Chris Matthews Explains His Reluctance To Accept Talking Points
By Nicole Belle Saturday May 17, 2008 8:30am
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On Friday's Countdown, guest host Rachel Maddow asked Chris Matthews about his refusal to allow talk show host Kevin James to blindly repeat White House talking points without having any idea what those buzzwords meant. We're quick to call out Matthews when he does something wrong, I think it's incumbent upon us to let him know when he's done well too. And to his credit, Matthews understands how fundamentally detrimental these buzzwords are to a functioning democracy (and before you retort, no one is harder on him than I am, and he rarely allows them unchallenged on his program--he's far more likely to be swayed by the perceived power--or attractiveness--of the person than the words they speak).
MADDOW: Do you think this is something new? Do you think this is something specific to our current, contemporaneous politics that we have these sort of buzzwords and bumper sticker slogans, whether it’s ‘appeasement,’ or ‘fight over there so we don’t fight them here’ or ‘they hate our freedom,’ any of these terms. Are they designed to be repeated and not to be interrogated?
MATTHEWS: Well, just look at the way people are basically exterminated or tried to be exterminated. Bill Maher makes a comment --which may not have been the right comment--but he was making a point he was trying to make, about stand back weaponry compared to people killing themselves. You can argue about the niceties of that. The Dixie Chicks say something about the war—and they shouldn’t have said it overseas, but they said it. The shutting up of opposition is critical to running a country in an undemocratic way, let’s put it that way. And so you have buzzwords like ‘appeasers’ or ‘cut and run’ and they’re used over and over again by the most mindless people. The trouble with them is they tend to work. The dittoheads can use them. Anyone can use them and they seem to have the same effect. They cause people to run from criticism.
On a related note: Media Bloodhound writes that the day after the 'appeasement' remarks, the ghost of Prescott Bush was seen hovering over the White House. Maybe because he grasps history so much better than its current occupant and his minions.
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Sweet Jeebus, Chris Matthews did something to admire. The apocalypse must be upon us!
Matthews Quote: "And so you have buzzwords like ‘appeasers’ or ‘cut and run’ and they’re used over and over again by the most mindless people."
Matthews has described the Bush Administration's supporters perfectly. I have to give him credit and as the post states, sometimes Matthews gets some things right and this is one of those times. I just wish he would keep it up. Because if he doesn't, the internet bloggers and other alternative media will have to do the work for him.
If we got rid of sloganeering and mindless talking points, the political dialogue in this country we be limited to liberals only. Hmmmmmm............
Kudo's to Chris, Every news person needs to call these idiots out. The chicken hawks are all actors, John Waynes and Ronnie Reagans who never saw military and avoided it every way they could. It's time we started calling Spades ♠, Spades ♠. They used tactics like this to sink Kerry and Gore who actually enlisted to go to Nam and the chicken hawks puffed up like they were actual hero's and not the cowards they were.
I think you mean PRESCOTT Bush, but I get your drift.
Matthews got this exactly right.
The language is hijacked by the right wing hoodlums and they run amuck!
You know, this reminds me of the times that I used to go into pet stores when I was a kid and use foul language to see if the parrots and other birds would repeat it over and over again and hopefully piss of the other customers. Now that I am reminded of that, a pet store full of talking parrots is just like a Republican Party convention in many ways. Both repeat exactly what they are told and have no idea what it means.
Joe O. @ 7:
good comparison.
I agree with Chris, but it would be nice if he would practice what he preaches. He has been the master of buzz words over and over again. I guess in Chris's eyes, whats good for the goose is not good for the gander.
Interesting link to Media Bloodhounds' satire on Prescott [not Preston] Bush's ghost, GWB's grandfather, hovering over the White House. As Media Bloodhounds noted, Prescott Bush was responsible for keeping Hitler's war machine going and also brought together a group in an attempt to topple FDR's administration in the 1930s. Fortunately, they did not count on former General Smedley Butler turning them down. This country needs more patriots like Smedley Butler and Lt. Ehren Watada, who have said that they will not participate in the nefarious traitorous and illegal war activities put forth by their country.
I think you mean Prescott Bush, right?
Damn ... I have to get off the computer, we're having a huge electrical storm here. Haven't seen this much lightning since I lived in Tucson.
Arrivederci gli Americani, rimangono il senso.
I have thought for years that all these "buzzwords" amount to is kindergarten playground name-calling. ("He's an appeaser!" "He's a flip-flopper!" "He's a lolly-gagger!") That hardly anyone has called these people on it has been one of the more shameful aspects of the last 8 years. Let's hope that this is not an isolated instance of Tweety going after the "mindless"-ness of the republicans and their surrogates. Next time he's sharing the couch with Ann Coulter or Dick Morris. Or the next time he interviews the president or VP, perhaps he will show as much courage then. Let's hope that this is only the beginning of a concerted effort to rid our politics and government of these people and their use of these "labels".
Left out of the discussion is how this is a Nazi tactic. Bring that up and they will throw the "buzzword" kitchen sink at you.
I'll give him major credit on this, but let's see what he says next week. I want to see if the leopard has truly changed his spots.
It's not just enough to label liberals as appeasers, traitors, fascists, elitists, etc. they have to shout it in their faces. As if saying it louder, meaner and with more conviction makes it more true, spittle and all. Matthews was astute at recognizing this right away when James began his attack. If I had a gallon of gas for every time a Republican started going berserk to make a point...
