Matthews Wonders if Bachmann is a Willing Tool of a Conservative Conspiracy or Just a ‘Zombie?’
Leave it to Chris Matthews to look at a typical, by the book, recitation of talking points, appearance by Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and describe it as a sign of conspiracy or lunacy. On Monday's Hardball, after Matthews played clips of Bachmann on Meet the Press, he wondered if she was trained by “a group in Virginia that teaches right wing people” to “use the most wild language” and repeat it or was she simply “behaving like a zombie?” Matthews, who is prone to make cinematic comparisons, went on to say the conservative congresswoman's appearance reminded him of The Manchurian Candidate as he questioned Democratic Representative Loretta Sanchez : “Is there some kind of playing card…A queen of diamonds, like in The Manchurian Candidate, where you flash the queen of diamonds and this congresswoman colleague of yours goes into that trance like repetition of those words?” The following Matthews outbursts were aired on the March 7 Hardball: CHRIS MATTHEWS: Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, she's head of the Tea Party caucus formally. She went on Meet the Press yesterday, in this building, and defended calling the Obama administration a “gangster government.” That was her word, gangster. Is she speaking for the whole Tea Party or her party or right wingers or who? … MATTHEWS: You know I don't know whether this hyperbole like you sometimes get from the Middle East these days, or have always gotten from over there or the way people talk now. You can disagree and say “He's further left than I am,” you can say, “He's bigger on government than I am,” but what does it mean? Here she is defending her term here. Gangster! Like he's a criminal. He's running a criminal operation. What is she talking like this for and to whom? Let's listen. (Clip of David Gregory interviewing Bachmann on March 6 Meet the Press) MATTHEWS REPEATING BACHMANN CHARGE: Corrupt. Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, this is a corrupt administration. I don't know where the indictments are? If it's corrupt let's see the indictments, let's move. If there's something criminal, let's hear about it. Throwing words around like gangster, what is she up to? Is this what appeals to people who simply want to hear bad things said about President Obama? Is that what it is? Any bad word is good enough for them? MATTHEWS: Well let me bring Jonathan [Capehart] on here. Jonathan, You're a very smart guy and I think you know the Washington scene as well as I do. Or at least you're learning it — and I mean it — as a younger guy. And I gotta tell you something there's a group over in Virginia that teaches right wing people how to talk like this. Use the most wild language and always repeat over and over again and ignore the question. David Gregory was doing a masterful job of trying to get her to answer a question. She wasn't answering it. Here, here is the montage. He asked all kinds of questions and got the – I've accused her of behaving like a zombie, in the sense that you always just stay on this sort of hypnotic trance no matter what the question is. You come on television not to answer questions, not to engage in a dialogue but to speak this sort of rehearsed thing. Now here is David Gregory repeatedly yesterday asking Congresswoman Bachmann about the possibility of a government shutdown – a good question. Whether she, herself, would vote to shut down the government – a good question – over the fight over Planned Parenthood] and the EPA – equally good policy questions. And whether Speaker Boehner has failed the Tea Party people, who want more action taken [on] budget cutting. The Congresswoman was determined to drive home one
Chris Matthews Swoons Again: ‘Everything’ Obama’s Done ‘Has Been Good for This Country’
March 4, 2011 No Comment
Professional Obama fan Chris Matthews appeared on Friday's edition of the Martin Bashir show to slam the President's critics and to swoon, ” Everything he's done has been good for this country .” Matthews went on an extended rant against those who oppose Obama, theorizing, “…They go back to the old nativist root, this old dark night of the soul thing that people worry about, a black man in a White House. And they start working on that. 