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For years journalists and pundits have bent over backwards to keep people (and I use the term loosely) like Rush Limbaugh from tagging them as "liberal." Are they now getting squeamish because their videos are going viral, and folks like Glenn Greenwald are calling them GOP tools?
Matthews today called bullshit on wingnut Terry Jeffrey, who said Hillary Clinton's position on the war was "incoherent":
MATTHEWS: You know what's more incoherent? The views of people like you and other traditional conservatives. You've never liked this war, but you went along with it because the leader, Bush...JEFFREY: No...
MATTHEWS: You don't like this war Terry, Pat doesn't like this war, Bill Buckley doesn't like this war, and yet you went along with it....
Jeffrey starts to babble GOP talking points about what a bang up idea it was to invade Iraq, to which Matthews responds:
MATTHEWS: I'd love to have you under oath on this, because I think you guys deeply questioned this war. If this was Clinton's war, you wouldn't have fought it.
As Digby notes, the elite pundits of wingnuttia have been babbling horseshit they quite obviously didn't believe for years and nobody bothered to call them on it. Being publicly challenged like this must be quite gobsmacking to them.
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Rabid Hamsher!!1!
Dick Cheney Controls Tim Russert.
I’ve noticed with Matthews, especially with the Libby trial and since the US Attorney scandal broke, he is much more vocal with with wingnuts and calling them on their crap. Good on him!
Waiting in Texas @
3
I STILL cannot forgive him for putting that fucker O’Neill from the Swiftboaters on again and again.
Gotta love that from Matthews!
About friggin time for Matthews to figure out that the times they are a’changing.
I think some of the punditocracy might actually have had some qualms about the Iraq adventure but went along with it because that was the way the wind was blowing. Others approved of it wholeheartedly for ideological reasons. In fact, a search of the historical record will show very few of the public national “names” (print media) and “faces” (electronic media) ever voiced real objections about the matter.
Chris Matthews in particular is very hypocritical about this, because he was an ardent booster of the war. Some might even remember his salacious adoration of Mr Bu$h on the Abraham Lincoln when the Mission was Accomplished.
The Iraq is that like the google?
“Quite gobsmacking,” we like that. Counting on more opportunities in the near future for airing this juicy locution.
Tweety see the Light???? Nah, I think he changes his war hat every few days.
But then Matthews will follow up with a Mean Girls session with the fluffers of the Beltway. Bill Maher is kinda the same way, although he doesn’t fluff as much. He just doesn’t have enough command of the facts to call bullshit. In his defense, it should be anytime any conservobot is bumping their gums.
I always do a double-take when Matthews spouts truth.
It’s probably just to enhance his credibility for his next round of Republican manliness-worshipping.
Eli @
12
I am sure we will have more codpiece worship shortly. He can’t change who he is.
Waiting in Texas @
3
Eric Alterman has a funny/scary take on Matthews here.
Chris Matthews is a nihilist. He believes in nothing but generating noise and heat, offending us one day, the wingnuts the next, for no greater or lesser principle than to generate “impressions” for his advertisers.
raven @ 4
I can’t stand it when he has Kate O’Bierne on either, but its good to listen to the “other side” on occasion - it tells me that what I’m thinking and feeling is right and truthful.
raven @ 4
Hell, I still can’t forgive him for asking Howard Dean earlier in the ‘04 campaign whether or not the MSM needed to be more regulated. (Of course, it was a setup question that Dean should have sidestepped, but he went ahead and said yes, thereby causing the MSM to draw their long knives and lie in wait for Something To Kill His Campaign With… enter the “Dean Scream.”)
It was said around then that Tweety liked Dean best, but I never bought it and still hate him.
Is Matthews rejecting the darkside? Or just sailing the way the wind is blowing?
I can’t stand it when he has Kate O’Bierne on either, but its good to listen to the “other side” on occasion - it tells me that what I’m thinking and feeling is right and truthful.
Yea, I listen to him every day too!
kelven @ 18
Sailing. No question about it.
I caught the West Coast re-run of Hardball — when Chris was interviewing Bill Bradley and just got the news of the Senate’s action. Matthews looked really startled; I don’t think the Beltway elite thought Harry Reid could accomplish this today.
Thank Harry Reid here.
TeddySanFran @ 21
The Harry Reid who sucked Lieberman?
Jane Hamsher @
13
Intellectually, he knows Bush is bad for him, but he’s just so damn *sexy* when he does that resolute steely-gaze thing that Matthews can’t think straight.
Slightly EPU..does gonzo really think 5-6 thousand websites that dislike the admin are terrorist?…that comment from last thread spooked me
I’m just waiting for Bill Kristol to put his panties on his head and roll around in a cheesy bean dip party tray from the green room on MTP…Oh yes, that moment’s coming.