This is also part of the dumbing down process. Just hand out a buzzword phrase to the masses and they'll run with it, even without analyzing it or knowing what it means. Tell them that it's all they need to know and they will accept that it really is all they need to know.
Oh right - when monkeys fly out of my ass. Matthews knows Kevin James is a douche - why did he even have him on the show?
Next week he'll be biting heads off chickens - wake up guys!
Maybe we need to give dubya some credit. When he talks of Nazism, he really, really knows what he is talking about because he embodies it. Problem is he projects it on anyone he is opposed to. Kind of like when Cheney talks about scum.
Perhaps, unfortunately, it should not be too surprising that our less than intrepid media did not cover this story themselves instead of a foreign news service. Why was 60 Minutes not all over this story? I think, however, that Kitty Kelley's biography of Bush did go into this. This family may be as evil and as traitorous as they come, perhaps proving that with George W. Bush, the apple does not fall very far from the tree.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/july2007/240707fascistcoup.htm
Outstanding. Chris Matthews has always been hard to fathom. He's all over the place. Every once in a while he knocks it out of the park. I hope more of the talking heads out there find their voices and remember the job of the journalist and the meaning of the words "Freedom of the Press."
"The Dixie Chicks say something about the war—and they shouldn’t have said it overseas, but they said it".
Is Mathews refering to a country music-foreign policy protocol of which I'm unaware? That criticism of a sitting president by guitar pickin' singers ends where international waters begin? The man remains- as ever- a loud mouthed establishment shill. I refuse to applaud the twit simply because he was prompted into uttering a glaringly obvious, simple-simon truth by someone at least ten times brighter than himself. Jeezuz. It's like complimenting a 50 year old man for not running with a sharp knife and untied shoelaces.
Long Tooth @ 22:
I completely agree. Buzzwords? Talking points? Hahahahaha....without them, there is no media for any of these talking heads including Mathews, Olberman and Maddow. It embodies today's "news" pundits. buddabuddabu.......I'm lovin' it.
It should also be noted that when Smedley Butler blew the whistle on the conspirator's plot to overthrow the U.S. government [as put forth in the link at comment #20], that that House committee, to their everlasting shame, refused to call even one witness that Smedley Butler had said was involved in that fascist plot [one of them which would have included an individual named Prescott Bush], proving, apparently that even Congress back then was just as pusillanimous as they are now, as evidenced by the present Congress' refusal to defund the occupation of Iraq.
More on how this is a Nazi tactic:
http://www.ushmm.org/research/library/bibliography/index.php?content=naz...
Every detail of daily life was strictly controlled and regulated under National Socialism. This control by the state extended to the German language, both in the colloquial and the official context. Certain words such as Volk ("the people") and Fanatismus ("fanaticism") became synonymous with the official party line of the Third Reich. Other terms were created as euphemisms to hide acts of terror.
Does "water boarding" ring a bell? This torture method has been known as the water torture since the Spanish Inquisition, but Quasidubya saw fit to redub it.
Comments like this help me understand why I cannot bring myself to totally dislike Chris Matthews.
This game is not over yet.
Matthews must have checked the polls & realized that he needs to flip on his previous flops. I stopped watching him after he gushed praise for Bush the day of the "Mission Accomplished" aircraft carrier landing. That day he actually said, "Can you see any of the Democrats making that work?" None of his guests said, "I should hope they'd never do a stunt like that!"
Erroll @ 24:
I think it all boils down to the fact that yesterday, and today's, politicians, are all part of the exact same club of representatives of the rich and business, and NOT of the people. But it is amusing how we humans keep electing the same people over and over expecting somehow to have different results.
In I9080 Iraq attacked Iran and in 2003 Bush delivered to Iran a Saddam-free Iraq. Could that not be construed as appeasement or was it payment for Iranian assistance in deposing the taliban? Or after all was it because Saddam had threatened papa bush?
This invigorating exchange blew my mind Friday night -- such a level of intelligent discourse, rather than the usual dreck'n'pap punditry!
pissed off patricia @ 17:
Obama is a Muslim! Run for your lives!
"who are you and what did you do with the real chris matthews?"
ConcernedCanuck @ 28:
Great observation. My wife said basically the same thing to me about two minutes ago. The irony is that the committee that was supposed to investigate this was called The House Committee of un-American activities and yet their refusal to investigate the overthrow of the U.S. government should have been branded as being a very un-American activity. Meanwhile, a true hero like Smedley Butler remains largely forgotten while the Bush family legacy rolls on, as resolute members of Congress like Nancy Pelosi continue to insist that impeachment should remain off the table.
PresCOTT Bush. Not Preston
The two most mindless slogans the GOP use to stop debate and desperately hug as their core beliefs are...."lower taxes..... less government". Without context these slogans are meaningless. Huge deficits are OK as long as taxes are low????....bail-outs of failed Bankers with tax payers money is OK but regulation is bad????. The GOP is a policy free zone and will remain so until they rediscover actual policies not just slogans.
GF @ 27:
I agree, this was a PR stunt to improve bad ratings.
Thank you for posting this
I was in a hospital ER (the second time in two days) and missed all of this.
