Two Rednecks, a Greek and a Jew walk into a bar…
[It] may count as Washington’s longest-running conversation — a street-corner bull session between four old friends who suddenly find themselves standing once more at the busiest intersection of politics and media in Washington.
[James] Carville calls White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel calls ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent George Stephanopoulos. A bit later, CNN commentator Paul Begala, who is not quite the early bird that his friends are, will complete the circle with a rapid set of calls to all three.
Different versions of this round-robin chatter have been taking place, with few interruptions, every workday for nearly a generation.
“I refer to it as the 17-year-long conference call,” said Emanuel…
Without Emanuel, of course, the calls might have eventually devolved into what Tony Soprano called “the lowest form of conversation” which is: “Remember When?” Not so, at least for now.
According to Begala, the expectation of a daily call is so great that Emanuel will sometimes call him and shout impatiently, “I can’t talk right now!” and then hang up.
Too funny!
Al Hunt, the Washington bureau chief for Bloomberg News, said he talks with Carville almost every day — one of a roster of Washington reporters in that category. There is no parallel, he said, to a group of friends who has remained so central to the daily shaping of Washington conversation as these Clinton-era comrades.
Many of the Reaganites, he said, could not stand each other while in office and had little interest in daily chats once out. None of Jimmy Carter’s gang remained influential. Nor did many of George H.W. Bush’s aides — even once another Bush returned to Washington…
One reason the conversations are interesting, said Hunt, is that, between them, there is rarely more than one degree of separation from virtually any subject in the news. Emanuel, in addition to his White House role, made a fortune in investment banking and has a brother who is a top Hollywood agent. Stephanopoulos moves in top media circles. So do Begala and Carville, both of whom appear on CNN and know numerous actors and writers.
“You can’t think of many bases you don’t cover,” said Hunt. “Maybe morticians?”
Maybe morticians.
Reminds me of a story I saw Carville tell at a roast (broadcast on C-Span) where he was the honoree. He had obviously had quite a bit to drink and, when it was time to give his speech, got up and began a rambling, hilarious reminiscence about visiting the Oval Office and watching the interaction between Stephanopolous and Bill Clinton. “There I was,” he said, “sitting on the couch, watching the sun streaming through the windows, watching George and the president talking and I thought, ‘Godammit! There goes the Skipper and Gilligan.’”
Heh.
