Not Your Sweetie

Begala on Bush*'s personal Affirmative Action


TERRY MORAN, ABC REPORTER: A question about his feeling
about fairness in America. When he was 18, he got into Yale
University, which had and still has a policy of granting very
special preferences to children of graduates like him. Is that
preference OK? To give him a leg up, but other preferences...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BEGALA: But Fleischer declined to respond directly, as did the
president.Why? Because in George W. Bush's America, only
the right people receive preferential treatment. When a
Hispanic or a black kid gets a let up, Mr. Bush wants to make
a federal case out of it, literally.

(APPLAUSE)

Of course, Mr. Bush himself is the beneficiary of a very special
kind of affirmative action, preferences that help the hard
drinking, underachieving near-do-well (ph) children of the
Eastern moneyed elite.

(LAUGHTER)

That's affirmative action for you.

(APPLAUSE)



BEGALA: Why is it OK for Yale to let George W. Bush in
because his daddy went there, but it's not OK for Michigan to
help poor kids who are black or Hispanic?

ALEX CASTELLANOS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: There are a lot
of factors that universities consider. And if someone has a
special relationship and heritage and the university means
something to him, a lot of universities use that for black and
white students.

BEGALA: But if your parent is this big money Eastern elite
named Bush, that's OK. But if your heritage is Hispanic or
African- American, no?

CASTELLANOS: No. But the issue...

BEGALA: He's a hypocrite on this issue, isn't he, Alex?

CASTELLANOS: Of course not.

BEGALA: He ought to send back the diploma.



CASTELLANOS: They did. And so the University of Michigan still
wanted to have their quota. They changed the word to "target"
and "goal," and said how can we get there? Ah-ha, we'll give
points on race. That's wrong. That's racial discrimination.

BEGALA: How many points did Bush get from Yale. You never
answered the question. How many points did Bush get from
Yale?

(CROSSTALK)

NOVAK: Let's not talk about Bush, Paul.

BEGALA: How many points -- Bush did not qualify to get into
Yale. Some qualified kid was turned away so that the son of a
moneyed elite could go there. And now he's saying that other
kids shouldn't get a leg up because they're black or Hispanic?



BEGALA: Because -- this is why I have a whole lot more
respect, Alex, I love you personally. But for your position and
for Mr. Novak's position if you all would acknowledge what is
evident. Mr. Bush didn't...

NOVAK: Well let's lay off the damn point.

BEGALA: See, you won't do it.

NOVAK: Well it's ridiculous. You turn everything into a bashing
of Bush.

BEGALA: No Bob.

NOVAK And I'm getting sick of it. I am really getting sick of it.

BEGALA: No Bob. You reap -- I'm sick of you saying -- crying
alligator tears for some kid who doesn't get into Michigan.

NOVAK: I'm not crying alligator tears. I have some sympathy
for them. But we're sick of this Bush bashing.