Obama Laughs In Chris Matthews' Face

It is a long interview, but the part where Obama is asked what was the funniest thing for him has to be the best part of the interview:

Chris Matthews Can't Hide His Racism

Yesterday was April Fool's Day, but Chris Matthews' comments about Barack Obama was no joke. He had Senator Claire McCaskill on the show to talk about, of all things, Obama's bowling skills (why that has anything to do with running for President, you got me) and he used it in a way to lean on racial stereotypes that have no place on a news show or television in general.

From Media Matters:

Discussing Sen. Barack Obama on the April 1 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews asked Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO): "Let me ask you about how he -- how's he connect with regular people? Does he? Or does he only appeal to people who come from the African-American community and from the people who have college or advanced degrees?" Earlier in the show, referring to Obama's bowling performance at a March 29 campaign stop at Pleasant Valley Lanes in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Matthews teased the segment with McCaskill by asking, "[C]an Obama woo more regular voters -- you know, the ones who actually do know how to bowl?" As Media Matters for America noted, on the March 31 edition of Hardball, Matthews said of Obama: "[T]his gets very ethnic, but the fact that he's good at basketball doesn't surprise anybody, but the fact that he's that terrible at bowling does make you wonder."

Since when are those who are college educated and/or African-Americans not regular people?!? And the basketball comment? Seriously Chris WTF is wrong with you? Those stereotypes are absolutely ridiculous and only serve to lower the character of the debate. Of course none of this surprises me, Matthews continually offends everyone that isn't a white male as long as he's talking out loud. If it isn't an implied racist remark, there's a chauvinistic barb waiting in the wings.

If only MSNBC could do the right things and get rid of him, how much better the world of American politics would be.

Chris Matthews Is Still A Moron

After all these years of being on television, we shouldn't expect the pundit-extraordinaire Chris Matthews to stop bloviating to the nth degree. His latest ridiculous comment concerned George Bush and baseball. You might have seen the 40,000+ fans booing him yesterday in Washington as the Nationals started their season and ol' Georgie threw out the first ceremonial pitch. That is to be expected. What came out of left field (pun intended) was Matthews' observation.

From The Huffington Post:

MSNBC's Chris Matthews told his viewers Monday that the hearty round of boos that greeted President George W. Bush when he threw out the inaugural pitch at Washington D.C.'s new baseball stadium weren't a big deal, because all politicians get booed at ball games, and Bush "showed a lot of guts" throwing out the pitch.

A lot of guts? No Chris, you have a lot of guts when you open that big, fat mouth of yours every night and manage to offend everyone outside of the Beltway.

Does NAFTA Make Hillary Human?

David Shuster calls out Hillary Clinton's NAFTA inconsistencies. She claimed lack of sleep made her exaggerate the whole Tuzla thing, what will she say now to her contradictory remarks on the "free trade" agreement that led to the loss of thousands upon thousands of American jobs.

Bill Maher Owned Hardball Last Night

For the few minutes that he was on, Bill Maher had Tweety laughing and dominated McCain's secret lover by hammering home the facts that race is still a major factor in American society and Obama did the right thing by addressing an issue that no one talks about. Then he decimated McCain on his Iraq strategy which only 'emboldens' the terrorists:

Hey Tweety Bird, Men Have Knives Too

Chris Matthews is a real prize. For the most part, he is a fixture of the D.C. cocktail weenie circuit, where journalists blend in with politicians for camaraderie instead of, um, practicing journalism. Chris also has a chauvinistic side. That is especially apparent when it comes to Hillary Clinton. Now I am certainly no fan of the lobbyist-influenced Mrs. Clinton, but this was uncalled for.

From Media Matters:

On the August 7 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, prior to the AFL-CIO's Democratic candidates' forum airing on MSNBC later that day, NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell referred to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finding that 39 percent of respondents said they "feel positive" toward Clinton on the issue of her "warmth and compassion," while 30 percent said they "feel negative." Saying that Clinton's "negatives are still so high on warmth and compassion," Mitchell asserted that Clinton "has to show some personality and some likability, because she really has to show that she's approachable and a little bit softer than she's been in the past." Hardball host Chris Matthews replied: "I know. She has to smile when she puts the knife in."

What the hell does that mean Chris? Putting the knife in? She's a politician, not a murderer. And if you are referring to the metaphorical blades, why not mention the enormous collection of blades by other elected officials. God only knows how many knives, axes, ninja stars and machetes Republicans carry around. There is nothing wrong with a woman playing "hardball" Chris, so lay off.

War Apologists March On

The problem with people like O'Hanlon is that they just refuse to look at the whole picture. We'll never find a solution if we only look at slightly favorable pieces of enormous, convoulted pie that is Iraq.

Hardball: Gonzales A Criminal?

Elizabeth Edwards Slams Coulter

I love nothing more than to see Ann Coulter being put in her place (other than being completely ignored, so I will take this for now). Elizabeth Edwards did exactly that tonight on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews. Chris invited her on to talk about the latest hateful spew she let loose on John Edwards. Unfortunately for her she was surprised with a live phone call from a woman who could be our next First Lady.

From RawStory:

"In the South, when somebody does something that displeases us, we like to ask them politley to stop doing it," said Edwards. "I'd like to ask Ann Coulter too. If she'd like to debate on issues, on positions -- we certainly disagree with nearly everything she said on your show today -- but it's quite another matter for these personal attacks."

(snip)

Although Coulter flippantly agreed to a debate, Edwards kept pushing back. "It did not start with [yesterday]. You had a column a couple years ago which made fun of the moment of Charlie Dean's death and suggessted that my husband had a bumper sticker on the back of his car that said, 'ask me about my dead son.' This is not legitimate political dialogue. It debases political dialogue. It draws people away from the process. We can't have a debate about the issues if you're using this type of language."

Coulter later questioned why the presidential candidate didn't phone in himself, to which Elizabeth had a ready answer. "I haven't talked to John about this call. I'm phoning in as a mother," she said to much applause. "I'm the mother of that boy who died. . . These young people behind you are the age of my children. You're asking them to particpate in a dialogue that's based on hatefullness and ugliness instead of on the issues and I don't think that's serving them or this country very well."

Elizabeth hits the nail right on Ann's head....well almost. Not only does this type of discourse have no place in politics, Ann has no place in legitimate political dialogue. Ann contributes nothing but hate and vindicativeness that only serves herself.

The fact that she was allowed to appear on Good Morning America and subsequently Hardball shows that the media is complicit with her game. Instead of having a thoughtful debate on the issues, the media gets to increase their ratings based on ridiculous drama while she gets to sell more books. Shame on Ann and any TV show that puts that troll on camera.

Another Bad Week For Bush

Hardball takes a look at last week's reminders of how bad the Bush Administration is doing, both for the country and themselves. Grand pundits Bob Shrum and Alex Castellanos talk about Bush and who might be the next President.

The WaPo's Editorial Page Is Screwed Up

And their columists know it. Check out what Eugene Robinson had to say about Fred Hiatt and company over Nancy Pelosi going to Syria.