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You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2012 / Good for Tweety

Good for Tweety

by DougJ|  August 27, 201210:40 am| 114 Comments

This post is in: Election 2012, Post-racial America

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Credit where credit is due — this is right on the money. And he said right to Reince Preibi face.

“You can play your games and giggle about it but the fact is your side playing that card. When you start talking about work requirements, you know what game you’re playing and everybody knows what game you’re playing. It’s a race card and yeah, if your name’s Romney, yeah you were well born, you went to prep school, yeah, brag about it. This guy has an African name and he’s got to live with it. Look who’s gone further in their life. Who was born on third base? Making fun of the guy’s birth certificate issue when it was never a real issue except for the right wing.”

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114Comments

  1. 1.

    wvng

    August 27, 2012 at 10:42 am

    Good for Tweety, but one might note that the other pundits there recoiled in horror at the very thought that Tweety said what he said. Brokaw even sternly threw in a “both sides do it” for good measure.

  2. 2.

    El Cid

    August 27, 2012 at 10:42 am

    Maybe my favorite bit was Matthews’ “What’s this Europe stuff?” when Priebus does the whole ‘Obama influenced by Yuruh Peein’ ideas’.

    Not just challenging the actual context of it, and demanding he explain, but just talking about it with the degree of offhand disrespect it deserves — rather than some calm engagement with crap as though something’s a worthy subject of discussion just because a right winger says it.

  3. 3.

    Balconesfault

    August 27, 2012 at 10:44 am

    The GOP is wanting to be called on this, I think. They want to discredit the media at the onset, since the media has already made it clear they’re actually going to hold Romney responsible for some of his biggest lies once in awhile … and so they’re trying to insulate people from listening to the media.

    What better way than to promote the meme that the media is obsessed with race, and can’t be trusted by white people?

  4. 4.

    grandpa john

    August 27, 2012 at 10:44 am

    WOW ,Tweety grew balls? wonder if it is catching to the rest of the liberal (??) media?

  5. 5.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    August 27, 2012 at 10:45 am

    I saw that over at the GoS and it made my morning. Hell, it made my day!

    Tweety is a mixed bag on a lot of things but on he’s been like a pit bull on the birthers, teahadists and the racist dog whistles on the right, especially the Rmoney campaign dog whistles. Brokaw needs to retire and quit trying to top Russert by croaking live on an NBC station.

    He’s long past his expiration date.

  6. 6.

    schrodinger's cat

    August 27, 2012 at 10:46 am

    Well said Chris Matthews, now someone should say that to Romney. Also too, NYT has a good editorial on Ryan’s radical social views.

    Mika BTW is totally useless, she was making excuses for Romney in the background.

  7. 7.

    hep kitty

    August 27, 2012 at 10:46 am

    Tweety has surprised me over the last few months and has been mercilessly ripping on Romney for some time now. To the point, sometimes, I just bust out laughing at some of the things he says and he starts spluttering and all. Still, wish I’d seen him byotch slap that vile Preibus critter, tho.

    I enjoy Tweety more these days

  8. 8.

    Kristin

    August 27, 2012 at 10:47 am

    I forgot Matthews made the “born on third base” comment. Classic. He could not be any less impressed with Romney.

  9. 9.

    MattF

    August 27, 2012 at 10:48 am

    Somewhat on topic, about white folk’s exotic dialect:

    http://exoticwhitegirls.tumblr.com/post/29990764771/the-beautiful-white-dialect

    I’m particularly fond of ‘…twenty different words for ‘coffee’ but no word for ‘self-aware.”

  10. 10.

    schrodinger's cat

    August 27, 2012 at 10:49 am

    @wvng: I remember a while a ago when Brokaw was on TDS, hearing both Jon and Brokaw go on about how both sides are bad, must have made Broder’s ghost very happy.

  11. 11.

    S-Curve

    August 27, 2012 at 10:49 am

    Heh, “Preibi.” Someone knows their Latin declensions. And “genitive” — that should always be the grammatical case for Repubs, somehow. Just sounds right.

  12. 12.

    Villago Delenda Est

    August 27, 2012 at 10:50 am

    @El Cid:

    Priebus does the whole ‘Obama influenced by Yuruh Peein’ ideas’.

    I’ve got news for Rinse. The Constitution was influenced by “Yuruh Peein’ ideas”. Our common law is heavily influenced by “Yuruh Peein’ ideas”. The Anglo-Saxons that Rmoney is so able to relate to are “Yuruh Peein'”.

    Rinse needs to be beaten to a bloody pulp. And Tweety did a good job of it.

  13. 13.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    August 27, 2012 at 10:50 am

    @Kristin:

    It should be “born on third base and was walked into home.” Obama started out at the home plate and passed Rmoney up in the career path.

    You just know that has to eat at Rmoney, along with a lot of other career pols.

  14. 14.

    EconWatcher

    August 27, 2012 at 10:50 am

    Matthews is a goofball, but I’ve always had the sense that he has an actual heart and soul, unlike the other media hacks.

