Kirk Watson responds

Texas state rep. Kirk Watson responds to having been ambushed by Chris Matthews on Hardball the other night:

On Tuesday night, after an important and historic victory in the Wisconsin Presidential Primary by Senator Barack Obama, I appeared on the MSNBC post-election program. “Hardball” host Chris Matthews (who is, it turns out, as ferocious as they say), began grilling me on Senator Obama’s legislative record.

And my mind went blank. I expected to be asked about the primary that night, or the big one coming up in Texas on March 4, or just about anything else in the news. When the subject changed so emphatically, I reached for information that millions of my fellow Obama supporters could recite by heart, and I couldn’t summon it.

My most unfortunate gaffe is not, in any way, a comment on Senator Obama, his substantial record, or the great opportunity we all share to elect him President of the United States.

Had I not lost my mind, here are the accomplishments I would have mentioned:

Senator Obama’s fight for universal children’s health care in Illinois.
His success bringing Republicans and Democrats together (a huge selling point for me in general) on bills such as the one in Illinois requiring police interrogations and confessions to be videotaped.
His leadership on ethics reform in Washington (the bill that lobbyists and special interests are complaining about right now has his name on it).
His bill to make the federal budget far more transparent and accessible to Americans via the Internet – we could use that openness in Texas.
And his vital work with Republicans to lock down nuclear weapons around the world.
Of course, it would have helped to remember all of this last night. I encourage anyone who wants to know more (especially Mr. Matthews) to log onto texas.barackobama.com.

In the meantime, let’s not lose focus on what’s important in this election. It’s not my stunning televised defeat in “Stump the Chump.” Thankfully, it has nothing at all to do with me.

What’s important is the direction our country is headed. What’s important are the priorities, methods, and, yes, accomplishments of those seeking the highest office in the country.

Exactly.

Now, granted, the Obama campaign ought to make sure that in today's "Gotcha!" media environment, their public faces are prepared for any eventuality. But watching Chris Matthews ambush this guy was like watching the episode of Family Guy that ran on CW tonight in which Peter Griffin decides, after beating up a 13-year-old, that bullying is fun.

We Have Blacks, Too, You Know.

In a priceless catch by the gang at Crooks and Liars, they actually heard "Tweety" Matthews say this right after the State of the Union Address:

Matthews:”…And I have to think given the ethnic, you know, excitement - let’s call it American excitement about Barack Obama. If he doesn’t make it to the nomination a lot of people on the Republican side might say, well why don’t we try do something to offset that and take advantage of the hope of having an African American at a high level of government.”

So, in other words, whatever the Democrats can do, we can do better? Even if it involves getting black people "excited"?

His idea was having a GOP contender tap Condi Rice. Yeah, like a Republican would choose someone with a Y chromosome darker than them for a running mate. I wonder how that will sit with his old running buddy Colin Powell?

Can someone please tell me why spongeheads like Chris Matthews and Don Imus, as well as Melanie Morgan, and Michael Savage and Hal Turner and the rest of those racist, homidical assclowns are not only employed by the media but are making more money than everyone who writes for this blog combined?

Yo Mama! Apparently , Size Does Matter!

So sez Tweety this evening: "Big Bill surrounds Obama, is Hill thrilled? You bet yo mama!"
Really, does he write his own material? Are the news writers out on strike too?
My Mom found that hilarious, but I think its a bit too edgy for right now...and for some reason it drags me back to the Jefferson's and Brooklyn in the 70's....we're-a movin' on up, to the eastside...

From the blundering morass that is MSNBC's coverage of the mess in Florida, I just don't know what to say anymore.I feel like I should apologize or something, in that MSNBC might sorta partially represent the left in any way...To a deee-luxe apartment, in the sky...

This blog about Chris Matthews isn't nearly broad enough to cover the range of wankery that goes on over there. Ive been watching Matthews look all spooked, with those tail-between-the-legs-don't-hit-me-again-papa wide eyes, like he's a teenager who has gone too far. Then theres the obnoxious-little-weenie brother, Tucky, and the Deputy Dawg smirk of Morning Joe...We need a wider focus here because they play off eachother, and ...I dunno...you would think that there weren't soldiers dying in Iraq just about every day. Bring me my tin foil hat, honey, because I could swear that they were sending messages to eachother, the base, and for whoever has their finger on the Manchurian button lately .

