I've seen a number of references to Bush's mocking of deathrow inmate Karla Faye Tucker, and there's a bit of confusion about when and where he did it, including my own confusion. So, I decided that, instead of repeating the wrong info in an ongoing game of virtual telephone, I'd spend a few minutes with Google and get the straight story.
More below the fold...
First, there is a mistaken impression (I had it myself) that Bush made this lovely gesture of his humanity on television, with the Larry King show being the usual suspected venue. Not true. His mocking of Karla Faye came during an interview by Tucker Carlson for
Talk magazine, in 1999. It was in
response to Carlson asking him for his impressions regarding Karla Faye's interview
on the Larry King show, prior to her execution.
"He (Larry King) asked her real difficult questions, like, `What would you say to Governor Bush?'"
"What was her answer?" I (Tucker Carlson) wonder.
"`Please,' Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, `don't kill me.'"
I must look shocked - ridiculing the pleas of a condemned prisoner who has since been executed seems odd and cruel, even for someone as militantly anti-crime as Bush - because he immediately stops smirking. "It's tough stuff," Bush says, suddenly somber, "but my job is to enforce the law."
But most interestingly (I didn't know this), Carlson continues in the article...
As it turns out, the Larry King-Karla Tucker exchange Bush recounted never took place, at least not on television. During her interview with King, however, Tucker did imply that Bush was succumbing to election-year pressure from pro-death penalty voters. Apparently Bush never forgot it. He has a long memory for slights.
(Emphasis mine.)
Interesting huh? Did Bush have a mistaken memory about the interview, sparked by his anger with Karla Faye? Or was his recollection to Tucker Carlson a complete fabrication, because he didn't want to admit to "pressure from pro-death penalty voters?"
It seems perfectly logical to me that, in George Bush's sick little narcissistic mind, he'd rather be perceived as a cruel, mocking bully than as someone too cowardly to go against the will of the voters.
My primary source for this is the Karla Faye Tucker Brown Memorial, which contains a partial clipping of the original Talk magazine article. I've not been successful in finding the entire article online, but the clipping includes the exchange cited. Also, Carlson did an interview in Salon that references this interview, and the reaction it got from the Bush campaign (surprisingly, not so good).
I hope some of you will find this useful. I know that this cleared up a couple of misconceptions that I had. (I had just assumed that Bush had done this on the Larry King show, and that there should be video of it somewhere. But obviously there's no video, unless Tucker Carlson took home video, which I doubt.
But more importantly to me, the true story of this episode really shines a light on George W. Bush's dark, un-Christian soul, and I hate the man all the more for having learned this.