Is context a four-letter word to MSNBC's Chris Matthews? During the “Sideshow” segment on Friday's “Hardball,” Matthews ripped a comment conservative Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) made during a recent speech to the Federalist Society in order to paint DeMint either as a birther or as one playing cynically to those who believe President Obama was not born in the United States. CHRIS MATTHEWS: Here's what he said: “This whole idea that the president is the leader of our country is a mistake.” This whole idea that the president is the leader of our country is a mistake. How does that make any sense, unless you're a birther, and that's what he sounds like. The liberal Talking Points Memo (TPM) blog broke that story Thursday afternoon, but at least TPM provided the full context of DeMint's February 17 comments (emphasis mine): During a speech covering the national debt, earmarks, the 2012 Presidential election and the repeal of the health care law on Thursday, DeMint told members of the D.C. chapter of the conservative Federalist Society, “This whole idea that the President is the leader of our country is a mistake.”