'Oh, he's a Mau Mau. He goes back to a Muslim background.'” Indirectly referring to columnists such as Dinesh D'Souza , who has highlighted political beliefs of Obama's father and grandfather, Matthews attacked, “It's using race. It's using the paranoid fear of whites of black males against this President whose life has been spotless, has been the American dream.” Yet, when George W. Bush gave his farewell speech on January 15, 2009 , the Hardball host did his own theorizing about the then-President and his father: “He was a rich kid driving his father's car. He got to be President because of his father, let's face it, the same way he got into school and everything else, the same way he got his car probably. After an extended bout of praising Obama, Bashir regained control of the show and ended the segment by enthusing, “Chris, I gotta draw you to a close, but that's the best pep talk I've heard for a long time. So, thank you so much.” A partial transcript of the March 4 segment, which aired at 3:03pm EST, follows: MARTIN BASHIR: In watching you recently, you've been uncompromising in the way you've highlighted the very personal nature of the attacks on the President. CHRIS MATTHEWS: Right. BASHIR: Beginning with the issue of his personal faith. Now if you read his books, as I have, he's abundantly clear that he's a Christian. If you ask him the question, he says his faith rests in Jesus Christ, the Christian gospel and yet not a day passes without somebody suggesting the man's a Muslim. Now, why? MATTHEWS: Well, let me get to the heart of that. I'm going to talk about it on my comment tonight and it's going to be very tough. When you start talking about the Mau Maus of the 1950s, when you talk about revolutionary black Africans killing white people, you're reopening, you're really ripping the scab off of an old wound in America, the fear of southern whites of a slave revolt. That's exactly what you're talking about. You're talking about Nat Turner is what you're talking about. When you talk about Mau Maus of the '50s, you go back to the this guy's grandfather experience, a grandfather he never met, a father he only barely met. I think one occasion. And using that as some sort of predictor, as Newt Gingrich would say, of this man's behavior and policy is horrible. It's using race. It's using the paranoid fear of whites of black males against this President whose life has been spotless, has been the American dream, all merited by him and his hard work and his commitment to get ahead in life and going to Harvard Law and becoming head of law review, not going off and making a ton of money, serving the country. Everything he's done has been good for this country. And then to go back and try to use this ethnicity against him, and in fact, as you point out, that isn't even accurate. Not only is it not only- not only is he not part of the Mau Mau revolt, and knew nothing of it, except what you and I know from reading, he knows, probably as much. And to try to play the religious card too. I mean, religion, we have no religious test. It's written in the Constitution. He has expressed himself as a Christian rather beautifully. And, by the way, on the American front, no one has ever been more beautiful in their description of American exceptionalism than this President. From the first time most of us met him, when I first really got to know him in 2004 up in Boston at the beautiful speech when he talked about his life in saying only in this country is my story possible. Has anyone ever said it better? BASHIR: I don't believe they have. But it does seem remarkably hypocritical that some of those who smear his religious beliefs, they call themselves Christians. Now, what kind of Christian is it that is happy to peddle complete falsehoods, utter lies, about the President? MATTHEWS: Well, I guess you have to have three marriages to start with, if you're Newt Gingrich. I don't know what the roles are these days about hypocrisy. You used the word. I mean, give this man a break, who doesn't need a break, and maybe you'll get a break. If you're asking for forgiveness from God or the people like Newt Gingrich is, how about starting with a guy who has done nothing wrong and stop attacking him? Stop going after him through his ancestors, if you're going to be Christian, act it. BASHIR: The First Lady has also- MATTHEWS: And if you're going to ask if a person's a Christian, how about being one yourself in terms of your own behavior. And I don't think anyone thinks it's fair what happened this week. George F. Will, who I respect for his thinking, even if I don't agree with him, has a column coming out on Sunday, his syndicated column, and he has 500 newspapers he's in, George Will said, this is destroying the Republican Party. This weird kind of talking, this strange kind of behavior, where you have a good economic issue to fight. There is a concern about a serial decline in American hopes. There is great things to argue about. The whole industrial part of the country in the northern Great Lakes region is suffering badly. There's great issues to be raised. Instead they go back to the old nativist root, this old dark night of the soul thing that people worry about, a black man in a White House. And they start working on that. “Oh, he's a Mau Mau. He goes back to a Muslim background. Let's start working that old vein again, that good old nervous paranoid vein again” The fact that they're doing that makes you wonder why they're running. BASHIR: But, Chris, they're not- But, Chris, they're not- Chris, they're not just stopping with him, are they?
