Captain Obvious: Chris Matthews Discovers Tea Party "Aren't That Far" from White Supremacist Groups

I've had a few issues with Chris Matthews of late, where his always vacillating political needle seemed lodged in libertarian/conservative land. But he still shows flashes of reasonableness, even if the topic is blindingly obvious. In this case, it's noticing the not-so-very-far-apartness of white supremacist groups and "Tea Party" conservatives. Um yeah, we noticed that.

[Excerpt]
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews: Tea Party Republicans ‘aren’t that far’ from white supremacist groups

MSNBC host Chris Matthews slammed Tea Party Republicans on Tuesday, likening them to white supremacist organizations like the one currently linked to House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA).
 

Image from source, Raw Story

“How do you think Louie Gohmert feels toward David Duke?” Matthews askedHuffington Post reporter Sabrina Siddiqui. “How do we know? What do you think of [Ted] Yoho, and that crowd? These guys believe [President Barack Obama] was somehow an illegal immigrant from Africa because they can’t stand the fact that he’s an African-American president. Let’s be honest about it — they’re not that far from the crowd they refuse to associate with. . . .”

Read more at: Raw Story

The Ed Show Moves to Weekends on MSNBC

I've been something of a fan* of MSNBC since Countdown with Keith Olbermann switched gears and started speaking out against the Iraq War. Already a fan of Rachel Maddow, I was happy to add her program to my schedule, and when Olbermann left, I stuck with her, and occasionally some of their other programming. I've enjoyed the other personalities like Ezra Klein, Chris Hayes, Ari Melber (sigh), Melissa Harris-Perry and several others, including the occasional Hardball with Chris Matthews and The Last Call with Lawrence O'Donnell episodes. But I'm not a huge fan of Ed Schultz.

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It's not that I particularly dislike him, and I'll acknowledge that he's done a lot for liberal causes. But I find his program to be the least newsy of the MSNBC programs I ever watch, and have never become a fan of Ed's style. Still, I wish him well on the weekend startup, and I hope his wife is getting better from her illness.

[Excerpt]

The Ed Show moves to weekend evenings on MSNBC this spring

MSNBC’s “The Ed Show,” hosted by Ed Schultz, will move to weekend evenings next month. The announcement was made by Ed Schultz on his broadcast this evening. “The Ed Show” will air live on MSNBC from 5-7 pm on Saturdays and Sundays beginning in April. More details of Ed’s new weekend program will be announced in the coming weeks. . .

Read more at: NBCNews




*I should note, that when I say "fan," I'm not a superfan, like many FOX "News" enthusiasts. While I am no doubt an unabashed fan of Rachel Maddow, I have no particular affection for big corporations like Comcast or GE. I'm grateful that MSNBC provides an outlet for Maddow, and by extension several other smarties I'm fond of. It ends there. M'mkay? M'mkay.

Ron Reagan Calls for Sensible Gun Control in Wake of Dark Knight Shootings

Image from Denver Post

Whenever there is a mass shooting in America (and it is far too often), gun fetishists immediately launch into a pre-emptive defense, knowing full well that some people are going to call for something to be done regarding gun laws. They often seem more concerned with that, then about the victims of yet another tragedy. And always, people say "now is not the time" to discuss such things.

Nonsense. Now is the best time to discuss such things. When it is fresh in peoples' minds. When it is not a hypothetical, but a reality. I've said here many times that I'm basically agnostic about guns and gun laws. But I am swayed by calls for sensible gun control laws. Things like competency tests and training. Things like making sure a buyer is not batshit crazy. Things like restricting the availability of guns with the capability of inflicting massive casualties in short periods of time. This guy shot 70 people! It's not crazy to want to make it harder for a madman to kill a bunch of people in a few minutes. What do gun nuts think is coming a zombie apocalypse?

Ron Reagan was filling in for Chris Matthews on Hardball on Friday, and in the "Let Me Finish. . ." segment, gave a brilliant essay on the subject. I was glad to see him use the same phrase I do (gun fetish), and that he also considers himself gun agnostic for the most part. And that he likes tweaking the NRA. I don't know why the right dislikes Ron Reagan so much either. I mean to them, he's practically the son of God, right?