Monty @ 35:
I tend to agree but then I only see Matthews here and another blog. I don't watch tv at all.
But as much as I don't like bandwagoneers, if he jumps on the right bandwagon it can't hurt.
Kudos to Tweety... but even bigger Kudos to you Nicole!
A big part of the problem that we face in what passes for political discourse these days is the tendency to dismiss everything that an opponent says on the basis of the what ever political "pigeon hole" that we have assigned to them, without really considering the merit of what they have said.
Like you, I find much of what Matthews has to say objectionable, but the truth is the truth no matter who says it and in acknowledging Chris's moment of truth... you've also established your self as a "fair arbiter"... a fair and credible judge. So good on ya!
It is easy to spew vitriol... it is more difficult to find the truth and state it and that in these times is a real accomplishment.
if i'm not mistaken, please correct me if i'm not accurate on this but isn't "Homeland" a Nazi buzz word created to help drive up support from the pubic for Hitlers agenda?
Sunshine @ 18:
Matthews already said that James was a great guy and he was going to invite him back on his show.
Kudos to Matthews and all, but I do find it interesting how he found his desire to talk about this issue the week after Democrats won Congressional seats in heavily Republican counties. The writing is on the wall, and anyone interested in their career would surely have read it after last week.
Could it be the NYT magazine piece led Matthews to some introspection? Between that and (its revelation of) his desire to be a Democratic senator, maybe he's woken up. But firmly esconced public figures rarely change course drastically.
I can't bear to watch Mathews. But it is nice to read that he sometimes can't take the rhetoric and calls a loser a loser. But, at the same time I have this problem with him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUqrCgMMacs
OMG, you mean Tweety will actually challenge some right wing idiots for a change?
I wish he would have done this 7 years ago.
Every so often Mathews goes on one of these attack rants. I remember when he went after one of the swiftboaters who claimed Kerry had not been involved in an action as he stated. Turns out the guy wasn't there and Matthews asked him about ten times for the name of who told him what went on. The guy finally gave him a name...end of subject go to commercial. The next day an enterprising blog posts that the source was a guy who wasn't there either..I think it was the guy who Kerry kicked off his first boat. I waited in vain for Mr. Hardball to tell his viewers just how phony these guys were, but, instead he just kept inviting them back on the show. Matthews has a long way to go.
Quit peeing all over yourselves just because Chris went after a hopeless dweeb whom he knew he could humiliate. On any other day he acts like a fool and his one turn at bat is not enough to excuse most of the airtime he pollutes with his psycho references. Let me just remind you of the "tingle up the leg" and his slobbering over Bush in his flight suit to bring you all back to reality. He will still be reminding you all of his insanity before long so I cannot quite work up the enthusiasm to pat him on the head.
Ho Hum.
Let's see Tweety talk tough when Coulter or McCain stop by.
I'm all for congratulating someone on a job well done but it seems as though Matthews had
the opportunity to call them out on their "talking points" for the past 8 years.
Now that he's hearing the overwhelming voice of Americans as opposed to the corpora-fascists
who have been running this country, he's suddenly all for "calling them out".
PUUUUHHHHLLLEEAAZZEEEE!!
Anyone who has an ancestor named Prescott should be banned from public service.
Like thousands of others, I emailed Matthews and criticized him for his over-the-top sexist remarks about Hillary Clinton. Within days, he apologized to his viewers. I also emailed a great big thank you to him within minutes of his taking the radio talk show jerk to the wood shed. He should be commended on the rare occasions he gets it right...maybe he'll starting getting it right more often. I know that's a stretch, though.
Reminds me of the Wonder Years "Jock Strap" episode:
"The jock strap. a) What is it? And b) What can it do for you? Arnold?"
"The jock strap, sir, is a particular kind of strap, made out of a strap-like material, used exclusively for the purposes of jocks."
I am sure that others watch what he says more closely than I, for I can't stand watching any pundit.
But would the author not agree that Tweety eats carrion, and therefore, any "change of heart" now because he can see which way the wind blows is only to provide him another free meal.
Since when has tweets done anything to challenge a fascist regime until he thinks it is going to be out of power?
Sorry, but it is all expediency on his part. Not a news person, just a hack. With that kind of drivel on the tv, a minor change where he acts like he is fair and people are singing his praises? Please don't grasp at straws.
Well at least people are discussing the issue of propaganda within the media. For about seven years no one wanted to admit that propaganda exists in the United States MSM. It seems that now the GOP is losing power they are afraid that their own abuse of power will come back and bite them. But no matter, it is better to let anyone and everyone argue the merits of their belief, case, or idea in a clear concise manner than shut them up by buzz words that do not have anything to do with solving the problem that their viewpoint is trying to solve.
Another issue no one wants to admit exists concerns illegal Eavesdropping. The Bushco with Cheney and Rove most likely used illegal wiretaps to destroy political enemies. It is an issue that needs to be discussed.
Yes I think he sniffed the prevailing winds.
Be nice to see Smedly get the medal of honor. Anyone want to start a campaign? I'll contribute $.
Good for Matthews for finally challenging this clown on repub talking points. That guy was easy. Let's see what he does when he has a big name repub on his show. He has a lot to make up for the past eight years of siding with these fools.
