James Carville has been one of the Democrat point-men questioning the patriotism of Rush Limbaugh (and, by extension, all conservatives and Republicans) for his statement that he hopes Barack Obama fails.

Consider his comment here, from February 25, 2009:

As I point out the most influential Republican in the United States today Mr. Rush Limbaugh said he did not want President Obama to succeed. So at the very top of the Republican Party, he’s not being wished well here.

In other words, there is something wrong with not wanting Obama to succeed – and indeed, the Demo-meme has been that it is unpatriotic, if not downright treasonous, to hold such an opinion.

How, then, does Carville justify his words. And those of Democrat pollster Stanley Greenberg, from September 11, 2001?

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, just minutes before learning of the terrorist attacks on America, Democratic strategist James Carville was hoping for President Bush to fail, telling a group of Washington reporters: "I certainly hope he doesn’t succeed."

Carville was joined by Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg, who seemed encouraged by a survey he had just completed that revealed public misgivings about the newly minted president.

"We rush into these focus groups with these doubts that people have about him, and I’m wanting them to turn against him," Greenberg admitted.

The pollster added with a chuckle of disbelief: "They don’t want him to fail. I mean, they think it matters if the president of the United States fails."

They wanted President Bush to fail – and their goal was to make the American people want him to fail.

Of course, minutes later they received word of the attack on the World Trade Center. And Carville demanded that the assembled reporters not report their words – and they obliged him. But while he said that the 9/11 attacks changed everything, I’d argue that Carville’s words and deeds over the following seven years indicated that he still wanted Bush to fail – and that he acted to bring about that failure for partisan advantage.

So tell me, how are the words and actions of James Carville materially different than those of Rush Limbaugh? Are Democrats prepared to denounce and repudiate Carville? Or are they willing to concede, by their silence, their own hypocrisy?

H/T Patterico, Hot Air, NewsBusters, BizzyBlog, Gateway Pundit