Two Morning Puke Points on 'Today'

There were at least two completely sickening moments for conservatives on the Monday Today show. At the show's open, all the excitement about Ted Kennedy endorsing Barack Obama bubbled over after talk of co-host Meredith Vieira touring London with the royals. Ann Curry proclaimed: "We'll be checking in with Meredith in London in just a moment. Good morning, Meredith. But let's begin with American royalty - the Kennedys."

I'm sure conservatives would like that to be a trap-door phrase or a Nerf ball-pasting phrase -- the Kennedys as America's royal family. Obama being endorsed by Ted Kennedy, Patrick Kennedy, and Caroline Kennedy? Obama should say "Only Caroline is allowed to drive me." Then there's Paul Begala with his usual embarrassing over-praise of Bill Clinton, who's now Tom Brady:

MATT LAUER: Let's take it the way we've got it in the boxes here. I'm asking for a one sentence answer to this, Joe I'll start with you. Right now is Bill Clinton helping or hurting Hillary Clinton?

JOE KLEIN: He's hurting her, he's hurting her and hurting himself.

LAUER: Alright, Paul, what's the answer?

PAUL BEGALA: Is Tom Brady hurting the Patriots? C'mon he's the best player ever lived. Of course he's helping. He helps any cause he lends himself to.

Let's hope Begala has been well-paid for making statements that are so fawning they make Bambi blush. Clinton would probably like the Tom Brady analogy, since he's fathered children by two different women. Most football fans outside of Boston would certainly take exception at the implication that Brady is the best player who ever lived.

(Clinton might say it depends on the definition of "player.")

Begala then turned even more desperate in tone, suggesting that some in the media hate Clinton so much, it's like mental illness:

LAUER: Paul is Bill Clinton being held to a different standard because he is a former president? Politics is a tough business. All campaigns feed the press negative stories. They all hint, as Joe Klein just said, at things. Is he different because he's supposed to be a uniter, not a divider?

BEGALA: Well I think he's different because he's a former president but he's also different because there are some in the commentary who just hate him, Matt. And that's not just me. Craig Crawford who's an analyst with National Journal, who's written books defending the press against politicians who attack them, said that the anti-Clinton hatred, to his mind borders on mental illness. The truth is there's an arrogance about pretending that South Carolina is about Bill Clinton.

LAUER: But who hates him, Paul? I mean --

BEGALA: Maybe, maybe, maybe voters voted for Barack because they like Barack. Why are patronizing Senator Obama? He ran a great campaign, he's a world class talent. And maybe they like Bill and Barack but they voted for Barack against Hillary. Why can't we entertain that notion?