;>)
*xyz @
2
Indeed
I wish Matthews would stop taunting me like this, pretending to “grow a pair” and then…
Eli @ 23: Perhaps the real test will be to see how quickly he falls out of love with McCain as the latter’s numbers continue to tumble.
Did Harry Reid really make that ridiculous statement about Liarman being a great senator? WTF is up with that? What’s Reid up too?
Jesus H. Christ what pathetic theater.
mrsmarks @ 27
Well, not so much that he falls out of love with him, but Rudy and Mitt are just so damn *strapping*. Why, I heard someone say just the other day that Mitt practically *radiates* vigor.
inmymind’seye @ 28
Thank you.
After Terry Jeffrey’s head exploded on Hardball when Norah O’Donnell was hosting last summer I’m surprised they keep inviting him back. He trashed NBC, MSNBC, CNN, Olbermann etc.
It’s near the end of this video…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGKL9fe0QU0
Actions vs. words: like John Mitchell said, watch what we do, not what we say. What do we care what insults Harry Reid hurls at his caucus in praising RGJoe, if he can get done what he got done today?
hey, people who liberate little bunnies and puppies from labs are teraists, so I guess we are too.
TeddySanFran @ 32
Was that John or Martha?
carolyn urban @ 33
Hey, I saw Cujo. *And* Night Of The Lepus.
Maybe, just maybe MSM journalists like Tweety are beginning to get embarrassed by credible, hard digging blogs who don’t have to whore themselves to corporate masters….
…. LIKE HE DOES!
…Tired of having to pucker up to make that big mortage payment, Tweety?
Hmmm….
No, wait - I *didn’t* see Cujo. But I was well aware of it!!!
raven @
8
I think it’s more like the I-Rack (YouTube MadTV link)
I haven’t forgotten how dreadful Matthews was in the past, but he has been terrific lately. I especially appreciated his pointing out that the Washington Post was “a neoconservative paper” two days ago. In addition his coverage of the attorneys general firing has been wonderful. His comparing Monica Goodling’s taking the fifth as as “mobster talk” was especially a propos.
NBC has made a decision to go to the mat against Fox News and to call out the administration on the scandals, corruption, lying, and incompetence. They have even done some investigative pieces, which I have not seen on TV for six years (Lisa Myers on armor for the troops, Walter Reed and IAP) I think it is important that we recognize this stance by NBC and encourage it. Even Joe Scarborough is taking swipes at Fox almost every show, and he puts genuinely progressive people on his program instead of token DINOs. I admit you have to listen to Pat Buchana on “rebuttal” and for three times as long as the progressives, but I think that is actually a positive, as I am convnced Pat will not convnce anyone of anything.
So I think we have to be pragmatic and support NBC including Chis and Joe as well as Keith, although I for one have not forgotten how sickening things were until fairly recently.
I’m not talkin about Cujo. I’m talking Peter Rabbit.
inmymind’seye @ 28
Maybe all of Reid’s accolades about Holy Joe were really a BIG F*CK YOU, once he realized that Hagel and Smith came over to his house to play. After all, isn’t it all just one big sandbox on occasion?
Cozumel @
31
Ah, sorry. It was in the next segment after the break and it’s not on there ; )
Bobbles @ 39
Fair enough. . .stll pisses me off.
I think Bush is so totally unattractive with beady eyes and a smirk. Yuch. Do men find him attractive?
TeddySanFran @ 32
So how did Joe vote on the bill?
So how did Joe vote on the bill?
Now that is funny!
There must be a real business reason why GE/NBC appears to be turning against BushCo lately. I’d like to know if their defense contracting side lost some bids to Raytheon, or Pratt/Whitney, or some other competitor.
cathy @ 44
This is one of the things that boggles my mind. Even the non-presidential stuff that’s supposed to make Bush appealing is completely bogus. He’s *not* charismatic, he’s *not* courageous, he’s *not* decisive and resolute.
It’s all a masterfully orchestrated PR sham - the media simply *says* he’s all of these things, and there are enough suggestible people out there to actually believe it.
cathy @ 44
um, not this one.
Waiting in Texas @ 41
It’s hard to say since I didn’t see it, but it’s a strange way to say f*ck you. In my language anyway.
Renee in Ohio @
26
Give it up, Renee. Matthews will never notice you without a strap-on.
Still, it is nice to see him lambaste the wingnuts on the rare occasions that the ‘lick of sense’ synapse goes off in head.
Waiting in Texas -
agree, agree, agree, he has definitely been slapping them around a lot more since the Verdict
it was fun to watch him call Ol 60 Grit on her “no underlying crime” crap those two nights after the verdict when he had the concern troll juror on
ralphbon - ya nailed it above !
When will John Stewart go on Hardball?
Oh, they’re gobsmacked all around.
And it’s only going to get worse.
Raven @ 54
Hey, I didn’t write that post? Note the R in caps.