First of all, What happened to all that war coverage that was pretty great for a while and was a major part of the day ongoing? Where is Richard Engle, Mick Ware, and Mike Boettcher? Where is the sand and grit, and reports from embeds outside of the green zone? Has that become a non-story because the actual War part is supposedly over? I'm trying to remember what I felt like to get good first hand reportage. Ever since the morning that I woke to find that David Bloom had died, while rushing towards certain disaster anyway, and trading bible passages with Timmeuh Russert; just saying no, no, no,(Jane, how do you stop this crazy thing?)and those images that Bloom had worked so hard to bring to us from right on the ground level of hell.... and ever since my worst fears were confirmed and reconfirmed about how badly we were lied to, and how the media went along with it, Ive tried to find whatever group of news people that don't aren't too scary in their strange toned-down world of morning television , and even then, I watch closely...I don't trust any one of them except Olbermann, Stewart, and Colbert (and that's a backwards kind of trust.)



I have to admit that I have been an avid MSNBC/NBC watcher, from my war coverage to just about everything else, morning to night. I guess you could say that I know them pretty well. But even if they are less scary than the Good Morning America crew or the CNN group, I still have seen them sway and bend with the political weather, and probably more due to the Bushies actual spiralling apart in front of our very eyes, than the people's desire for truth. I didn't notice especially the the rats started deserting the sinking ship till pretty late in the game, and some of them are surely still hanging on to that ship or a portion thereof, just in case the republicans pull something out of their combined asses, (swiftboating, anyone?), and that leads to 4 more years. I've seen too much hedging and positioning, and not wanting to get caught on the wrong side of criticizing the President...as if this isn't America; as if we don't live in a society where the job of reporter comes with the assumption of cojones and truth.

The war correspondents have given way to the politicians walking flanked by security guards, through the Baghdad marketplace. There was some certain transfer of authority from the correspondents that are on the ground, to the generals who are supposed to dig us out of this mess and juggle the desires of all the characters in the hearing room, and the politicians, all jockeying for position, or the correct position in this matter.

And what has become of the correspondents in Iraq? We cut to them from time to time, but it seems that there are selective blackouts on pictures of suicide bombs and other tragedies, that are certainly as much a part of the war as the wash across the desert was and the squads of brave soldiers breaking down door after door to find huddled, terrified, families, and who knows what else in the bedroom or beyond the patio.
Yeah, the drudgery of day to day village cleaning doesn't pop like those initial images, and at some point ratings have to take over, I guess. But I'd expect that even if the American public might grow numb and tired of watching soldiers and civilians getting blown up, to the players its every bit as terribly real and attention getting as the new season of American Idol. Who says that we get to divorce ourselves from the reality of what we started? How can we be a society that becomes bored and moves on to the new season of must-see TV?

This morning Scarborough was actually mouthing messages to his base on camera, saying "he's wrong" over and over to the camera in response to comments about Ron Paul's crazy and insane call to end the war....
Dan Abrams spends his evenings chasing his tail with the remnants of whatever scandal is left over from the day: Is it wrong to expect more than the constant repetition of breaking news from Heath Ledger's tragic death, only to find that its a story about how masseuses get certified for CPR? How far of a stretch is that? Who was called first? Is that breaking news? There is no story there guys; its just a tragedy like every other tragedy happening every day. Theres nothing to see, just drive on by.

