…he would have to take a leave of absence to recover from the shame of having heaped ridicule on a guest who tried to explain to him how Congress could and would pass a healthcare reform bill.
Daily Kos (3/22/10) recalled the January 22 edition of MSNBC‘s Hardball, in which guest Rep. Alan Grayson (D.-Fla.) pointed out that the Senate had already passed a healthcare bill, and that the House could approve it and then pass amendments that the Senate could accept via reconciliation. Matthews’ response: “OK, OK. OK, you know, this show is about reality.”
Matthews continually mocked Grayson for his supposed ignorance of Senate procedure:
What are you talking about? What procedure do you know that Harry Reid doesn’t know?… That Dick Durbin doesn’t know? That all those top guys, that Ted Kennedy didn’t know?… The secret route to the Indies that only you know about?… Why do you think the president and everybody else is dying over the fact that they lost Massachusetts? Because it didn’t matter? You think they’re all crazy over there, but you’re smart?
Matthews’ choice of insults was telling: “This is netroots talk!… This is outsider talk, and you’re an elected official…and you know you can’t do it. You’re pandering to the netroots right now. I know what you’re doing!”
By contrast, Matthews cited his insider credentials as a former Capitol Hill staffer to dismiss the lawmaker’s analysis:
Well, I worked over there for many, many years, and I worked for the speaker for six years, I worked 15 years up there…and I know what I’m talking about! You ask anybody… you ask anybody in the Senate right now…. Go call the Senate legislative counsel’s office and ask them if you can do this. Go ask the parliamentarians if you can do this. You haven’t bothered to do that.
Matthews made it abundantly clear that only Beltway insiders are worth listening to, and that Grayson, who’s only been in Congress for a little more than a year, didn’t qualify: “Every night, we deal with two worlds: the real world of Congress, that has to do things and get things passed; and this outside world, represented by the netroots and the other people out there, like yourself, who play this game…and it doesn’t get done!”
The host closed with a confident prediction about healthcare reform: “It’s not gonna happen. Anyway, Congressman Alan Grayson, a true believer, who believes he can get things done by willing it!”
Whenever I read something like this I wonder, is the MSM guy so stupid or process-captured himself that he doesn’t know damn well that the majority can do whatever it wants whenever it wants, and that saying, for example, “we can’t do reconciliation” means “we don’t want to do reconciliation”?
Or is it that since they were still in don’t-want-to-do mode, therefore the MSM itself knowingly propagates the official can’t-be-done lie?
Since I think these guys are more often conscious liars than bona fide idiots, therefore I tend to go with the latter. But with MSM blowhards, you never know….
Russ, well said.
I would also say that the majority — who can do what it wants when it wants — won’t do what is obviously good for the majority of us citizens. Neither will Obama.
FAIR.org is so good, I’d like to offer to everyone at FAIR my take on WHY we have this situation in our country — a fully corrupted system of government and a complicit MSM. I’d also like to offer the HOW: How to achieve a true representative democracy.
I worked six years as a daily newspaper journalist, so I’m not coming out of nowhere. And I’m using my real name here.
My new site: http://www.EqualPartyUSA.org
Welcome.
Chris Matthews is so pompous at times it is completely disgusting.
Another reason that he’s paid five million dollars. Just imagine how idiotic the MSM would be if they didn’t pay to retain the top talent.
Matthews is a pompous ass! In our house he is known as fathead! How anyone can even know what anybody but he has to say is beyond me because Matthews never shuts his mouth long enough for anybody else to get a word in. If he didn’t say that he is a Democrat I would really believe he is a Republican. That is their MO. to never let anyone else speak.
Chris Mathews was just being himself. He talks over all of his so-called guests. He thinks he know more than everyone else combined. That is why I always change channels when he comes on!
I like Chris Matthews but our nickname for him is Motor Mouth. He asks a question then interrupts the answer to add something, clarify, remark. He cannot resist the impulse to talk. This is quite rude, it breaks the thoughts of the guest, and it is very annoying to the viewer. He seems to have other problems as well, an example of which is described in this article. My wife and I listen to him far less than we did.