    But the bigger issue I’d like to see the media tackle is Adelson. The welfare ads are the symptom; Adelson and his money are the disease. We’ve got one obsecenely rich guy, whose money comes largely from shady foreign gambling operations, openly trying to buy the US presidential election. How can this just be accepted as business as usual?

    One worry about the current state of campaign finance laws is that so much can be done anonymously, but I’m starting to think this doesn’t really matter. Adelson sure isn’t anonymous. He’s basking in his position as Boss Hogg for the entire US of A.

    Why isn’t his mug plastered on the front pages, with big headlines such as, “The man who would buy the presidency”?

  15. 15.

    grandpa john

    August 27, 2012 at 10:52 am

    Of course Brokow had a ready example of democratic racist campaign adds to support his contention right?? Right?? What nobody asked him to supply a factual occurrence to justify his assertion?
    Oh right, TV media talking heads are not required to do this since it would hurt their fee fees is someone questioned their pronouncements .

  16. 16.

    El Cid

    August 27, 2012 at 10:52 am

    Matthews gets really pissed when the sorts of politicians and politics he worked with and on (personally) are attacked so disgustingly. It’s the flip side of his ultra-nostalgic comments he uses to contextualize everything, i.e., recollections of how X is like the Irish-American politics of blah-di-blah when so and so would do such and such.

  17. 17.

    Villago Delenda Est

    August 27, 2012 at 10:52 am

    @wvng:

    Brokaw is an utter waste of skin. A Broder wannabe.

  18. 18.

    dww44

    August 27, 2012 at 10:53 am

    @grandpa john: Actually, I’ve observed that Tweety’s been growing balls for quite some time. Very gradually actually and the genesis dates back to when Rachel and Lawrence and Al and Chris and Melissa joined the lineup at MSNBC. It’s as if he were given authority to address the issues from a truly center left position and not a center right one.

  19. 19.

    Violet

    August 27, 2012 at 10:54 am

    FWIW, I heard Chuck Todd call Akin’s claim about women’s bodies and rape false. He actually said “false”. Not quite “it’s a lie” but pretty close.

  20. 20.

    Kristin

    August 27, 2012 at 10:55 am

    @hep kitty: Here’s the video. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/27/chris-matthews-reince-priebus-birth-certificate_n_1832872.html

    (I’m not much of a regular poster, so not sure if it’s okay to post links. If not, let me know. Thanks.)

  21. 21.

    grandpa john

    August 27, 2012 at 10:55 am

    @EconWatcher: Simple, IOKYRR

  22. 22.

    grandpa john

    August 27, 2012 at 10:55 am

    @EconWatcher: Simple, IOKYRR

  23. 23.

    El Cid

    August 27, 2012 at 10:56 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: You have to remember, when they say “European” they’re not referencing some sort of rational definition of a geographical area referred to as “Europe”. It’s the imagined reference of “French surrender monkeys” and failed soshullist economies and Greece and such.

    “Maggie” Thatcher wasn’t European, and neither is David Cameron with his heroic, awesome, super-successful fiscal conservatism, and Tony Blair wasn’t when he was helping sell the fake Iraq war case as Bush Jr. lacked the nouns and verbs Blair could often provide.

    The imaginary Swedish conservative government which has reduced welfare statism to an imagined degree is quotable, but the reality of Swedish policies is not, and is therefore European.

    And so forth.

  24. 24.

    shortstop

    August 27, 2012 at 10:56 am

    Tweety’s an unguided missile who makes me roll my eyes way more often than he makes me cheer. But nobody does stuff like this–when he does it–with the same delicious degree of “Cut the crap, brother!” At least, nobody who has his visibility. Good for him.

  25. 25.

    Culture of Truth

    August 27, 2012 at 10:56 am

    DOWN GOES PREIBUS! DOWN GOES PREIBUS!

  26. 26.

    Schlemizel

    August 27, 2012 at 10:56 am

    OH my! I can only imagine the heart palpitations and rending of clothes going on in wingnutland after this rude and totally uncalled for display of honesty.

    @Villago Delenda Est:
    Brokaw bragged that he listens to Rush every day. He is an apologist for the GOP in a way even Broader would envy. But he is still part of the librule lamestream media

  27. 27.

    Villago Delenda Est

    August 27, 2012 at 10:57 am

    The amazing thing here is that Tweety is the guy who came up with the “land a 737 on his shoulders” meme about Rmoney.

    Now he sees Rmoney as an entitled asshole.

    What happened over the past four years to cause Tweety’s view of Rmoney to change so radically? Was he just looking on the surface before, and then got a peek at the plumbing within and recoiled in disgust?

  28. 28.

    El Cid

    August 27, 2012 at 10:59 am

    @Violet: It seems that more media are okay with “false”, but “lie” is still too far.

    Of course, when it’s an argument about whether or not Republicans know that what they’re saying is untrue and they’re choosing to say something they know is untrue, versus conservatives saying untrue things which they believe are true, it can be daunting for your average media worker.

  29. 29.