I agree Nicole, completely. His name is almost embedded in my keyboard from his past b.s. I actually catch the show frequently, to hear other points of view mainly - and it's apparent he may be feeling the same backlash O'Reilly is feeling at Olbermann' success.
Chris almost can't introduce Keith without a sneer because Keith has actually dared to challenge him, live -on camera, and is now an equal partner in all things political, a godsend against the good ol' boy style of election analysis we usually get.
From Orwell:
The purpose of Newspeak was not only to provide a medium of expression for the world-view and mental habits proper to the devotees of IngSoc, but to make all other modes of thought impossible. It was intended that when Newspeak had been adopted once and for all and Oldspeak forgotten, a heretical thought -- that is, a thought diverging from the principles of IngSoc -- should be literally unthinkable, at least so far as thought is dependent on words. Its vocabulary was so constructed as to give exact and often very subtle expression to every meaning that a Party member could properly wish to express, while excluding all other meaning and also the possibility of arriving at them by indirect methods. This was done partly by the invention of new words, but chiefly by eliminating undesirable words and stripping such words as remained of unorthodox meanings, and so far as possible of all secondary meaning whatever.
It's good to see ANYONE in the media coming around. I suspect that some the Olbermann may be rubbing off on some of the other MSNBC guys. (there really does seem to be a "follow the alpha male" mentality in journalism)
Good on ya' Chris. Keep it up. Thinking and demanding facts looks good on ya'.
david @ 40:
That buzzword was "Fatherland"
Long Tooth @ 22:
Yeah, this comment struck me as very strange? What are we only allowed to criticize our leaders when we're within their reach? The idea that we should censor ourselves when we go abroad strikes me as very strange.
I don't know why bush's comments are getting so much play. He did what he always did, he made a ridiculous straw man argument and then denied to say who he was talking about? What people should be doing is lambasting his argument as moronic and demand that if he really stands by his comments to come out and say who he is talking about.
I think Tweety blows with the wind to keep his job and appease his bosses. Now that Keith Olbermann is MSNBC's darling, Tweety is trying to outlefty and out anger him. I remember Chris Matthews during the "Mission Accomplished" stunt gushing over Bush. A real mancrush. Tweety is just doing what it takes to keep his job and to develop some improved ratings.
"The truth cannot be sloganized."
This is a quote I used lo those 30 years ago when I wrote a term paper about the Alien and Sedition Acts during World War I. I think I was 14 at the time, and the subject I chose was "the suspension of civil liberties during wartime." Woodrow Wilson is often thought a pacifist, but all that stuff happened during his tenure as president of the U.S., not Princeton. I have thought many times in the past six years about how those acts were used to silence the various socialists, communists and dare I say it unionists who saw U.S. involvement in the convoluted nationalist struggle in Europe as a sleight of hand trick to divert workers from collective activity to ameliorate their present. But I can't remember the author of the quote, and my paper is collecting dust many miles from here. Does anyone know who wrote it? It m ay actually be "You can't sloganize the truth." Wikipedia was no help, a first for me. Thanks.
A bright new day for the Tweetster!
It is wonderful that this challenge has finally been made, but the buzzword mentality is so ingrained into our culture it may never be changed. The Gay Rights movement wants "special rights," but I cannot get anyone to tell me what they might be.
To be able to work without fear of being fired? To get married and have a family? To be able to walk down the street without fear ob being beaten or killed? What is so special about any of that?
Appeasement: pacify, conciliate; especially : to buy off (an aggressor) by concessions usually at the sacrifice of principles
It is not simply talking. It's making a concession. Chamberlain conceded part of Czechoslovakia to Hitler.
I still wonder if there is more to Bush's statement than just simply a political attack. I think there is a possibility he is defending, in advance, a policy against Iran, the current victor in the U.S. v. Iraq war. Asking Saudi Arabia to increase oil output could be merely to lower prices, or it could be to counteract cutoff of Iranian supplies in the event of bombing.
If it was simply a political attack, it is a pitch to dumbbells, since simply talking is not appeasement. I am somewhat flabbergasted that this approach works so well in this country. We hear it time and again, and the mainstream media largely gives the idiocy a pass. Such as the terrorists attacked us "because they hate our freedoms". If that is so, is the undermining of our constitution an act of appeasement to please the terrorists? Amazing that babbling nonsense is more relevant to the average American, then the real issues of national defense (and stupid wars that undermine defense), the economy, health care, the environment and so forth.
Now will you guys stop calling him Tweety?
I know Matthews is only looking to keep himself relevant as he sees the tides continue to turn in favor of progressives, but I gotta think that sooner or later slamming these dumbshits with the truth has got to start feeling good.
See, if you can keep a manly aftershave out of Tweety's nose, his mind clears and sensible things come out of his mouth.
It kinda cracks me up to hear Tweety talk so tough. Normally, when it comes to the current regime, he's such a wuss.
Holy shit, big headline, "Chris Matthews Finally Locates His Mothballed-since-2003 Balls"
I'm not a fan of this man, but I gotta give this round to him. Matthews biggest problem is that enjoys the Washington cocktail circuit way too much. Chances are he's going to be disinvited to a number of them in the future.