Continue reading …Matthews Obamagasm: ‘This Isn’t Just Frigging the American Dream – It’s Darned Near Perfect’
March 3, 2011 No Comment
MSNBC's Chris Matthews had multiple Obamagasms on his program again. The thrills up his leg embarrassingly came at the beginning and the end of “Hardball” in what at times seemed like an hour-long commercial for the President's reelection (video follows with transcript and commentary): CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: The fact is that President Obama was playing that other all-American sport basketball. He was on a championship team. There's a great picture, looking great there, they won the Hawaii state championship. All this is on the record. He was a regular kid who kept his nose clean, did everything right, ended up on the Harvard Law Review. Has a wonderful marriage, a wonderful wife, she got herself through Princeton I believe. Her brother coaches out at Oregon State. Everything about them is 100 percent true blue American. They have done everything right in their life, done nothing wrong in their life. They haven't gone out and gobbled for money. They have done the right thing in terms of public values. Eric, I just want to get back to you, sir. It just seems to me when a guy has done every darn thing right to live the American dream, even to the point of perfection. […] Michael, I wonder what the conversations are like in the black community about this. I mean, you're not speaking for it or anything, but it must be amazing in the barbershops and regular places where people talk, you know, chatting about this where there's a guy out there who's done everything right. It's not like he's done a couple of things wrong in his life. I mean this guy's the dream. MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Look, look, if you can't like this black man, not only as president, but as another human being, there's no black man been made that's existing that you will like. Readers are reminded this was a television program on a so-called news network not an advertisment from the Committee to Reelect Barack Obama. But there was more to this sickening display, for Matthews actually put an exclamation point on it at the end of the show: MATTHEWS: Let me finish tonight with this horrible talk we're hearing in this country. I was out last night in California in Los Angeles with a large group of former Peace Corps volunteers like me. We were at UCLA talking about the Corps ' 50th anniversary this week ever since John F. Kennedy decided it was a good idea to get young Americans out there in the world helping countries develop, sharing some of our American can-do spirit and in the process learning something about how the rest of the world looks at things. It came to me that everything good about that is being assaulted these days. This guy Huckabee and Gingrich and Dubya before him were out there trashing the whole idea of learning anything from throughout the world, anything from the rest of the world. This whole stupidization of things that began with Bush's inane attempt to rename French fries. Now this guy Huckabee is going around the rightwing radio world singing the song that our president isn't really one of us, because his father, who stayed with him until the age of two, infected him with some kind of foreignness. You know, he's a Kenyan, he’s a secret Muslim, he's from over there where those African people are, those different people live. I thought we were beyond this yahoo talk, this fear of the world, this monkey trial nonsense. But we're not, are we? We’ve got knuckleheads promenading around the rightwing radio belt playing to the God knows who crowd saying how Obama was somehow involved with the Mau Maus, hanging around madrasa schools. All the while though this young kid way back then tried to make it in this country, and all he did, everything he did was right as a regular American kid, playing basketball on a championship team in Hawaii. That's what I wanted to do growing up, be a championship basketball player. He went to Catholic school like I did. He got into Occidental College out in California, then to Columbia University. Then he went to the Ivy League and went to Harvard Law where he made the Law Review. What more do you want this kid to do? He's done everything right. Look at his marriage. Michelle’s done everything right. Her brother is a top basketball coach out at Oregon State. The kids look like they're right out of a picture book. This isn’t just frigging the American dream, it’s darned near perfect. And what is this rightwing goon squad doing? They keep talking about his father, his grandfather. What about his grandfather who fought under Patton in World War II? What are these people looking for some evidence that he's black? Is that it? They ought to be ashamed themselves. You know, you want to know what's un-American? Huckabee and Newt and the rest of them. This stuff is. Actually, Chris, what's un-American is a so-called journalist night after night gushing and fawning over an elected official while demeaning and defaming all those on the opposite side of the aisle that don't agree with him – or you! We're 20 months from Election Day 2012. Can you imagine what this shill and the rest of his pathetic excuse for a “news” network are going to do once the campaign season really begins? Perish the thought.
Continue reading …Matthews Rages: Newt Gingrich Looks Like A ‘Car Bomber’ Who ‘Loves Torturing!’