    BGinCHI

    August 27, 2012 at 10:59 am

    Priebus is a classic College Republican. Smarmy and full of talking points learned from the B school GOP playbook.

    It would be boring if they didn’t have shitloads of money and power.

    Is this the last election this kind of transparent racist rhetoric gets any traction? I smell a hail mary.

  30. 30.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    August 27, 2012 at 11:00 am

    @grandpa john: That is Tom Brokaw with a **** in his mouth.

  31. 31.

    Culture of Truth

    August 27, 2012 at 11:01 am

    Tweety is a blue collar catholic, wears his heart on his sleeve, and loves what he sees as iconic America. Sometimes he gets a thrill up his leg when Bush lands on aircraft carrier, sometimes its when Obama gives a speech.

  32. 32.

    Linda Featheringill

    August 27, 2012 at 11:01 am

    @Kristin:

    Links are fine. We like to see them. The software won’t allow more than 2 or 3 within a single comment, but we don’t care otherwise.

    And welcome aboard!

  33. 33.

    Tokyokie

    August 27, 2012 at 11:02 am

    @EconWatcher: Adelson will never face charges for multiple violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act under a Romney administration and can even expect diplomatic pressure from the U.S. on China should the PRC threaten his empire on their end. Such prospects are much more uncertain under a second Obama administration.

  34. 34.

    shortstop

    August 27, 2012 at 11:03 am

    @El Cid: Also too, “European” is excellent as a genetic basis, which, I need not remind you, contrasts with the president’s AFRICAN BLACK AFRICAN BLACK GUY JESUS HE’S BLACK heritage. It’s also the foundation of the laws, religion and customs of the Nation We Hold So Dear, USA, Fuck Yeah, as opposed to all those multicultural folkways liberals are always pretending have some sort of value. However, nothing that has happened on that continent (not including, as you point out, the UK) in at least the past century–with the exception of Allied troop movements–should be viewed with other than deep suspicion.

  35. 35.

    Culture of Truth

    August 27, 2012 at 11:04 am

    Even Republicans says what Akin said was false. Heck, even Akin says it.

  36. 36.

    shortstop

    August 27, 2012 at 11:04 am

    @BGinCHI:

    Is this the last election this kind of transparent racist rhetoric gets any traction?

    Honey, where do you come up with this stuff?

  37. 37.

    Paul

    August 27, 2012 at 11:05 am

    @wvng:

    Good for Tweety, but one might note that the other pundits there recoiled in horror at the very thought that Tweety said what he said. Brokaw even sternly threw in a “both sides do it” for good measure.

    This was a great example of a pundit (Matthews) that adds value to a show vs somebody who is just there to take up space (Brokaw). Needless to say, Joe and his female co-host falls in the 2nd category.

  38. 38.

    Elizabelle

    August 27, 2012 at 11:08 am

    Paddy put up a video of Matthews’ takedown of Priebus from “The Political Carnival” blog. Paddy posted it to the “shaky substance” thread.

    Loads fast and worth every minute.

  39. 39.

    Butch

    August 27, 2012 at 11:08 am

    First Soledad and now Tweety? Real journamalism?

  40. 40.

    shortstop

    August 27, 2012 at 11:08 am

    @Tokyokie: It’s enough of a distraction to make Shel forget to lick Bibi’s boots for four seconds or so.

  41. 41.

    Kristin

    August 27, 2012 at 11:10 am

    @Linda Featheringill: Thank you! :)

  42. 42.

    Schlemizel

    August 27, 2012 at 11:10 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: I thought it was Nooner that wet-dreampt the shoulders as landing strip meme. Was it really Tweety?

  43. 43.

    Tom65

    August 27, 2012 at 11:11 am

    I love how the rest of them sit there with their chins in the chest, obviously horrified that Matthews is spoiling their little coffee clatch. Good for Matthews, and fuck Tom Brokaw in every orifice for pulling the “both sides do it” chicken switch.

  44. 44.

    Villago Delenda Est

    August 27, 2012 at 11:12 am

    @Schlemizel:

    That might be, that definitely has a Nooneresque quality to it.

    Tweety carried the ball, though, for a while. Now he’s not so hot on landing that 737 there.

  45. 45.

    YellowJournalism

    August 27, 2012 at 11:14 am

    Priebus was so stunned that when he was talking, I started to wonder if he was actually having a stroke. He seemed to be talking out one side of his mouth and even slurred his words in a way. His facial expressions were those of someone who had just come home from a root canal.

    My favorite part, other than the third base comment and Mika’s facial expressions, was when Priebus dismissed everything and then started on the European crap that just proved what Tweety was saying.

  46. 46.

    Napoleon

    August 27, 2012 at 11:15 am

    @BGinCHI:

    Is this the last election this kind of transparent racist rhetoric gets any traction? I smell a hail mary.

    This is on point:

    http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/08/2012-or-never-for-gops-white-base.html

  47. 47.

    bjacques

    August 27, 2012 at 11:16 am

    Mika Brzezinski is a neo-con princess, the daughter of Zbigniew. She had a very good education, but as far I can tell her job on the show is to put a damper on the debate whenever it threatens to become meaningful. So if Tweety starts following the money too closely, Mika is “oh, that’s just too complicated!” And this time she’s all “but the Democrats…”

  48. 48.