Oh, and by the way. Watching Rachel Maddow on "Countdown" gives me wood. For God's sake, MSNBC, if Keith Olberman takes any days off, guarantee Rachel will be there to take his place, please? Yes, I know she swings the other way, but still, she's great to look at, and her sharp mind turns me on even more!
Too little, and at least four years too late.
ok, I understand what tweety was doing (trying to ignore/crawl back from all of his buzz word bullshit) but what was Maddow doing, giving a promo to this twerp? I thought she was going to challenge the ol' boys club, not join it!
john in california @ 74:
I think that Tweety did a good job in exposing the BS, and should be recognized for doing so. We need to address the issues, not the person (in most cases.) More people voted for Bush in 2004 then Kerry; do we not want them to join the Democrat camp? Since we have the issues, we need to encourage the media to address the issues. Our revenge is best served up by a Democrat as president, and large Democratic majorities in the Senate and House. If a media pundit wants to convert, I say, let him, and lets congratulate him.
If indeed Chris is not allowing talking points from anyone that's fine. But he shot down a fourth rank, bottom-feeding radio talk-show host. Let's see him be that direct with a John Boehner or John McCain.
Outstanding. Chris Matthews has always been hard to fathom. He’s all over the place. Every once in a while he knocks it out of the park. I hope more of the talking heads out there find their voices and remember the job of the journalist and the meaning of the words “Freedom of the Press.”
viscount true!
At times he's lost in the dark and at times he makes 100% total sense!
It's really great that Matthews nailed this dipshit and its about time, but lets not ever forget his gushing over "Goofy White Boy" so much so that he thought we should put him on Mount Rushmore! He is not to be trusted.
"The Dixie Chicks say something about the war—and they shouldn’t have said it overseas, but they said it."
Why the hell shouldn't they have said it overseas?
Other than that, I agree with what Matthews said.
Pat J @ 48:
Yep. Once we've identified a particular person as an enemy of the "progressive" movement, let's never acknowledge that he might get something right. Once labeled an enemy, always an enemy... Kind of reminds of the current administration and the 22 percenters.
Mathews has spent most of the last 7 years on his knees to these thugs ... and now this?
I dont buy it.
He loves these guys - lubs ... lurvs ... luufs them.
Someone hurt him ... and he is pouting. Someone screwed him but didnt kiss him.
I can only compare Chris taking on this no nothing slug to Obama's "victory" over Alan Keyes. No big deal.
Even though I love to see republicans being torn a new one for their ridiculous talking points, I hate the fact that even a channel I respect (somewhat) will still resort to shouting instead of insightful conversation..
As someone said above, it's a part of the dumbing down process. Unfortunately for them, for it to be effective that means it needs to be basic. As it is. I have observed this for sometime and I can promise you that the vast right wing argument is en wrapped in fear and guilt. It nearly always comes down to that, fear and guilt. Walk past those defenses and they are toasty crumbs.
Maddow asks: Do you think that this is something new, something specific to our current, contemporaneous politics, that we've got these buzzwords and bumpersticker slogans, whether it's "appeasement," or "fight them overthere so we don't fight them over here," or "they hate our freedom?" Are they designed to be repeated and not to be interrogated?
Matthews responds: The shutting up of opposition is critical to running a country in an undemocratic way.
I spent most of yesterday researching and writing for myself a blog post on income inequality and media censorship, given the recent news that the Senate voted to nullify the FCC's lifting of the ban on cross-ownership.
This is not new. People like Kevin James are the result of an intentional effort over a 30-year span to consolidate the US news media industry. Media consolidation is one way to censor information, and it's arguably a more effective way than outright information bans.
Someone needs to tell the makeup room they don't need to slather so much on Rachel Maddow. She looks more than fine with just a little.
Isn't it high time the Prescott Bush story become a household meme?
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/july2007/240707fascistcoup.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot
Frank @ 87:
Frank
Good observation, though I made the same point at comment #20. Given how so many Americans today, as Gore Vidal has noted, know nothing about history, it certainly does not hurt to reinforce how the U.S. government was almost overthrown in the early 1930s by a fascist coup, and that among its leaders was GWB's grandfather, Prescott Bush.
Wow. I haven't said this in a very long time, but what a job by Tweety. I don't know what happened to him all of a sudden. Did his Old Spice supply run out? Did he grow a set? Or a conscience? At least in this isolated case, he does a great job of encapsulating the Bush Administration's Orwellian war on language that has been so effective for eight years, and which now appears finally to be crumbling.
It's something jerks do all the time -- say something nice so you'll go soft on them. I don't give Matthews credit for any more than that. All this proves is that he knows damn well how full of crap he is the rest of the time.
Dear MSNBC,
Please give Dr. Rachel Maddow her own show!
Even a blind chicken might find a grain of corn once in a while.
Ya, like Chris Mathews. He never speaks for himself, always makes rhetorical questions, but this clown has used those exact phrases countless times. Don't pat the ass monkey on the head because he knows what schtick to parrot when he's talking to Rachel. If he didn't tow the line with her, she would wipe the floor with his pasty white ass.
The Reich Wing has been marketing and sloganeering this war/occupation like a consumer product for the past eight years Why this great epiphany now?
Tweety and the rest of the "media" get no kudos for finally doing something resembling their job as "journalists".
kablooie @ 30:
john in california @ 74:
I give a lot of the credit to Maddow. She asked the right questions and encouraged Matthews to challenge the status quo. So Kablooie, I'm with you, and John in California, I think she did--by catching flies with honey.
