Some quick thoughts I had after I watched a little more of this interview: Chris Matthews descended into freakville Tuesday and shredded his already tattered reputation into oblivion after having the Republican spokesman--- Ann Coulter---on for a full hour. A full hour! He surrounded himself with a crowd of fan-thugs and as Digby sez:

Matthews sank to a new low today -- he's incapable of handling someone like Coulter and ended up giving her and her little fan-thugs a very good time. It made me feel a little bit sick. Seriously...read on

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The video clip isn't meant to be about Ann (You can read Rick Perstein's article)---it's all about the shame of Chris. Watch her gut him. Matthews was utterly steamrolled by Annie for the full show and I can't even list the amount of lies she told that he had no answer for. Every insane talking point you can think of was on display: "YES, it's a fact!," she'd say...And Chris would move on to a new topic or poll.....Obviously, she shouldn't be given this type of format, but what's needed is for the host to jump in and correct the record. Have a backbone....

She claimed Saddam was working with al-Qaeda, we didn't go to war with Iraq because of WMD's, but Iraq had them anyway. It was just the whiny liberal press (Matthews included) who made those claims. They/she had "other reasons" to go to war with Iraq. Matthews tried to slow her down a bit, but she shouted at him with an over the top exuberance and he haplessly moved on...These conmen can see a mark a mile away and Annie found a nice one. You can see more video at MSNBC

ON FAUX NEWS---even Bill O'Reilly and Hannity and Colmes limit her air time. With H&C, she usually gets two segments, but the Factor Man usually does just one. Not Matthews, he had her all to himself...and the wind...and the fans that probably were sent down by Coulter's PR firm.

Elizabeth Edwards called in and for a brief instant tried to bring some balance and rationality back to the show---someone who had been a victim of her hate speech got a chance to confront her. Coulter just cackled and laughed at her and Matthews let that moment die, switched topics to some "chubby legs" comment she made and never even said goodbye to Elizabeth Edwards as she hung up. OMG. It was like she never called the show....This was a perfect time to have Elizabeth Edwards confront her for another segment, but Chris just hung up on a Presidential candidate's wife.

Mediabloodhound emailed Nicole and asked if this is the same fan-thug crowd that showed up for the last Coulter in the Square event that Matthews had for her. I haven't had time to check, but I wouldn't doubt it...

It was a grotesque display for a man who considers himself a serious journalist and opinion maker, but we know otherwise...I can't tell you the amount of email I received that said they were going to stop watching Hardball. Since I cover the media, I'll be around, but I know he angered quite a few viewers yesterday...Email Hardball here and tell them what you think…