    El Cid

    August 27, 2012 at 11:16 am

    @Butch: I heard a clip of Soledad on “This Week In Blackness” where Christine Is Not A Witch O’Donnell arrogantly talks down to Soledad and calls herself a policy wonk, and Soledad smacks back with a real nice pissed-off “When did you become a policy wonk?” It was great.

  49. 49.

    Yutsano

    August 27, 2012 at 11:18 am

    @Kristin: And in proper Balloon Juice tradition let me give you our customary welcome.

    Ahem:

    “F YOU!!”

    And welcome to the insanity. The Tunch petting line will be forming shortly. :)

  50. 50.

    Kristin

    August 27, 2012 at 11:18 am

    @Odie Hugh Manatee: The response will probably be, “libs hate successful people!”

  51. 51.

    kd bart

    August 27, 2012 at 11:19 am

    Even Howard Feinman has begun to grow a spine.

  52. 52.

    Tokyokie

    August 27, 2012 at 11:20 am

    @shortstop: Although Shel wants to see the U.S. pursue Bibi’s foreign policy in regard to the Middle East, that position strikes me as the default setting for today’s GOP. Shel’s been giving millions first to Newtie then Mittens with the tacit understanding that the recipient of such largesse, if elected, will keep his felonious ass out of prison and his ill-gained empire intact.

  53. 53.

    Culture of Truth

    August 27, 2012 at 11:24 am

    @kd bart: Recall these are cool kids who went after Gore for seeming phony and out of touch and clueless and allegedly stretching the truth. Romney is genuinely all those things, plus a flip-flopper, a racism-panderer, super-privileged, snotty, obnoxious, mean, and with policies that hurt the country.

    He’s all the worst qualities of Gore and Bush with none of their positives. No wonder out media is starting to move into destructo mode.

  54. 54.

    Bruuuuce

    August 27, 2012 at 11:24 am

    If having a lookalike who’s the best fictional newsman on TV inspires Tweety to actual journalism like this, let’s have the second season of The Newsroom RIGHT NOW :-)

  55. 55.

    The Moar You Know

    August 27, 2012 at 11:24 am

    Is this the last election this kind of transparent racist rhetoric gets any traction?

    @BGinCHI: This is not the end of such things but merely the beginning. Just wait for the first Hispanic candidate for president.

    The lesson that such bullshit is unacceptable has not only not been taught yet, the lesson plan and classroom space haven’t even been figured out yet.

  56. 56.

    Elizabelle

    August 27, 2012 at 11:27 am

    @Napoleon:

    You beat me to posting the Chait item.

    Here’s the Ronald Brownstein article from The National Journal that underlies Chait’s column.

    Obama Needs 80% of Minority Vote to Win 2012 Presidential Election

    Analysis: The incumbent’s formula is 80/40. Romney’s is 61/74. Here’s a look at the color of the calculations.

    Ah, yes. But what about women? Ruh-roh.

    Romney’s team hopes to increase his vote share to three-fifths among college-educated white men and two-thirds among blue-collar white men. But his advisers believe the election will be decided mostly by whether Romney can make smaller gains among white women. Most polls show Obama maintaining or exceeding his strong 2008 showing with college-plus white women (he’s polling above 60 percent with them in some key states); Romney’s campaign hopes to recapture some of these voters by stressing the increased federal debt their children will inherit after Obama’s term. Romney’s team considers it even more imperative to reverse the recent gains that Obama has recorded among blue-collar white women by his effective portrayal of the GOP nominee as an out-of-touch plutocrat. Attacks against Obama’s record on spending and welfare will be Romney’s key strategy there.

    Um, white women probably don’t mind government spending when it educates their kids, provides healthcare, and keeps Grandma from moving into the basement.

  57. 57.

    Ann Rynd

    August 27, 2012 at 11:30 am

    I ‘ll never call him Tweety again. From now on he’s Mr. Matthews to me.

  58. 58.

    bemused

    August 27, 2012 at 11:31 am

    @bjacques:

    I don’t think Mika would be on the show if she tried to be as straight forward as Chris was this morning. It is Joe’s show, I can’t imagine he would stand for much dissension from her. She’s not getting paid to be a more liberal contrast. It’s hard to tell how progressive she is as a woman when she is so careful what she says. She seems to hint at being at odds with Joe’s views sometimes but she so carefully parses her words to the point of being mush and sighs a lot, who knows.
    I loved it when her dad called Scarborough “stunningly superficial” on the show awhile back. I don’t remember if Mika had to grab the smelling salts.

  59. 59.

    LanceThruster

    August 27, 2012 at 11:31 am

    @wvng:

    Saw that too. Rinse Repeatus also kept playing the indignation card at Matthews with a lot of eye-rolling and claiming Matthews was engaged in a monologue.

    RP still couldn’t answer a single question put to him with a straight answer.

