BEGALA:   Welcome back. Time now for "Rapid Fire," where the questions and answers move faster than President Bush moving to avoid blame for his misstatements. With us are New York Republican Congressman Peter King and former Democratic Congressman Tom Andrews. 
CARLSON:   Congressman Andrews, should George Tenet resign? 
ANDREWS:   No. 
BEGALA:   Is this a political problem for George W. Bush, when "TIME" magazine says "Untruths and Consequences," with a picture of our president on the cover? 
KING:   No. He can survive a lot more than that. Listen, it's clever. It's funny. But the American people trust George Bush, like they trust me and Tucker, but not you and Tom. 
CARLSON:   Congressman, in your heart -- you can be honest, even though we're on television. 
ANDREWS:   Just between us? 
CARLSON:   Yes. Do you really believe those 16 words in the State of the Union, that was the predicate for war against Iraq? 
ANDREWS:   No. It was a system. It was a pattern. We had one after another after another of statement that was distortion, a misrepresentation, an outright deception of the American people, 16 words. This is not about 16 words. This is about a pattern. And this administration has got to be held responsible for that pattern. 
BEGALA:   Who should be held responsible for the words in the president's speeches? 
KING:   Ultimately, the president. But the president was wrong to in any way back track. I would have stood by that to the very end, because I think it was right. It was correct. And he shouldn't have left Tony Blair out on a limb that way. 
CARLSON:   Do you think, Congressman, the Democrats can ride this tiny -- this issue to victory in 2004? 
ANDREWS:   Well, I think truth goes a long way to the American people. And I think the Bush administration should start telling the truth outright, very honest, and let the chips fall where they may. This is more than a bit of partisanship here. This is about being honest with the American people about a case of life and death, about sending our young men and women into harm's way. No one, Democrat or Republican, should be allowed off the hook when they deceive the American people. 
BEGALA:   Congressman King, has the president leveled with us about the occupation in Iraq? 
KING:   Yes, he has. Nobody said it was going to be easy. The fact is, we've had I think 32 fatalities from combat since May 1. Every one is tragic. And this is going to be a long, hard occupation. But it's certainly better than what was there before. And he certainly has leveled, saying it's going to be tough. It's part of the war against terrorism. It's going to go on for many years. 
CARLSON:   All right, Congressman King, former Congressman Andrews, thank you both very much. I appreciate it.    Now that you've heard the debate, we want to ask our audience what they think about the Iraq uranium controversy. Pull out your audience voting devices. Press one if you think the Iraqi uranium controversy is a serious issue. Press two if you think it's being blown out of proportion. Press three if you'd like to make popcorn. We'll have the results after the break, along with former President Bush's candid assessment of Paul Begala. And you definitely won't want to miss that. We'll be right back.