March 2, 2011 No Comment
Chris Matthews, once again , abandoned any notion he was serious about establishing a new tone of political civility in the wake of the Tucson shooting, as on Wednesday's Hardball he compared former Speaker of the House and possible GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich to a terrorist as he screeched “He looks like a car bomber” and even described him in demonic terms, adding: “He's got that crazy Mephistophelian grin of his. He looks like he loves torturing.” The following Matthews rants came during a discussion about possible GOP presidential contenders with the Chicago Tribune's Clarence Page and The Huffington Post's Sam Stein on the March 2 Hardball: (video, audio
Continue reading …Chris Matthews Asks Who’s More Likely To Win In A Government Shutdown, But Are They Thinking About Who’s Going To Lose?
February 27, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media (h/t Heather at VideoCafe) It must be so nice to live in the rarified, privileged airs inside the Beltway, where you are untouched by those little things like unemployment, dependence on government assistance, Social Security, the Veteran’s Administration or anything else. Because as a member of the Villager Cocktail Circuit, it’s possible to talk about the possible government shutdown not as the impact it will have on very real people, but as who wins the political propaganda spin wars. Chris Matthews questions whether the four letter word to appeal to voters is “cuts” rather than “jobs”. In a word, Tweety: no. In a country where some states have double digit unemployment, the last thing voters want is to have those social safety nets cut. And the sad thing is that they are always the budget items on the chopping block. I suspect voters would be much, much happier if the cuts considered were to the bloated defense budget or even *gasp* to tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations. As Jon Perr points out, all these state budget cuts (the “winning” meme, according to the panel) do is endanger the economy even more : As all eyes remained focused on the union-busting face-off in Wisconsin, the Commerce Department on Friday released a revised estimate of U.S. economic growth for the last quarter of 2010. And that downward GDP revision not only shatters prevailing myths about supposedly bloated government spending and payrolls. The numbers confirm once again that budget cutters in states and cities across the country are indeed the ” anti-stimulus ” putting the pace of American economic recovery at risk. This week, the government restated its estimate of Q4 growth, lowering its forecast from 3.2% to 2.8%. The disappointing news from the Bureau of Economic Analysis can be attributed in large part to the very bad news from state and local governments. As the AP explained : Deeper spending cuts by state and local governments slowed U.S. economic growth in the final three months of last year. The government’s revised estimate for the October-December quarter illustrates how growing state budget crises could hold back the economic recovery… State and local governments, wrestling with budget shortfalls, cut spending at a 2.4 percent pace. That was much deeper than the 0.9 percent annualized cut first estimated and was the most since the start of 2010… The government revised fourth-quarter growth to reflect a steeper contraction in government spending than previously estimated. Government spending declined at a 1.5 percent rate rather than 0.6 percent, due to weak state and local government outlays. As the National Governors Association meets this weekend, “the financial emergencies — and what to do about them — will be issue No. 1.” Even with state and local tax revenues finally on the upswing, the worst may still be to come. What sickens me is the guileless way all of the panel act as if these Republican governors are saying what they mean. We need only listen to the Walker/”Koch” call to know that this union busting has NOTHING to do with “saving” the middle class. Hell, these public unions ARE the middle class: teachers, bus drivers, cops, firefighters. So where are these Americans getting the idea that they should support the Republican governors (that’s assuming that many do–the arguable “fact” implying that tea baggers are a greater percentage of the population that they are)? Because the media (I’m looking at you, panel) never, EVER connects the dots and points out the real world implications of the governors’ actions: How it will INCREASE unemployment and dependence of government services, how it will kill the middle class, how it will drive income ever upwards to the elite (who donate their money to which party?). No, the media will never talk about the real reason that the governors want to bust unions: so that there will be no entity that could possibly vie with conservative astroturf groups on the donation level, thus ensuring a permanent Republican majority . Let’s be clear: if the Republicans are successful in busting the unions, the only winners will be the uber-wealthy. The 99.99% of the rest of the country (literally) will all lose.