  60. 60.

    danimal

    August 27, 2012 at 11:32 am

    Help me understand, O journamalism bigwigs: What, exactly, is the Dem equivalent of the race-baiting, spun-out-of-whole-cloth, welfare lie?

    If “both sides do it,” Mr. Brokaw, perhaps you can give an example.

    ….crickets chirping….

  61. 61.

    J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford

    August 27, 2012 at 11:36 am

    @Bruuuuce:

    Do folks here know that Chris Matthews’ son, Thomas Matthews, is on The Newsroom?

    I like Chris Matthews, I think he’s honest and authentic. Yeah, the man-crushes he gets for the likes of Fred Thompson are little off-putting, but the guy seems to be making a conscious effort to be better.

  62. 62.

    jurassicpork

    August 27, 2012 at 11:39 am

    Tweety turns into Mr. Hyde on Reince Priebus on Morning Joe and Pottersville has the video and some spicy commentary.

  63. 63.

    Violet

    August 27, 2012 at 11:41 am

    @J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford: I didn’t know that. Interesting. I wonder if he calls up his dad and makes a few suggestions?

  64. 64.

    shortstop

    August 27, 2012 at 11:41 am

    @Ann Rynd: Coffee through my nose.

  65. 65.

    Waldo

    August 27, 2012 at 11:42 am

    Tweety gets like that from time to time, but it’s never quite enough to make you forget his man crush on Tom DeLay.

  66. 66.

    Waynski

    August 27, 2012 at 11:42 am

    @bemused: I’ve watched the show quite a bit (not so much these days), but when Joe’s on vacation, Mika’s true liberal bias emerges. Joe generally criticizes her for this when he returns, saying stuff like, “Jeez, I’m gone for a few days and this place turns into the Daily Pravda.” So, you’re right, it’s Joe’s show and he tolerates only minor dissent from her.

  67. 67.

    yopd1

    August 27, 2012 at 11:43 am

    I loved the end of the argument:

    MATTHEWS: Let me tell you some history, sir. Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt pushed for that, Truman pushed for that, were they all under the influence of Europe? Where do you get this from?
    PRIEBUS: I’m not going to get into a shouting match with Chris, so you guys can just move on.
    MATTHEWS: Because you’re losing, that’s why.

  68. 68.

    shortstop

    August 27, 2012 at 11:43 am

    @Tokyokie: Of course it’s the default position for the GOP, but few have wielded the money carrot on this issue with the intensity and focus of Adelson. Other than protecting his own ass and assets, it’s his driving passion.

  69. 69.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 27, 2012 at 11:44 am

    The amazing thing here is that Tweety is the guy who came up with the “land a 737 on his shoulders” meme about Rmoney.

    I think that was coined by Roger Simon

  70. 70.

    Smiling Mortician

    August 27, 2012 at 11:45 am

    @Violet: Probably started the other way around, though. Chris: “Here’s what it’s like, son.” Thomas: “Here’s what it should be, Dad.” Chris: “Oh. Right.”

  71. 71.

    Brachiator

    August 27, 2012 at 11:46 am

    @Balconesfault:

    What better way than to promote the meme that the media is obsessed with race, and can’t be trusted by white people?

    But this has long been the case. This is why Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Fox News is sold as Real White News for Real White Americans(tm).

    The lazy, stupid presumption is that any and all negative reporting by the mainstream media is definitive proof of their bias.

    @The Moar You Know:

    The lesson that such bullshit is unacceptable has not only not been taught yet, the lesson plan and classroom space haven’t even been figured out yet.

    The right doesn’t believe that this stuff is unacceptable, and never will.

  72. 72.

    Violet

    August 27, 2012 at 11:47 am

    @Smiling Mortician: But at this point, with his son working on a show that shows how it should be done, Dad can take a few tips.

  73. 73.

    bemused

    August 27, 2012 at 11:47 am

    @Waynski:

    That and the producer’s voices in her earpiece. I imagine they have just told her “zip it” when she starts making faces and sighing.

  74. 74.

    Bruuuuce

    August 27, 2012 at 11:48 am

    @J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford: I hadn’t known. Thanks for pointing that out. (Still buzzed on the season finale last night, ending with a completely unexpected cameo in the final scene by the lobby of the building I work in (the Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park))

  75. 75.

    General Stuck

    August 27, 2012 at 11:49 am

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    I been a Matthews watcher and student of his punditry for a long time. And here is my take on some of the bullshit that periodically crosses his lips.

    The guy is so in love with and enamored by all things political, that he often comments on matters of pageantry with political events, that comes out as support for the subjects conducting that pageantry. And wingnuts are the flamboyant actors in the national political theater, as opposed to relatively mannered dems.

    Such as his stupid ass remarks on when Bush flew onto the navy carrier, as well as the broad shoulders shit for Romney, that actually is his boy like wonder at the beauty of it all, or something like that. And I think some of it comes from coming from a family of mostly wingnuts, like his politician brother. And some weird Freudian goings on there.

    You have to listen to the guy on a regular basis to get where he is personally on issues, and that is very liberal on core dem issues of justice, the safety net, anti war, and all the rest.

