Sunday, June 26, 2005
The Official Goodbye From The Capital Gang
HUNT: According to Kate's calculation, we have done 3,527 "Outrages of the Week" over the past 17 years. No outrages tonight but plenty of appreciation
to those who made it possible. Ted Turner, the founding genius of CNN, Tom Johnson, the chairman who presided over our creation, former president Rick Kaplan, our greatest champion.Most of all, a small but exceptional staff. Bob Kovacz (ph), Jeff Dietrich (ph), Deborah Nelson (ph), every week they make us look better than they are.
NOVAK: I would also like to thank the late Ed Turner, vice
president of CNN who, when I proposed this show, he immediately went along. Maybe if there was (INAUDIBLE), but we also had a wonderful producer for many years, Elizabeth Baker (ph), who did a good job. Who am I leaving out?HUNT: Randy Dalthut (ph).
NOVAK: Randy Dalthtut was the first co-executive creator with me and he really shaped the show and put it together. So we had a lot of people to thank. People always ask me whether after we do a show we go out drinking together, the answer at least for me is, no, I can certainly think of more enjoyable ways to spend my free time. But that misses the point. It's not easy to spend so many years, nearly 17 years for Al, Mark and me, 14 years with Margaret, 10 years with Kate, disagreeing, contradicting, and sometimes insulting and still remaining civil, relatively civil, and for the most part we succeeded. That's made the program a big part of my life and I hope a success.
HUNT: Margaret?
CARLSON: Al, I second all the thank yous. We started so long ago it seems dinosaurs roamed the earth. They are gone now almost. We have been ourselves
here for better or worse, disagreeing, mostly respectfully, shouting only rarely. I never walked in a studio without feeling privileged.One great thing about TV is people find you. I am so happy about the teachers and the nuns who looked me up after all these years. Without them I wouldn't have led the life I had, and I certainly wouldn't be here. I thank them and you.
HUNT: Kate?
O'BEIRNE: Going to miss you, Margaret. We've had a great run. We've
had fun and I learned plenty. I won't miss working Saturday nights but will miss generous colleagues, our dedicated staff and our loyal audience. I am grateful to all the nice people I have met in restaurants, malls and airports, who all agree that I am taller than they imagined.Our disputes have been real and that's how it should be. We've debated candidates and the process and the scope of government, issues of war and peace and even life and death. I know you agree that politics matters. Thank you for that, too.
HUNT: Mark?
SHIELDS: Al, to Jeff, to Deborah, to Bob Kovacz, to Elizabeth, to
all the wonderful interns who work with us. Thank you very much. You did make us look better. Imagine what we would look like without you. With all our obvious defects of character and intellect, THE GANG for all of its nearly 17 years represented a political Washington that has sadly disappeared in the tsunami of invective.Our disagreements were deep and they were real, never fabricated, but the truth, as many viewers have regularly suspected, is that beneath the heated rhetoric, there was mutual respect and even some measure of affection.
Of course, I like Margaret and Al personally, my philosophical soul mates, but I also like Kate. And I like Bob Novak. I never thought of him as St. Stephen anymore, I always thought of him as the author of "Dale Carnegie Was Wrong."
I'm sorry if that news disappoints any zealots, but thank you very much.
HUNT: Finally, 17 years wouldn't have been possible without you, loyal viewers. People like Bob Sariani (ph) of Niagara Falls, a Novak and O'Beirne devotee, who called this week to say how much he loves the show. The spirited but civil debates. He tunes in every week. I have loved working with these colleagues, it's been a wonderful ride, and from the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
This is Al Hunt saying, goodbye for THE CAPITAL GANG.
# posted by ATN @ 5:01 PM 
