MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell's ability to finesse a headline from a combative or indifferent guest has won attention (not all good) for his new show, The Last Word. But when O'Donnell hosted Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian icon wasn't about to walk into a line of questioning that he wasn't prepared for. When the host cued up a clip of Paul's candidate son Rand's commenting "we have too many people that go and stay for a career" in Congress, the elder Paul testily responded that the question broke a pre-show agreement that "other candidates" were not to be discussed.

O'Donnell, who clearly didn't get that memo, charged ahead with other questions about Rand, term limits and Medicare. And with each uninvited query Ron Paul appears to be closer to telling off the host, until finally at the end of the segment he simply states, "Check with your staff about your agreements, I mean you just were very discourteous on what you have done and this is not the debate you have asked for." When O'Donnell tried to smooth over the situation by inviting the Congressman to "please come back," an irritable Ron Paul just waved off the host saying, "good luck."

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Erik Hayden