    On optics stuff, he is non partisan in his admiration of when one side or the other does something with a sense of style and pos political effect. Doesn’t mean he agrees with that side on core ideology. He does leave behind a number of halfass anecdotes that could well lead the casual viewer to think he is all water carrier for the republicans. Not true.

    Then there is his very weird horny toading of female guests on his show, that sometimes is highly cringe worthy.

  76. 76.

    Unsympathetic

    August 27, 2012 at 11:55 am

    @Odie Hugh Manatee:

    To perfect the baseball analogy: “Born on third base and balked into home.”

    Bonus points with the 27% for saying “blacked” into home.

  77. 77.

    Jamey

    August 27, 2012 at 11:58 am

    @Balconesfault: This was my first thought, too. Keeps the birther meme front and center, while discrediting an ivory-tower leftist newsreader. A two-fer!

  78. 78.

    Ann Rynd

    August 27, 2012 at 12:03 pm

    @General Stuck:
    Now that was well said. I think he’s long stuggled to gain real moral stature. That might be what today was about.

  79. 79.

    Villago Delenda Est

    August 27, 2012 at 12:11 pm

    @General Stuck:

    Interesting and perceptive take on him. I think you’re on to something.

    But this line…

    that actually is his boy like wonder at the beauty of it all, or something like that.

    …makes me wonder what a Chris Matthews would have been like in 1930’s Germany at a Partei rally. Those things were tailored for that sort of individual, one who gets totally immersed in the pageantry and isn’t paying much attention to the stuff going on offstage.

  80. 80.

    Mandalay

    August 27, 2012 at 12:19 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    The amazing thing here is that Tweety is the guy who came up with the “land a 737 on his shoulders” meme about Rmoney.

    That is not true.

    What happened over the past four years to cause Tweety’s view of Rmoney to change so radically?

    It has not changed, unless you have any specific evidence to the contrary. When Romney was running in 2007 Matthews was savaging him for his sons not serving in the military, falsely claiming that he was a lifelong hunter, falsely claiming that he marched with MLK, etc.

    It took less than a minute to find all that on Google. I am no fan of Matthews, but he deserves credit where it is due.

  81. 81.

    jp7505a

    August 27, 2012 at 12:19 pm

    The problem I have with Tweety is he doesn’t know when to shut up. He had the guy backed into a corner, would not let him answer the question so it looked like Tweety was doing the hectoring. Ask the question, let Reince Preibi make a clear and stupid statement like he did about Europe, then nail his butt to the wall.

    As long as Tweety keeps talking then the guest can just roll his eyes and play the victim.

    I notived the rest of the panel were very quiet, except when Brokaw issued the standard both sides do it.

  82. 82.

    hep kitty

    August 27, 2012 at 12:22 pm

    Well, poopies, have to wait till I get home to watch

  83. 83.

    kd bart

    August 27, 2012 at 12:22 pm

    @General Stuck:

    Remember, the man worked for Tip O’Neill back in the 80s.

  84. 84.

    rikyrah

    August 27, 2012 at 12:22 pm

    And then Tweety says, “It’s funny that the first joke the guy (Romney) makes is racist.”

    that’s worth the entire clip.

  85. 85.

    maven

    August 27, 2012 at 12:24 pm

    Matthews loves politics. I recall a few Octobers back he said something like “I love the smell of this time of year”. (Autumn briskness-elections).

    His is of a certain age and remembers the 60’s. I think this race stuff really sets him off; as it does those of us who lived through it.

    I hear dog whistles………..

  86. 86.

    hep kitty

    August 27, 2012 at 12:27 pm

    Mika B will always be Scarborough’s sidekick and play that little long-suffering, disapproving, but basically supportive wife bit from the 50’s & 60’s, “there he goes again” sorta thing while he bellows over her. Used to feel sorry for her when the show first started. It’s such a sexist show.

  87. 87.

    General Stuck

    August 27, 2012 at 12:30 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    .makes me wonder what a Chris Matthews would have been like in 1930’s Germany at a Partei rally. Those things were tailored for that sort of individual, one who gets totally immersed in the pageantry and isn’t paying much attention to the stuff going on offstage.

    This morn on Mornin Joe, sure looked like Tweety IS paying attention. And he always has outside his various indulgences to wankery. not really a good analogy you make.

  88. 88.

    Brachiator

    August 27, 2012 at 12:30 pm

    Where did this take place? It looks as though the set is designed to convey some kind of informal, “we’re all just having a beer together” feel. Are there people in the background ordering drinks?

    Sorry, I don’t like the hack journalists palling around with political hacks thing, or that Tweety has to lean over across Brokaw to make his point. I can almost see where Brokaw felt that he had to interject the phoney fairness bullshit to re-establish the faux levity.

    Yeah, it was artificial in its own way, but I prefer how Ted Koppel’s Nightline setup was deliberately designed to keep guests from feeling too comfortable.

    Somebody like the Reince of Darkness should never be allowed to relax and do his little hebephrenic giggle without getting slapped around hard.