It's nothing but Tweety see'in the writing on the wall and switching sides by acting like he's been one of us all along (nod, nod, wink, wink). He's still a shill. I don't trust 'em for a second.
Well... its nice to see Tweety talk about this as many of us have been screaming regarding this very fucking issue for years...
We were right.. him and the rest of the bobble heads are and have been fatally wrong...
At least now he is admitting it.
Perhaps he can get an infusion of righteousness... and at the very least help clean up the mess he assisted in creating with his drooling over the Chief's cod piece...
I mean he is the dildo that said.."We're all neocons now"
So he has a lot of cleaning ahead of him...And now the door is open for him to redeem himself to the universe.
I have repeatedly stuck up for Matthews when he was hammering away on the right wing radicals (Frum, Kristol, John Bolton etc) who lied this nation into war. Also stuck up for him when he was one of the first MSMer's to go into Walter Reed and interview injured Iraqi soldiers. Matthews often tries to play it fair (even though those on the extreme left or extreme right do not think so),
But since the election started over a year ago all MSNBC has for four hours staight is election coverage ELECTION ELECTION ELECTION. Periodically Olberman goes off and mentions Iraq but generally all they have been covering his the election (hello Abrams I believe you set up the programming).
It's as if the Iraq war is over.
Not on of them mentioned the Iraq Veterans against the War hearings this past week. Matthews has not had an Iraqi war vet on in over a year.
hmmmmmm
Long Tooth @ 22:
Hey, that's great that Matthews finally called bullshit on one of the nimrods spouting mindless war-mongering on his show after all this time.
But on the point quoted above: Exactly! What the hell difference does it make *where* the Dixie Chicks were when they criticized President Dumbass and his insane, bloody war?!
No, Chris, they weren't wrong, they were right. GET IT?
This makes me wonder if Tweety stopped taking his happy pills.
In fact, maybe we should insist on pee tests for every talking head.
And pee tests for every politician.
What do you think?
Isn't it about time that sober clear minds run the nation?
John D'oh @ 91:
That has to be coming. Although I do like witnessing RAchel on many of the programs. She punches hard with that smile and intellect.
I'm no tweety fanboy but I send his show a thank you email for calling out that idiot blowhard.
QuakerDave @ 71:
Bull shit! You must not watch the show. While I do not agree with everything that Matthews says (especially when he lets McSame or anyone else get away with repeating unsubstantiated claims about Iran or anything else) Matthews had been hammering on the Bush administration for their pre-war lies, the consequences of those lies ( 4000 American soldiers, over a millions Iraqi people, thousands injured and millions displaced) He had also been hammering on the right wing radicals who lied our nation into a war of choice.
But over the last year it has been election election election. As Matthews said to me at the Libby trial when I challenged him about the lack of coverage on the after math of Katrina (MSNBC talked about Katrina for about two weeks and then dropped it) or the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Matthews answered "I do not control the programming"
A lot of these "middle ground" pundits are now singing a different tune.
I remember their slant in 2003 CLEARLY, how they gushed, or at best kept silent, as bush strutted out in a flight suit below mission accomplished.
The winds have changed.
Chris now warns: "Rachel, these buzzwords are dangerous to our democracy...blah..di..blah..blah!!"
FU!
Sort of off topic, but here goes
1. Just by using words and terms that propogandists coin is giving them a vicotory. Control the language, control the people's minds. A few examples: insurgent, or freedom fighter? War in Iraq ,or invasion and occupation? Homeland security, or police statism? "A time of war", or a time of politicial repression? Socialism , or public works?
"Collateral damage" or killing of innocents? "enhanced interrogation", or torture? Traiters, or dissentors.
2. If we "privatize" everything and reduce the influence (power) of government to near zero, what then remains? The rule of those with raw power and/or money. What good does voting do if government has no real power. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to fascist tyranny. Only an empowered constitutional government can guarantee freedom.
Grover Norquists famous quote of reducing the size of government, or drowning it, boils down to saying he wants fascist tyranny.
tz @ 105:
"MSM reporters" or propagandists?
With all due respect, you're right. I stopped watching ages ago, because Matthews is such an insufferable, sexist goof.
And where exactly was he is the run-up to the war, hmm? Making "tough" statements like this one? NO. He was marching in lock-step with the rest of drum-beaters, that's where.
Those idiots James, Dumbya & McSame are using the word "appeasement" wrong, anyway. Appeasement is NOT talking with your enemy!!! Appeasement is either giving your enemy land or oil or food or something else so they won't invade you or your allies. I guess people haven't gotten any smarter than the dopes who fell for the politician who branded his opponent as a "self admitted heterosexual",as someone who "masticates on a daily basis" and who has a sister who is "a well known thespian". I really loved it when the McSame campaign said that Obama was making fun of grandpa's age when he said that by going negative, McCain was "losing his bearings". No, you dillweeds who insult the intelligence of the American people, "Losing your bearings" means that you have lost your way. I guess tactics like that will play well with the red state retards, anyway.
tz @ 105:
You left off my favorite which the MSM parrots like the good little propagandists that they are—
SURGE vs. what it is..AN ESCALATION. (Ahhh, can't use that--too much like Vietnam)
It's about time, BUT why did it take so long???? Is it that no one wanted to be less American then their neighbour? Pretty sad. How can a nation like that lead anyone, or even run its own business affairs?
