The American Spectator

p> LET’S GO TO THE AUDIO TAPE br> Re: R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.’s Winning With Grover : /p>

Apparently R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., wanted to write a column praising Grover Norquist’s new book, which is fine. He then decided that the column needed a catchy opening, and so accused Linda Chavez of dissing Norquist on Fox News’s “The Live Desk.” This is not fine, because it’s not true.

In the Fox News tradition, you judge whether Chavez refers with “condescension” to Norquist in “chill terms” as “an obscure” and “margin[al]” figure of whom she “does not approve.” Here’s a transcript of what she said:

“All of this [speculation about Condoleezza Rice as John McCain’s running mate] started because she showed up at a meeting of Republican activists — a meeting that is run by an activist named Grover Norquist — and she’s not the kind of person who normally comes to those meetings, and so people thought that, well, maybe she’s doing that in order to shore up her base among conservatives.”

Wow! How will Norquist ever recover from that! Oh, but you think that perhaps it was the way she said it? Fine, here’s a link to the show itself (at about the 3-minute mark).

p>As I said: absurd. Mr. Tyrrell owes Ms. Chavez an apology. br> — Roger Clegg br> President and General Counsel br> Center for Equal Opportunity