  89. 89.

    eyelessgame

    August 27, 2012 at 12:36 pm

    Dudes. Dudes. No sense of history. Y’all should know very well that “European” means one thing, and one thing only, to Merkin evangelicals. It means Jewish. (It also means Other, and socialist, and elitist banker, and overeducated snob, but mostly it means Jew.)

  90. 90.

    Ann Rynd

    August 27, 2012 at 12:37 pm

    @Brachiator: “hebephrenic,” now there’s a woid.

  91. 91.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 27, 2012 at 12:38 pm

    @eyelessgame: also too gay

  92. 92.

    celticdragonchick

    August 27, 2012 at 12:38 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    I’m not so sure about that. Matthews is a product of the Tip O’Neill school where you can slag your opponents all day on the floor of the House and then have a pint and same laughs with the same guys and their staff at a working stiff Irish pub at 5:30. It was theater and they all knew it. The real work got down after business hours over a beer or a martini.

    In that spirit, he still admires good theater. He most certainly does not admire fanatic lunatics who really buy their own bullshit and want to move the country into the 12th Century. I have noticed that his anger and alarm have been growing the last couple of years as the last few sane Republicans (IE the ones who would bargain with you over a beer and a porterhouse steak) all got kicked out of the party and were replaced by teahadists funded by the Kochsuckers.

  93. 93.

    Elizabelle

    August 27, 2012 at 12:47 pm

    @celticdragonchick:

    I have noticed that his anger and alarm have been growing the last couple of years as the last few sane Republicans (IE the ones who would bargain with you over a beer and a porterhouse steak) all got kicked out of the party and were replaced by teahadists funded by the Kochsuckers.

    Sad when your canary in the coalmine waits until the 11th hour to react. Let’s hope there’s enough time left, and that we get more Tweetys and less Brokaws from here out.

  94. 94.

    Rob Eberhardt

    August 27, 2012 at 12:54 pm

    LOL

    Mika: “OK, let’s just work on tone…”

  95. 95.

    Mnemosyne

    August 27, 2012 at 12:56 pm

    @El Cid:

    Of course, when it’s an argument about whether or not Republicans know that what they’re saying is untrue and they’re choosing to say something they know is untrue, versus conservatives saying untrue things which they believe are true, it can be daunting for your average media worker.

    Considering that Akin apparently genuinely believed his BS about “protective secretions” until someone clued him in, I think it’s always difficult to say whether or not a Republican who lives inside the bubble is consciously lying or is just repeating the lies s/he’s been told. IMO, it’s better to point out the lies than to get caught up in the weeds of whether or not the person telling the lie believes it or not, because it doesn’t matter that they believe it. A lie doesn’t magically become true just because the person telling it thinks that it’s true.

  96. 96.

    celticdragonchick

    August 27, 2012 at 12:57 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Yep. A lot of professional political observers have assumed over the past few years that the natural pendulum of American politics would self correct at some point and the teabaggers would self destruct…but Citizens United really invalidated the model. Between that and the attempts to rig the vote through disenfranchising dem voters, it may be possible that the political clock (so to speak) will actually break. Matthews has been desperately (IMO) trying to call attention to both of these problems. He seems to have realized that the old days of back room negotiating were dead and gone and that we now have actual crazy people in office buoyed up by unlimited right wing money. He has been airing segments on “Angry Dirty Money” and vote blocking by the GOP for months on end.

  97. 97.

    General Stuck

    August 27, 2012 at 1:00 pm

    Wow, I must have missed it in the clip, but just read part of the transcript where Matthews said to Preebus, “you’re garbage” . I suspect he will walk that one back some, but jeebus, everyone have what Chris is having.

  98. 98.

    xian

    August 27, 2012 at 1:09 pm

    @wvng: he transgressed the unwritten law!

  99. 99.

    Brachiator

    August 27, 2012 at 1:09 pm

    @celticdragonchick:

    Yep. A lot of professional political observers have assumed over the past few years that the natural pendulum of American politics would self correct at some point and the teabaggers would self destruct

    Who are these so-called professionals? When has this supposed self-correction ever happened, in the US or elsewhere?

    Shit, you might as well call the Civil War a little exercise in self-correction.

    And it is not just Citizens United. The Tea Party has consistently pressed its advantage, and there are Republican operatives who have no problem with them dominating the party and maintaining discipline.

  100. 100.

    f space that

    August 27, 2012 at 1:26 pm

    Speaking of Matthews, I noticed the other day that Pat Lang was all pissed at Matthews about abortion and how Matthews isn’t a real Catholic, should be excommunicated, he’s acting like a wishy washy Protestant etc. Kind of dickish really. I go there time to time to see how pissed he gets about gun control.

  101. 101.

    Mino

    August 27, 2012 at 1:33 pm

    That was a hard crowd at Morning Joe, too. Twice I heard them clapping when liberal points were made.

  102. 102.

    Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God

    August 27, 2012 at 1:58 pm

    @celticdragonchick:
    Just had a thought: Matthews has been battling Type 2 diabetes these past few years. You can tell, too, some days he looks like hell.