Continue reading …Matthews Visibly Angered By Poll Finding Americans Think Reagan Was Greatest President
February 22, 2011 No Comment
A Gallup poll released Friday found Americans are most likely to say Ronald Reagan was the nation's greatest president. On Monday, MSNBC's Chris Matthews was visibly angered about these results and actually insulted those in Reagan's camp as having a “limited memory” (video follows with transcript and commentary): CHRIS MATTHEWS: Well, today's George Washington's birthday, by the way. You can call it President's Day if you're buying a mattress. Otherwise, forget it. A new Gallup poll rates which presidents the American people think are best. By the way, this is a memory quiz more than a historic quiz. At number seven, the current guy in charge, Barack Obama, number seven. Number six, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. At five, George Washington, our first president. Number four, John F. Kennedy. Bill Clinton's number three. He's, by the way, the subject of our big historic documentary tonight at 10:00 Eastern. And Abraham Lincoln at number two. The greatest president in history, according to the American people with their limited memory, is Ronald Reagan. Keep in mind, these are not historian rankings. These are people's. By the way, they should insist before anybody participates in one of these ridiculous polls, “Please list the presidents and then pick the best.” Don't just go with the ones you can remember. It's like the greatest movie of all times was the one I just went to. Isn't it interesting that Matthews had no problem with Obama being listed even though he's been in office for only two years and currently is the only president besides Roosevelt to have an unemployment rate above eight percent for this many months? Beyond this, given the “Hardball” host's adoration for Clinton, would he have groused if one of the two presidents in our history to have been impeached took top honors? As for the memory issue, Matthews must be ignoring the appearance on this list of presidents long gone such as both Roosevelts, Truman, Eisenhower, and especially Lincoln, Washington and Jefferson. Does it really appear folks have memory issues when Abraham Lincoln comes in second in this kind of poll? This seems especially absurd as according to Gallup, “Reagan, Lincoln, or John F. Kennedy has been at the top of this 'greatest president' list each time this question has been asked in eight surveys over the last 12 years.” As such, Matthews' anger has nothing to do with people's memories or their intellectual capacities. He just can't stand the idea that Reagan ever comes in first. Pretty juvenile for a man that hosts an American cable news program, wouldn't you agree?
Continue reading …Wisconsin State Senator Smacks Down Chris Matthews: ‘You’re Completely Uninformed’
February 22, 2011 No Comment
MSNBC's Chris Matthews tried Monday to push the liberal media meme that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker exempted police and firefighters from his budget repair plan because their unions endorsed him in last November's election. “Well one more time you're completely uninformed,” replied Republican State Senator Glenn Grothman who then proceeded to tell the facts to the obviously clueless “Hardball” host (video follows with transcript and commentary): CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Let me go to the Republican, Senator Grothman. My question of course is why does the Governor pick on the unions that didn't endorse him in the last campaign but give a free ride to the firefighters and the cops who did and the localities? Why did they get off and are allowed to continue to negotiate collectively? STATE SENATOR GLENN GROTHMAN (R-WISCONSIN): Well one more time you're completely uninformed. The firemen’s union around this state have campaigned against Republicans, and the statewide police have repeatedly campaigned against Republicans. Governor Walker is doing this out of financial necessity. And out of financial necessity the state with a $3 billion budget deficit has to do something. Governor Walker as well as the cities, counties and schools which all rely on state money can either lay people off or have everybody take a mild reduction in take home pay. Myself with a mild reduction in take home pay is part of that. Now we understand… MATTHEWS: Okay, you just said I’m wildly, once again I’m wildly out of, out of, wrong on the facts. GROTHMAN: Absolutely. MATTHEWS: You’re telling me that there aren't local affiliates, there aren't local union organizations at the county level, municipal level that didn't endorse your governor candidate when he ran. Are you saying they didn't endorse him, the firefighters and the cops? GROTHMAN: I can think of two small locals. The vast majority, the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, the vast majority of firemen's unions worked against Walker in this campaign and to say otherwise is completely to mislead your listening audience. So who's right? Well, as NewsBusters reported Friday, Walker addressed this very question with CBS's Chris Wragge on that morning's “Early Show”: WRAGGE: You say this is a modest request. Now some state workers have been hit harder than others. Your teachers union, which votes Democratic under normal circumstances, hit very hard. Yet your police, state trooper, firemen unions, who all supported and endorsed you, did not get touched in any of this. Why is that? WALKER: Well, Chris – Chris that actually is not