If you rely on Howard Kurtz's Media Notes column to give you a taste of the media's coverage of hot issues, you should probably stop: the Washington Post media critic has a tendency to botch the seemingly simple task of excerpting the work of other journalists.

Here's a passage from Kurtz' column today:

And speaking of Carville, Mediaite reports that he said he wanted to “hit” CNN colleague Fareed Zakaria for wanting the president “reflect our anger and emotion. This is a kind of bizarre trivializing of the presidency into some kind of national psychiatrist-in-chief.”

Carville, smiling -- but only at first -- responded strongly:

The Cajun raged: “I don't think that he understands exactly what is going on down here. . . . If that thing was in the Long Island Sound, I guarantee you Fareed Zakaria and all his friends would be going nuts out there.”

Where to begin?

First, in Kurtz's telling, Zakaria wants the president to “reflect our anger and emotion” -- which is weird, since Zakaria then calls that desire a “bizarre trivializing of the presidency.” If you click through to the Mediaite link, you'll find that Zakaria is criticizing people who “expect the president to somehow magically solve every problem in the world, appear to be doing it and to reflect our anger and emotion.” So, Kurtz got Zakaria's position completely backwards. I'm no expert, but it seems to me that if you're trying to summarize the work of others, and you get their views completely backwards, you're doing it wrong.

Next: In Kurtz's telling, James Carville was so enraged by Fareed Zakaria's opinion that he wanted to “hit” the journalist. Kurtz doesn't offer so much as a hint that Carville didn't meant that literally. But Carville's use of the word “hit” was part of a snarky retort to Zakaria's bungled football reference (Zakaria used the phrase “offensive linebacker,” apparently unaware of the fact that linebackers are defensive players): “Yes, he talked about an offensive linebacker. And when I read that I wanted to hit him with a football bat, okay?” So, when you look at the actual Carville quote, he doesn't seem to be saying he literally wants to “hit” Zakaria; he's making fun of Zakaria.

Finally, the line “Carville, smiling -- but only at first -- responded strongly:” is a direct quote from the Mediaite piece. But Kurtz did not give any indication that he was quoting Mediaite; instead, the text appears in Kurtz' column as though it is his own:

Whoops.