    Would never wish that on anyone, “our” side, “their” side, any side… but some folks get a new ‘perspective’ when they start fighting a major illness.

    That said, I agree with the rest of the folks here: he’s a holdover of the old-style blue-collar Catholic liberal in the Tip O’Neill mold. (Fun Fact: I grew up in Tip’s Congressional district, another reason CM’s tone probably rings ancient bells for me).

    More, please. Please?

  103. 103.

    jomike

    August 27, 2012 at 2:23 pm

    @General Stuck: Rushed transcript, apparently. Near the end of the clip Priebus says “it’s garbage” to which Matthews replies “it’s your garbage.”

    Michael Steele was one of the guests during the first hour. He must’ve had a right good time watching his successor soil himself on live TV.

  104. 104.

    karen

    August 27, 2012 at 2:31 pm

    I don’t understand what the point is with these racist dog whistles.

    The purpose is to “hint” that Obama is a Ni-CLANG, over and over.

    But is there anyone who didn’t think it before who would suddenly think it now?

    Did someone actually forget that Obama is African American?

    Or is this just to bait Obama into reacting?

  105. 105.

    shortstop

    August 27, 2012 at 2:34 pm

    @karen: It’s to convince the racist core of the GOP that Mitt is really, truly one of them. Think of it: It’s less than a week to Labor Day and he still hasn’t nailed down the base.

  106. 106.

    JoyfulA

    August 27, 2012 at 2:42 pm

    @Ann Rynd: That used to be one of my favorite words, but I haven’t seen it or said it in decades!

  107. 107.

    Mnemosyne

    August 27, 2012 at 3:02 pm

    @karen:

    Like shortstop said, I’m beginning to suspect that internal polling is telling Republicans that they’re going to have trouble getting their base to show up to vote, so they’re trying to shore that up with this kind of shit.

    As I said in the other thread, it’s easy to slap a “NOBama” sticker on your car, but you actually have to put your shoes on and go to the polling place in order to vote, and I think Republican enthusiasm is more than a wee bit lower than the polls have been showing.

  108. 108.

    General Stuck

    August 27, 2012 at 3:18 pm

    @jomike:

    That makes sense. I read it in a The Hill piece, that they still have up.

    “Garbage,” Priebus muttered. “Garbage.”

    “You’re garbage,” Matthews said, as MSNBC quickly cut to commercial break.

    Looks like Grammar crime. And for once it wasn’t me as the perp. I feel powerful.

  109. 109.

    chrome agnomen

    August 27, 2012 at 3:46 pm

    @General Stuck:

    this could be construed as ‘your garbage’; the garbage the right is pushing. either way works for me.

    /got beaten to the grammatical punch

  110. 110.

    Applejinx

    August 27, 2012 at 3:57 pm

    One thing that drives Tweety into a rage is wilful ignorance or REWRITING of history.

    It’s much like when he cornered that guy on ‘what did Neville Chamberlain DO?’ about him being an ‘appeaser’. On that occasion as well, Tweety flew into a rage and fought like a demon to be understood.

    I think he has certain requirements for how people are allowed to behave, and some understanding of the power of the media. He comprehends that the business he’s in can be used to literally brainwash an entire nation into any damn crazy idea. He considers some ideas more damaging than others, and he has his limits.

    This is one. Putting across a mass-media fullcourt press that the President, an American citizen, is some foreign spy- or totally baseless suggestions that he is giving the economy away to welfare queens that don’t work and this is why we’re struggling- these attempts to propagandize the electorate through mass media drive Tweety into a righteous rage.

    As they should. They should enrage ANYBODY who believes the media does have that kind of power to manipulate.

    Tweety is no fool. Silly sometimes, but more and more he’s dead serious and he is not having any of this. I’m really proud of him. There are a few people in media now who do not want our country destroyed. GOOD.

  111. 111.

    Patricia Kayden

    August 27, 2012 at 5:00 pm

    Matthews is spot on. And I love how he makes it clear that Obama is more accomplished that “born with a spoon in his mouth” Rmoney. So true.

    It’s not a dog whistle if everyone can hear it.

  112. 112.

    dance around in your bones

    August 27, 2012 at 6:10 pm

    Tweety’s been on fire lately – just watch him at the RNC coverage today.

    There have been times that I have been disappointed in him, but I have to say, the last couple months – he’s been burning with disgust for the Republicans and the Romney.

    It’s kinda like a John Cole/LGF moment. Sometimes what he is saying makes me think he reads both of these sites.

    Oh, FSM, may it continue! (Perhaps FSM has touched Chris Matthews with his noodly appendage and opened his third eye or squeegeed it a la Bill Hicks or something.)

  113. 113.

    AxelFoley

    August 27, 2012 at 8:21 pm

    Tweety got in that ass.

  114. 114.

    sempronia

    August 27, 2012 at 8:59 pm

    @S-Curve:

    Ha, was wondering if anyone else would pick that up! Well done, DougJ.

    /nerd, un-retrainable

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