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George Clooney on Hardball with Chris Matthews

Sudan isn't one of the topics I've covered here, and you can call me shallow for that, I suppose. But look! George Clooney! Okay, I'm definitely shallow!

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Chris Matthews: Romney Victory Would be Dollars Over Democracy

I only ever catch Hardball with Chris Matthews when I'm at the gym at the right time. But Monday's episode was worth the time for Matthews' "Let Me Finish. . ." segment. In this post-Citizens United world, money is king more than ever in politics. And the way the money is being spent is less than transparent. Romney's SuperPAC is supposedly not connected to him. But everyone knows it is. Those sorts of technicalities will hopefully be addressed, if the Citizens United ruling itself can't be undone.

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Chris Matthews Laments GOP Clown Show

I don't usually watch Hardball with Chris Matthews, but if I get to the gym in time (and get a treadmill with a TV), I catch some of it. Monday night's show finished with a Let Me Finish. . . segment that I could have written. Matthews was spot on. There may now be one less clown in the race since Herman Cain dropped out. But now, with Donald Trump running a debate? C'mon. It's ridiculous. It's non-serious. It's buffoonish.

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Chris Matthews Takes Rick Perry & Mitt Romney to the Woodshed

So, President Obama says something, Republican candidates take it out of context and run with it. Standard Operating Procedure, unfortunately. Even worse, even though the fact that they're saying that Obama called Americans "lazy" is a lie. . .it will be remembered as true in right-wing world for all eternity.

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Ron Reagan Explains Marriage Equality to Rick Santorum

This past week, Ron Reagan subbed for Chris Matthews on Hardball, and while I don't usually watch the program, I did manage to catch the following clip. In the "Let Me Finish. . ." segment, Reagan--whose radio show I miss a great deal--explains why marriage equality won't lead to polygamous, incestuous or bestial  marriages. What, you didn't think it did in the first place? Me either, but Rick Santorum does. Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry probably do. The entirety of FreeRepublic.com definitely does. So thanks to Ron for making the answer so easy. And thanks to him also for causing a few right-wing brain explosions for being a liberal, since his dad remains a Republican saint.

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Ron Reagan Jr. & John Aravosis on Hardball: Obama and Gay Marriage

All day Thursday, there has been buzz that the New York State Senate may pass (or fail to pass) legalized same-sex marriage. At almost the same time, President Obama held a fundraiser with GLBT folks. Awkward! Why? Because for good or ill, Obama and his administration--while openly supportive of gay rights--has been dancing up to the line in regards to marriage equality. Apparently they just can't go all the way to "yes, I support same sex marriage." He has to fall all over himself, (rightfully) touting the things that have been accomplished toward gay rights during his term, and reaffirm his belief that gays and lesbians should have equal rights. As far as full equality regarding marriage (which conveys rights), they're hedging: Obama is "evolving" on that issue.

Many people, myself included, think that Obama actually does support marriage equality, he just can't say so unless he gets reelected. And I kind of get that. Except that I'm irritated that we acknowledge and accept that our political leaders--all of them--lie to us as a matter of course, for political expediency. Yes, politicians have always had the reputation for lying, but here is lying that we wink-wink, nudge-nudge, tolerate.  Anyway, commenting on all of this is Ron Reagan, Jr. (a personal favorite) filling in for Chris Matthews on Hardball, and my "blogfather" John Aravosis, my main inspiration for starting this blog.

Chris Matthews Blasts FOX "News" For Health Care Coverage

Chris Matthews Proves Republicans Have Done Nothing Good for 20 Years

I'm not a huge fan of Hardball with Chris Matthews. But I've got to admit, sometimes Chris is more tenacious in his questioning of guests than other talking heads are. And he takes great delight in catching them flat-footed and unprepared. You'd think when going on a national show--even a modestly watched one like Hardball--a political strategist would be, I don't know, prepared?

[Excerpt]

GOP Strategist Todd Harris Can't Name One Thing Republicans Have Done for the Country in 20 Years


Republican strategist Todd Harris has some trouble giving Chris Matthews one example of anything Republicans have done that's positive for America in the last 20 years. I'll be curious if he does any better when Matthews has him back on. I'm not counting on it. . .