Well, lookie here, I see Chris Matthews actually making sense for a change. I wonder if he realizes that he's right on the edge of a huge market niche for an angry pundit denouncing political and media....wait for it...................PROPAGANDA!
Imagine if Chris Matthews, Tweety Burd hisself, began doing daily rants against the bedrock of his own entire industry--that which must be catapulted.
kablooie @ 30:
True, and thank you , Nicole for pointing out when CM does do something good...
mudshark @ 46:
He's only doing this because his ratings have dropped. He was FORCED to tell the truth, and stand up for what's right.
Look at his eyes. Anyone who's studied psychiatry would tell you that when a man blinks that much while he's speaking, it's because he was doing something EXTREMELY uncomfortable.
Matthew's guts must have twisted. Imagine, he had to go against his lords and masters to save himself.
I guess Bush and Cheney will only be a little bit sad. They have so many other pets in the media.
Besides, I'm sure that Matthews will return to lick the hands of the members of BushCo. once again.
I should also mentioned that Prescott Bush was Dubya's grandfather. He was a big Nazi supporter. He actively recruited scientists and engineers for Hitler, and did a lot of business dealings with the SS. He also put in writing to the Nazi party a proposal stating that 70% of the world's population should be killed off.
The man was evil.
You can read his 'love letters' to Hitler in the book, 'The Splendid Blond Beast'.
Kathleen @ 98:
Kathleen
Very well said. The Winter Soldiers testimony should have been considered a big deal but, just like the huge anti-war marches that took place before the invasion, were not seen or heard on television, where most Americans receive their news, thus contributing to the dumbing down of the American populace.
As you say, even that quasi liberal Keith Olbermann has not seen fit to cover this extremely important event, choosing instead to devote important air time to that buffoon, Bill O'Reilly. One small [or perhaps not so small] quibble. Americans and liberals should remember that what is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan are not wars but occupations where the American military has taken over Iraq and Afghanistan very much against the wills of the people in those two war-ravaged lands. As you correctly note, by watching the tube, Americans would just barely grasp the fact that Iraq and Afghanistan have been torn apart by U.S. armed forces. A grim example, it would seem, of the adage out of sight, out of mind.
I invite readers to take a look at Media Matters concerning Chris Matthews. Hopefully you'll realize the hogwash in this diary.
http://mediamatters.org/
kerplunk @ 115:
I did look and I don't know what you are referencing. Could you be more specific?
Picks jaw up off floor.
It's gotta be clone......or the green room put out the wrong kool aid.
Whatever it is, it would be nice to see more of this Mr. Mathews.
He was brilliant on this one.
Although...
I suspect that the tactic is to make dissent appear patriotic again, ya know, odds are favorable for a democratic congress and presidency this next election. The cons voice will be marginalized and dissent will be all they have, so..... after many years of framing dissent as unpatriotic its time to make it patriotic to question the leaders again, specially since the majority leadership will be Democrats come November.
I hope and pray I am wrong, I probally am, but I trust nothing when it comes to these folks.
Just when I really get to not liking Matthews, he does something like this.
Finally! But who was listening? Bush supporters don't watch MSNBC.
I'm usually his biggest fan, but he did do a WONDERFUL job at the commencement ceremony at Wash U Friday.
tweety is going to have to do a lot more for a whole lot longer before i will believe anything coming out of his mouth isn't just more bullshit.
tweety says, "The shutting up of opposition is critical to running a country in an undemocratic way, let’s put it that way."
right. now that the democratic party is likely to have control of the white house and congress, NOW tweety says we all have to play nice. because if the old rules applied ... well, never mind. under the old rules huckabee would also be invited onto "news" programs despite his making a joke about obama and a gun.
why is it any more "acceptable" to joke about the assassination of a candidate for president than it is to joke about the assassination of a president?
don't be so quick to take tweety at his word. approach him and the rest of them the same way you would a snake.
Chris, you obviously get what is going on, so why let these people on your show and say this crap time and time again? Why have Ann Coulter on? You KNOW she is crazy AND full of crap and lies.
Chris Matttews changing his allegiance after all these horrible years won't bring back the murdered innocent Iraqi people or the dead and injured troops he helped send to those Hell holes.
Chris Matthews is a Maverick.
Here's how to end mindless, misleading buzzwords right now:
Tax them. Give the FCC the right to collect, oh, say, $10,000 for each repetition on a national broadcast of a word or phrase that is unsubstantiated and politically biased. Less for local and regional broadcasts.
This is no violation of free speech - pundits will still have every right to call someone an "appeaser", a "flip-flopper", or whatever - as long as they make a valid case for it and cite evidence. Otherwise, pay up.
Talking points will disappear overnight.
I'm sort of being facetious about this, but the more I think about, the more sensible it becomes. Or just bring back the Fairness Doctrine and be done with it.
mathews is describing the uncontested repetition only possible on the GOP talk radio monopoly. and that is why America is in the disaster it is in today. it has been the most effective tool ever for intimidating politicians and media celebs to do what the GOP rove/bush axis of evil wants. talk radio has been paul revere in reverse. mathews, who has been one of their tools in the past, like a tick on limbaugh's ass, seems to be getting it.