Raven @ 54
Good. There’s a whole lot of gobs that need smacking.
TeddySanFran @
32
Teddy- I know you have followed this a lot more than I have, so this is a serious and respectful question. What is the evidence that Reid is actually responsible for getting this done?
I’ve often wondered if the lower case raven and the upper case Raven were one and the same.
Waiting in Texas @
3
It’s because he read my book.
Now if only I had signed the damn thing.
cbl @ 52
I honestly think that the Libby verdict was the “green light” for many that were just waiting behind the scenes. Why, just look at all the scandals and stories as of late!
cathy @ 44
LOL — I think he is fugly, but it seems like some men think he’s sexy — go figure…
Here it is! Jeffrey’s blows a gasket, includes a KO Special Comment, that set him off! LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L_OLzmI3SI
yeah me too Teddy, mad firepup love and respect for ya, but I need your help on this one :)
inmymind’seye @ 58
I never have, nor will I ever, say gobsmacker.
There’s a gobsmacker born every minute.
has anyone confirmed that miz goodling ever passed a bar exam/been licensed to practice in any state. i think it’s still an open question.
nuncamas @ 66
I still want to know who that WH security dude Dr what’s his face is?
Eli @ 65
Wasn’t that one of the candies Willie Wonka made? :)
Renee in Ohio @ 68
Gobstoppers. We could probably use some of those too…
EPU’d from this morning…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think the ‘perfect storm’ analogy is apt. There’s too much stuff happening to keep track of!
Pretty soon we’ll be handing out assignments: “FDL, you take Abramoff, Plame and Walter Reed; Josh, you take DOJ and WH; Kos, you take Irag/Iran; Digby, you weave it all together into an understandable narrative…”
Good thing I don’t have a job right now, there’s no way to keep up with the reading otherwise!
TeddySanFran @
47
There is a real business reason. A significant majority of the country is opposed to Bush, the Iraq War and Bushco policies. Ratings have reflected an improvement in MSNBC’s results versus Fox, and you don’t have to be a Weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing.
TeddySanFran @ 47
It might not be that conspiracy-oriented. MS/GE/NBC must be aware that Bush is out in two years anyway, and the Republicans won’t be making any gains for a while. The smart money might simply be to stop bad-mouthing the Dems in preparation for future contracts.
Plus, they might have noticed how well the Dems Fox snub played, and don’t want to suffer their own backlash.
randiego @ 70
I’ll keep an eye on the Weekly World News.
OT — Sorry, Jane, it’s important enough that it bears repeating.
Scout Finch also has a story up on DailyKos that covers this topic, but not in the same detail.
I can’t emphasize this enough, this is important: we are talking about a GOP operative who has been permitted access to OH vote data, to Project Safe Neighborhoods (cooperative effort with USDOJ), and the House Permanent Select Subcommittee on Intelligence
This is the same organization that houses the non-governmental email used by USDOJ staffers and the White House in the discussion of firing U.S. Attorneys.
Please make sure you chat this up so that it gets appropriate attention.
gobsmacker: 1. a hard ,spherical ,sometime multi layered, coloured candy. 2. something which elicits a smile
I was *trying* to do the humor thing people do around here. Even added a smiley in case it wasn’t obvious.
Now I’m going to frown. :(
Eli @ 73:
I haven’t heard from bat boy lately — wonder if he had anything to do with the firings…. ditto who’s been talking to the alien.
Renee in Ohio @ 76
I got it, actually. But it’s kind of like a reflex…
Bobbles @ 39
this is all right as far as it goes, but don’t EVER make the mistake of thinking these talking heads are coming around.
they see the numbers and they know what they need for audience share. bushism is terminally on the wane, and fox will corral all the deadenders.
matthews and others like him are just trying to round up the rest, and position themselves for a huge dem turnout in 08.
he’s not a nihilist per se, as someone suggested above. but he believes in nothing but the game, and this is him playing it.
raven @ 55
Mods, take note!
musicsleuth @ 77
I guess Ms. Matalin’s been keeping him busy lately.
emptywheel @ 59
My sister and I purchased your book. She is reading it now and I’m next. I have no doubt it’s BECAUSE he read your book. If my employer only knew (they probably do), you are liveblogging from the Libby trial and I am sitting in my office in Houston, Texas with the door closed, completely hooked and calling my sister at her office, discussing the trial. DAMN YOU MARCY (in the voice of Jon Stewart)- you and FDL made me a Fitzgerald junkie! All the best - Melinda
Quzi @
61
I think it’s his stupid faux-macho posturing. I know a LOT of guys that wish they could just act that way. It’s that whole authoritarian-follower personality type, but it’s all an act.
Firedogs,
has the video from the Abu Chicago presser today already been linked here ??
don’t wanna go through registration crap if it’s already been seen at the lake :)
Wait — our entire Democratic caucus sticks together and votes to put a timetable on this horrid war, and the credit doesn’t go to the Senate Majority Leader? Not sure what evidence is needed, but the results speak for themselves, in my view.
