Posted 1:31 AM by Scoobie Davis

The Missing Quote
The Moonie Times accused Crossfire’s Paul Begala of being part of a smear campaign against the right. An editorial declared that on Monday’s Crossfire, Begala said, "the Republican right, under the sponsorship of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, has been engaged in a strategy they call demonizing [Senate Majority Leader Tom] Daschle. This, despite the fact that Tom Daschle was the victim of an anthrax attack by someone who wants to kill him."

The conclusion the Moonie Times editors reached from Begala’s alleged quote was that Begala was “linking conservatives to the sending of anthrax-tainted letters to Mr. Daschle last year." From the partial quote given, I did not conclude that Begala was “linking” the Republican right with the anthrax attacks. However, I wanted to see the larger context of Begala’s alleged statements. I use the term “alleged” because I looked up Monday’s Crossfire transcript and it didn’t list this quote. I realize it is a rush transcript and Crossfire had a recent controversy with its transcripts, so I’m in the dark about how to proceed on this one.