"And so you have buzzwords like ‘appeasers’ or ‘cut and run’ and they’re used over and over again by the most mindless people. The trouble with them is they tend to work. The dittoheads can use them. Anyone can use them and they seem to have the same effect. They cause people to run from criticism."
This bogus. Let us not be manipulated. There is not one reason why he should not have done this years ago. We are not mindless neocons who are so shallow to be easily pleased the moment the mainstream media or the prevailing political climate is changed. If there is one thing that everyone hates, it would be the bandwagon blowhards who are impressionable and trail the power to be.
People should feel insulted and victimized for him to take the license to make these comments as if he thought of them on his own merit. He made no reference and gave no credit to anyone who fought and defended those beliefs for years. What right does he have to Plagiarize those ideas that he failed to acknowledge for years???
No, people should not welcome such outright plagiarism. Watch out for the invasion of body snatchers - Chris Mathew...and possibly many more to come. They seek the next frontier after hijacking GOP conservative religious rights - hijack liberalism.
Mathews is a hack. He's not sorry that he was instrumental in banging the Bush war drums. He just realized that now its just not the cool thing to do. Doesn't anyone find it a little ironic that Mathews is telling people to know their history. What about your history Mathews. Yuk
What's really funny is how Kevin James pumped his fisted and yelled "nailed it!" after the interview.
Let's get one thing straight about Tweety - he's just another salesman, and he can recognize when a product has stopped selling. It's not the deceit and corruption of Bushco and the GOP congress that he dislikes, its the fact that they've lost their politcal mojo that flips his upper lip.
Someone observed here previously that Tweety worships power - be it in the form of Markos Moulitsas or Karl Rove. Its just a big game to him - remember that ridiculous book he went on TDS to hawk, his Machiavellian manual for how to live your life like its a campaign? If Tweety had any advice for all the Kevin James's of the world, it wouldn't have anything to do with morality, but it would be to read his book on how to grab more power.
It doesn't occur to Chris Matthews that the policies of the powerplayers he worships or sneers at have real world consequences. For that reason alone, we'd be better off with fewer Chris Matthews on the air, no matter how smart they claim to be.
I don't believe that a person should pay for the sins of the father, or grandfather, for that matter.
But there IS a such thing as following in one's father's (or grandfather's) footsteps.
The last century was NOT a struggle between communism and capitalism... That battle was lost the instant the Federal Reserve Act passed.
No, the real struggle was between freedom and fascism.
And we only THINK we won the battle with the end of World War II. But the truth is that the fascists simply changed out of their uniforms into civilian clothing, and they are running things to this very day. The authoritarian rhetoric that the neo-cons spew forth every day is no different than the rhetoric of the Nazis in 1933. And it saddens and disappoints me that the ignorant citizenry of this country are too lazy to do the research.
Prescott Bush WAS a Nazi sympathizer. His bank WAS closed for violating the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1942.
Every time we hear these con artists in the Administration make claims about appeasers, the Press SHOULD be firing right back with the HISTORY of National Socialism. But no, the American people are too busy to be bogged down with facts and details.
James @ 131:
History? What's that? We are Americans. We don't need no stinking history! Bible gives us everything we need. Nazi, it's in the bible, WWII, it's in the bible, combustible engine, it's in the bible, jet propulsion, it's in the bible, Japanese katakana, it's in the bible, Chinese kungfu! it's in the BIBLE! Jesus Christ will provide and all we need to do is to accept him and stick the bible to everyone else's face and there is no need for HISTORY!
Remember, you can be a Nazi or Al Qaeda, but if you accept Jesus Christ as your savior, you can go to heaven if you spent your entire life killing Jews and blowing up Americans.
RealOldGuy@61
ahhh...thanks! i knew it was something like that.
Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle's appeaser if Kevin James is not one of the stupidest f***ing radio creeps out there.
From KJ's wiki:
"You don't understand there’s a difference between talking to the enemy and appeasing. What Chamberlain did wrong, most people would say, is not talking to Hitler, but giving him half of Czechoslovakia in 1938. That's what he did wrong. Not talking to somebody. Appeasement is giving things away to the enemy." [9] Matthews replayed the exchange on the May 16th, 2008 episode of Hardball and added "But he‘s a good guy. And we‘re going to have him back." [10] [WTF Chris? Really]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_James_%28broadcaster%29
marko @ 32:
Yes, tweety hit that one out of the ball park! Way to go, tweety! (I might have to start calling him Mr. Mathews if he keeps this up!)
There’s just one thing that bothers me. Despite Kevin James' total lack of knowledge of the Munich Agreement he did try to point out it was not Neville Chamberlain that the President was referring to. Matthews' himself started off acknowledging that but then quickly switch to discuss Wilt Chamber… oops I mean Neville Chamberlain. I can see why he wanted to make that connection, in that context the concessions of appeasement referred to Chamberlain giving part of Czechoslovakia to Hitler but, as Matthews' already pointed out, it was the US Senator William Borah that the President was referring to and in this context the concessions of appeasement refers to those who are willing to accept the position of terrorist groups as true, valid, or accurate.
You may still disagree with what was said but if we cannot be honest with one another then this is all just sound and fury.
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