There’s noise and then there’s truth. Grayson had this right from the get-go. Hey Matthews…Shut up!
uh, listen, it is MSN(BC) ok? MSM??
Thank you for writing about that interview. I saw it and would have been shocked if it had not been Chris Matthews. He rarely knows what he is talking about unless it is old movies. But I don’t know about those so maybe he is as wrong about them as he is in this incident.
It was shameful the way he ridiculed Grayson, and he should have had to apologize to Grayson and acknowledge his own pure ignorance. Did he the next day? Most of the time if we watch his program it is by recording it and fast forwarding through it in case he has an interesting/informative guest on (rare). So I don’t know if he ever had to admit what a fool he made of himself with Grayson.
Chris likes to brag that he’s a tough no nonsense guy- and sometimes he is, but he can also be a fool for conventional group think, as Alan Grayson and Congress have shown him to be in with health care.
He needs to man up and apologize to Alan Grayson, and do it on his show.
Question: “Where does Chris Matthews stand on this issue?”
Answer: “What day is this?”
I’ve sat with a gaping mouth watching Chris Matthews ‘carpet bomb’ a guest who hasn’t gotten 5 words out of his or her mouth. Dr. Howard Dean for one and he should refuse to go back on until he gets an on air apology as should Alan Grayson. Politics and TV have some pretty incredible egos but I don’t think you can find one to compare with Chris Matthews. He seriously doesn’t even make sense much of the time! Watch the faces of the pundits who are guests on his show after he’s interrupted them 6 times before they’ve even begun their response. He’s on such a tear they don’t even know if they should respond, let alone what to respond to. One has to seriously wonder if he suffers from ADHD or mania.
The only times I’ve seen Matthews apologize he goes on Joe Scarborough’s ‘good ol’ boys’ show and gets everyone to agree he’s being abused by being forced to apologize. Then he offers something like a “I’m sorry I had to beat you…” statement on his show that is supposed to pass as an apology.
Can you say “narcissistic personality disorder”?
You pushed me over the edge. I’ve been deleting all the fund-raising email for Grayson because, well, there’s just too much fund-raising going on and I can’t afford it. But now, I’m convinced. Got to help the guy. Matthews? Beneath contempt.
If only Matthews command of the facts were as great as his opinion of himself I would watch his show more regularly. Has he ever conducted an interview where 90% of the time allotted did not consist of him running his own mouth? I missed the Grayson interview, but having seen Matthews in action before, I can easily imagine how it went. Chris Matthews: a legend in his own mind.
at this time, all republicans are un-american, working, they say, to destroy obama, ignoring the fact that
he is one man, that the destruction of the President, would be the destruction of the country,so divided
as it is——-we dems, and many republicans, were sickened by “W” but he was elected to office as pro-
scribed and we accepted him as the President of all of us—–the republicans, largely middle class, can see
their taxes going up. many of the projects promoted by the obama government will favor our non-work-
ing poor and our working poor—the republicans worked for their money, they ask, “Why should their
dollars be given to the “ilk”?” there it is, the country is torn by such problems, we are losing our self-
respect and a great deal of respect in the eyes of other nations, many long time friends of the US.
As Jay Rosen would probably say, “You can’t get any more ‘Church of the Savvy’ that this.”
I think the last time I watched Chris Matthews was when he stated as the skies of Baghdad lit up in March, 2003 : “We are all neocons now”. A syncophant in bully’s clothing. Kiss up and kick down a la Bolton. Except for political junkies, a worthless fellow.
Chris Matthews is one of the stars of network news that doesn’t even have to work at being stupid. He is a self-impressed braggart who doesn’t know his patoot from a hole in the ground. And he takes pride in demonstrating it repeatedly.
All he ever does is fawn over celebs and politicos, but he sure as hell never holds them to account. And he has the audacity to call himself a journalist? Please!
Why does this blowhard still have an audience, and why would anyone want to be a guest on his show. He is miked so he can drown out anyone, which he always does, he’s rude and pompous, and a terrible “host.”
I won’t watch his show and don’t understand how he is labeled “liberal.’ Pompous Ass would be more like it.