I remember lots of “hurray, Nancy!” chat last week after the House vote. Is there evidence some other Senator made today’s vote happen?
Looks like we have two ravens… with with a capital R Raven and one with a lower case r raven.
cbl @ 84
Post 4, last thread.
I do not know why NBC decided to turn on Bush, but it has been good for their ratings and so for profits. I think NBC really is the only game in town currently for people who want to see attention drawn to the scandals, disasters, and corruption. It certainly isn’t going to be poor old CNN. Tonight Chris Matthews and Keith Olberman lit into the DOJ and the split between the White House and Congressional Republicans, while Lou Dobbs was doing a special on the border agents and the imperative to pardon them. I saw NYT Carl Hulse on C-Span murmur gently to a caller angry about the Walter Reed scandal that “The VA has always been underfunded”–neglecting to mention that Walter Reed itself has not previously been underfunded or the ripoff by IAP.
By the way Amy Klobuchar was fabulous on C-Span, quick, articulate, tactful and quite charming. The Dems should put her out there as much as possible. She can lambast the Bushies while looking nice and friendly and warm, and is quick and sharp and, so far, sure-footed.
thanks JGabriel!
Suzanne @ 86
To the Mods: “Both two ravens? Nevermore!”
If you’ve a mind to, and if technically possible, kindly clobber the bounder.
Bush’s approval rating down to 17.65!
(the crawl in the pic above)
punaise @ 91
ROFL! Good catch ; )
punaise @ 91
Punaise! Where ya been?
Matthews has been an enabler for quite awhile. That he is questioning the crap be shovelled at him is good. It took Walter Cronkite awhile to realize that the stuff he was getting from the government about Vietnam was wrong. I think we hope for the best from our government and for some it takes time to realize they have been had.
randiego @ 93
feh: mucho trabajo. hardly even lurking…
Rayne,
Did you ever get through to Waxman’s office on the Blackberry stuff?
AZ Matt @ 94
I think some of the 30% (i.e., not the ones who know exactly what’s going on and LIKE it) are in denial simply because the truth is too horrible to contemplate, and they can’t bear to admit what suckers they were.
Bobbles,
Agree 100%
Bobbles @ 88
Was it Washington Journal? She doesn’t show on the schedule. tnx
msnbc has changed only after the dems returned to power in the congress - NOW they have questions?? other than KO they swallowed repug talking points to the MAX!!if the MSM had these thoughts prior to invasion of iraq this quagmire might’ve been averted…..3100 hundred soldiers and counting have paid with their lives its disgusting! give em hell jane!!
juslin @
100
Matthews has always been against the war in Iraq. Period.
IMUS: It must make you uncomfortable to read Frank Rich’s book, “The Greatest Story Ever Sold,” because it’s Frank’s essential thesis that they sold us this bill of goods — the administration did, you know Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld all them about the Iraq war — and it was you and the rest of the media went along with them…
MATTHEWS: Me?
IMUS: …like enablers with an alcoholic.
MATTHEWS: No. no. no. no. Don. Dono. You can check everything. Get your Nexis-Lexis out. Get your google out. Every column I have written from the day they started talking about Iraq has been against it. Now you are chuckling because you know damn well you’ve pulled my chain here. I have been a voice out there against this bullshit war from the beginning.
IMUS: OK, well, except you then.
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/.....ainst-war/
Cozumel @ 101
Why is he only talking about columns and not transcripts?
Eli @ 102
Eli,
I’ve watched Hardball every day for years. He’s said it all the time, all along
Whether he opposed the war or not, Matthews slobbered over the codpiece 1,444 days ago.
Cozumel @ 103
Hard to imagine, especially considering how he gushed like a schoolgirl over the Flightsuit Moment, and Bush’s manliness and “sunny nobility” in general.
AZ Matt @ 96
10-4, good buddy.
FirePups, the cross-posted version is now up at DailyKos, posted by ePM’s luaptifer — please give it a Recommend if you can.
Rayne,
am now on my 3rd read over at e pluribus media and will go over to Kos to recommend -
did you see my note downstairs about the crazy uncle in the basement ? - can’t wait to compare notes
Eli @
105
I hear ya, he’s weird that way but his position has never changed about Iraq.
Is gobsmacking in this instance a verb or adverb?
cozumel@101
its true tweety was against the war but he looooooooved chimpy and always was in his corner til like yesterday in a manner of speaking. other than being anti this war he was always spouting repug talking points his brother the county chairman fed him(Pa repug). now that dems have control hes trying to get back in dem good graces….. god i cant take him!
juslin @ 110
Let’s review. It was Hardball and Matthews that Cheney had Scooter call Russert about ; )