Read more at: Crooks and Liars

Ron Reagan Insulted by Ronald Reagan Worshipper?

Ron Reagan, son of the practically deified President Ronald Reagan, has a delightfully entertaining and informative radio show. The show is from a liberal perspective, and airs on Air America Radio. Some of the most amusing moments come from conservative callers to the show, who forget who they're talking to, and bring up Reagan's father. He usually puts them in their place rather quickly and with great humor. Here, it's a bit dicier, since the appearance is on Hardball with Chris Matthews which often has sort of a "Crossfire" shouting match going on.

[Excerpt]

Gaffney Tells Reagan "Your Father Would Be Ashamed Of You"

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Right-wing neoconservative Frank Gaffney went on "Hardball" Thursday night to defend Dick Cheney but ended up just insulting his fellow guest. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Tom DeLay: Drunk or Not?

The very first time I ever saw Tom DeLay, I didn't even know what party he belonged to. But I could tell I didn't much like him. Lots of swagger, evangelist hair. . .just yuck. Turned out my instincts were were right, and he is kind of a jerk. Minus the "kind of."

Well, it turns out ol' Tom is a birther. And quite possibly drunk too. On Hardball with Chris Matthews, DeLay slurs through the whole bit, and then says "gift certificate" when he means "birth certificate." You tell me, is The Hammer hammered?

Bill Maher Talks with Chris Matthews About Performing in the South

I don't often check out even clips of Hardball with Chris Matthews, but this one is pretty fun.

Condi Rice Seems to Admit Complicity in Torture

Ruh-roh. Could Condoleezza Rice have stepped her Ferragamos into a big pile of poo? The first clip is from Hardball with Chris Matthews, featuring Pat Buchanan and Jonathan Turley.



And more from Countdown with Keith Olbermann, with John Dean.

More on Texas Secession: Tom DeLay & Chris Matthews

For the life of me, I can't figure out why former Congressman Tom DeLay has even a shred of credibility left. He's as big a symbol of how government failed over the last eight years as anybody. And he's still babbling like a fool.

Michelle Bachman is So Crazy. . . (How Crazy is She?)

The headline is meant to evoke the old Match Game running gag, and Rolling Stone magazine's Matt Taibbi supplies the answer it a spectacular way: ". . .I saw a guy huffing glue out of a paper bag, and he was making more sense than Michelle Bachmann." (at 1:50) And he gets another good dig in after that too. Enjoy.

Chris Matthews Unspins Ari Fleischer

I'm no Chris Matthews fan, but he does a good job here, dressing down Ari Fleischer, former White House spokesperson for the Bush Administration. We've heard the line "George Bush kept us save" with the caveat "since September 11" far too many times.

As Matthews pointed out, September 11, 2001 happened during the Bush Administration. Unfortunately, unless it is edited out of this clip, Matthews doesn't challenge Fleischer when he AGAIN tries to connect Saddam Hussein to 9/11. Shameless.

Chris Matthews: What is the Role of the Vice President?

We can argue about whether or not Sarah Palin is prepared to be President (and I think I would win. . .she's not). But she made clear in a recent statement that she isn't ready to be Vice President, because she clearly doesn't know what the job description is. You'd think she'd have read up on it by now, but apparently, no.

Chris Matthews of MSNBC's Hardball tried to get some sort of explanation out of McCain-Palin surrogate, Nancy Pfotenhauer. She failed. Utterly.

Chris Matthews Shreds McCain Surrogate

Have you ever heard of an MSNBC show called Hardball? It's been around a while, and used to coexist with CNN's Crossfire (which Jon Stewart helped get cancelled). Both shows were aptly named, with Crossfire featuring a liberal and a conservative lobbing verbal grenades across the desk, and on Hardball, Chris Matthews pummeling guests with "hardball" questions.

But something happened during the Bush Administration. The media--for reasons still unknown--played softball with Bushco. Conservatives will deny this, but they obviously choose to forget the fervor with which the press went after Bill Clinton. Hardball was never quite the same after that.

But this clip from a recent Hardball seems to show that Matthews has gotten his fight back. Watch him tear apart John McCain surrogate, Eric Cantor.



And read more here: Think Progress