I’ve also stopped watching Countdown.” If I wanted to see Glenn Beck, I’d tune in to Fox; I’m not interested in seeing him rant on Oberman’s show, even if it is to mock him. Why give this demagogue any forum? And Keith should stuff his “Special Comments” which sound more like the ravings of a self-important megalomaniac.
Chris matthews is typical example of “affirmative action” for white men. I stopped watching him long ago. He is an embarrasment to the MSM.
Matthews is a shill who manages to be on the side of whoever he thinks is winning. Everyone knows the Senate, using reconciliation, could have gotten on board with anything the House passed. So Matthews is merely working for the rich, who think getting a half ass bill will cost the Democrats the House.
Link TV ( which also carries Democracy Now) is an excellent source for ojective news. from around the world. It’s independent. I watch it daily. ALL the cable news networks are corporate owned. You will never get anything totally truthful or pro-public from ANY of them. What Matthews did to Grayson is what a good corporate host should when the bald truth is put out there with no spin. Lie, squim and when on the ropes, just repeat pro-corporate propaganda. The idiots inside the beltway that keep thier jobs for eons are “all knowing and wise”
I think guests should just send masks of themselves and put them in the chair….Mr. Matthews mostly likes
to talk to himself….it’s a habit I wish he had outgrown….dismissiveness is also a habit of his…remember
his comments during the WTO meeting in Seattle, when he snarled about those Turtles…he did not have
anyone on who might speak for the turtles and others who were protesting….
Yes, he is rude; and yes, he’s a blow-hard. What irks me most, however, is when he raises his voice, which is often, the sound he makes hurts my ears. Yes, Keith can go a bit overboard, as does Rachel rarely (her attack on Rep. Bart Stupak was over-the-top ad hominem); but they, at least are entertaining and often hit the nail on the head. Chris Matthews, on the other hand, is a bad joke. Move him to 3:00 a.m. and give his slot to Ed Schultz.
Chris Matthews would make a great graduate school thesis subject. He doesn’t appear to be a bright man, though that fact doesn’t humble him. An analysis of his principal observations on “HARDBALL” would, I’m sure, yield proof of his inability to predict anything. To use his own metaphor, he’s like a catcher who can’t handle a screwball. And he doesn’t listen. “Morning Joe” and Mika the same.
I realize it is FAIR’s job to monitor these fools, but no one else HAS to watch them.
Listening to this foaming at the mouth , spitting, male equivalent of the “dumb blonde” is really cruel and unusual punishment for anyone that bothers to be well informed.
I saw that program when Matthews was so overbearing and rude to Alan Grayson. It was disgusting. I was really taken off guard the way Chris Matthews was so snarky like he knows so much in his capacity on tv. Hopefully someone at MSNBC had a word or two with him. Alan Grayson is a very honorable man who is fighting for the right causes. I admire him a great deal.
Matthews is terribly rude and often downright ignorant! He constantly uses the term “laissez faire” and mispronounces it every time! He sounds so stupid saying “lah zay fair” as if he thinks people are impressed with his “French”. Even non-French, educated people know it’s pronounced: leh say fair.
His treatment of Howard Dean is also incredibly boorish, loudly shouting him down and calling him crazy for Dean’s correct and intelligent distinctions on voters’ polls. I loved seeing Howard calmly telling him to look in a mirror for the crazy one.
If Chris Matthewes would just stop the negativity that would be nice. I think comment is good, but not when it continualy finds fault. If he thinks he can do better than the President…Why isn’t he president.
I hate to watch a nationalized event then have Chris Matthews try and tell me how to think.
Matthews asks a question of his guests and then spents their time grunting and groaning while the guest is answering the question. Watch it should see it on the 1st interview he does it all the time. I quit watching him, I wish msnbc would fire him and give Cenk from the young turks the job. Good newsman Cenk is
we always make a fund raising drive when we want to do some cleanup on the local neighborhood'”*
I can’t run fast enough to change the channell when I hear that rude jerk’s voice. He redicules the guest by talking all over them. He is so arrogant & I don’t think he qualifys to be employeed by MSNBC. Worse thing about him is that he believes he is wonderful. He simply isn’t professional.