true. There are 314 fire and police unions in the state. Four of them endorsed me. All the rest endorsed my opponent. But let's not take his word for it. Let's see what Politifact had to say about this very subject Monday: During the campaign last November, leaders of the Milwaukee Professional Firefighters Association and Milwaukee Police Association appeared in an ad supporting Walker and blasting his opponent, Democrat Tom Barrett. Walker also won endorsements from the West Allis Professional Police Association and the Wisconsin Troopers Association Walker didn’t get the endorsements of two statewide unions, the Wisconsin Professional Police Association and the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin, which both backed Barrett. For the record, the governor told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the charge that he was exempting police and firefighters was “ridiculous.” He said he didn't recommend changing the rules for police officers and firefighters because he didn’t want public safety work disrupted. We then contacted the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, the statewide union that endorsed Walker's opponent last year. Executive director Jim Palmer said the statewide organization is much larger than the local Milwaukee police union that endorsed Walker. The state group has approximately 11,000 members versus Milwaukee’s roughly 1,400, he said. Similarly, the state firefighters association has more than 3,000, compared with the Milwaukee union’s 875. In reality, if Matthews or any of his staff knew had to do a Google search, this information is all a few keystrokes away. For instance,” THE WPPA ENDORSES TOM BARRETT FOR GOVERNOR “: Surrounded by law enforcement officers at a May 12th [2010] event, Tom Barrett received the endorsement of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association in his race to become the state’s next governor. The WPPA represents over 11,000 active and retired members from over 375 locals statewide. With over 70 years of service to law enforcement personnel, the WPPA is recognized as the leading law enforcement association in Wisconsin. Or how about ” Wisconsin Professional Fire Fighters endorse Tom Barrett for governor .” Finally, on an even grander scale, ” Barrett endorsed by National Association of Police Officers “: On behalf of the more than 240,000 men and women of law enforcement it represents, the National Association of Police Officers (NAPO) today endorsed Tom Barrett for Wisconsin governor in recognition of his long record of support for and public safety officials and issues. “NAPO is pleased to support your campaign and is confident of your support of Wisconsin’s law enforcement community,” NAPO executive director William J. Johnson wrote in a letter to Tom. NAPO is a coalition of police unions and associations from across the United States that serves to advance the interests of America’s law enforcement through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education. Founded in 1978, NAPO now represents more than 1,000 police units and associations, 241,000 sworn law enforcement officers, 11,000 retired officers and more than 100,000 citizens who share a common dedication to fair and effective crime control and law enforcement. As such, this media meme advanced by Matthews Monday is a total fabrication. Either the “Hardball” host and his staff are completely incompetent and are incapable of identifying what is clearly available on the internet, or they are intentionally misinforming their viewers in order to show support for the protesters in Madison. Whatever the answer, the higher-ups at MSNBC should be doing something about this blatant negligence if they want their network to be in any way taken seriously.
Continue reading …To most of us, he’s “the former president,” “Bill Clinton,” or maybe “Bubba.” But to Chris Matthews on this Presidents’ Day, Clinton is President of the World, the name of his much ballyhooed, frenetic TV special airing tonight at 10pm. Taking a look at the decade since Clinton left office,…
Continue reading …Chris Matthews Takes Sen. DeMint Out of Context to Suggest He’s Playing to Birthers
February 21, 2011 No CommentIs 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.”
Continue reading …WaPo TV Critic Thinks the Matthews One-Hour Valentine to Bill Clinton Will Cause ‘Apoplexy’ on the Right
February 21, 2011 No CommentWashington Post TV critic Hank Stuever reported “Valentine's Day was a week ago, but MSNBC's Chris Matthews has belatedly gifted a particular former president with a mash note – strike that, a one-hour special called 'President of the World: The Bill Clinton Phenomenon,'” which airs tonight, somehow equating Clinton with Washington and Lincoln. Stuever explained: Matthews, aided by the likes of Terry McAuliffe, Mary Steenburgen and various biographers, remarks again and again how smart Clinton is, how generous, how famous, how friendly, how productive. Perhaps this special is some sort of MSNBC covert-op to cause paralytic apoplexy over there on the right? The kind of people who still keep the Starr Report at the ready?… The not-very-sub subtext of “President of the World” is a nostalgic grieving for the glory of the Clinton years. The Post critic found this line was typical: “Bill Clinton's position in the world continues to grow. He's part dignitary, part humanitarian, part politician, part international statesman, and somehow, greater than them all,” he intones. (Italics his.)
Continue reading …