which makes some sense since he was in the capacity of "Republican campaign consultant." But he has no business being on television commenting on anything but dirty campaign tactics, which is where his expertise lies. He is a professional liar who admits to doing anything necessary to back his team and who even village "polite society" is squeamish about cable.
Why is CNN still giving this jerk a platform from which to do this kind of dirty work for the GOP? He should be on Fox where he belongs, alongside the other creepy political sociopaths.
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