I don't know why it so flabbergasts me, and call me naive, but most of the country, including the republicans are for pulling out of Iraq, and most everyone agrees that this is a criminal administration, so where do pundits or newspeople get off acting like this anymore? John Gibson made fun of an actor's death, saying that it was probably due to suicide while watching the democratic debates, Chris Matthews thinks nothing of spending months telling his audience that one candidate is the definite nominee, at the same time as he keeps up a pretty heinous running commentary about her and her husband. After Matthews was made to grudgingly apologize for his remarks, Little Tucker Carlson stepped in and repeated them..I'm not even going to go into the Rush Limbaughs and the Bill O'Reillys out there. I cant even believe that I'm grouping MSNBC into the same world with Fox News, but...they are growing in that direction, and it is beyond me why the powers would allow this to continue, what with the mood of the country and the real movement of us all towards a middle/left mentality. Its like the inmates have taken over the asylum, and there is a fine line between shock for ratings, and alienating your audience ...and ultimately we will switch the TV off. If I will then anyone would quite sooner, because I am a real TV person, and a real MSNBC watcher.

MSNBC seems to be getting its ducks in a row behind Keith Olbermann, but its not happening quickly enough. David Schuster and Rachel Maddow would be an excellent pair for a roundtable show or even a straight news show. They both are quirky as hell, but also smarter than smart. And they could garner a great following just because they are so quirky; it makes them each lovable and human. MSNBC has an embarrassment of talent to keep falling back on the same old failed line up. ...Chuck Todd, Richard Engle. Why is he so underutilized; Oh yeah, hes a foreign correspondent and we don't want to show much about that messy foreign stuff now, do we? Isn't it preferable to have Tweety and Tucky telling us like it really is over there? Sam Seder is fantastic with his sort of sparkle smirk and humor, which is the secret ingredient to any news show working well.

This morning I was sick, and laying helpless in bed flipping channels, trying to get past the local news on every network channel...and finally I jumped to channel 68, where I found the face of Willie Giest filing the screen, donning 70's tinted aviators and his canary-in-my-mouth, slap-my-face, look. The camera pulled back and there he was with two bikini-topped hula girls at the Hawaiian Tropic...um...restaurant...kiosk at the mall...booth at the convention center...?
Because I guess that since Mika and Scarborough were in Boca (Joe's home town, or so he told us over and over again, as if that's a good thing,) Willie was pretending that he was in Hawaii...huh? Childish banter ensued, as if we were supposed to be fond of these guys, and then we were back to the hard news of the debate last night.

Scarborough is proud to be a republican, even in light of the line-up of clowns who are representing his party. What they said is not worth reporting, because it doesn't amount to much, except for Ron Paul's usual anti-war rhetoric, that is good to hear but it tends to take away from his real platform of government abolishment and all kinds of silliness.
But Paul going on about ending the war and Morning Joe's silent commentary ("he's wrong, he's wrong, he's wrong")...and I know that this is an entertainment show, but I felt...offended...and I found myself looking at the curve of his nose and his little hateful mouth, his sickeningly thick hair, and I wondered how people like this get a platform. I know that when I switch him on, its because there is nothing else on...and lately because he has given John Edwards some air time. But today, this morning, I turned him off.

Do you hear that MSNBC? I turned your fucking Morning Joe off! ...And, I am, what might be referred to as, a loyal viewer. I lay here thinking about how Scarborough is their Deputy Dawg, sending a less than subliminal message to his base, and to the doleful Matthews and the under-appreciated and misunderstood Tucker Carlson. And I was wondering how it makes sense at all that a guy like this gets to pretty much state, on national TV, that the war is a good thing, or that we are not failing over there, in the bigger or the smaller views, without a peep from any one of the correspondents that MSNBC has supposedly under contract...Maybe they have cut them all loose; I haven't seen much of Engle since he went on his book tour and Boettcher seems to also have vanished after covering some major stories out of Atlanta.

The point is that they no doubt have some correspondents out there, or they have access to stringers, and they choose time and again to allow the right leaning, misogynist pundits to rewrite the storyline of our tragic tale; Which wouldn't be anything different than business as usual except for the fact that we are living in dangerous times, and to see Morning Joe winking into the camera just as John McCain is going on about the glory of the war, and decrying whatever it was that they have renamed the cut and runners, I get a sinking feeling.

Finally, in light of Huckabee's comparison between WMA and Easter eggs, and my Psych 101 text book, I've got to nod towards Melissa's pundit's balls open letter, (not cross posted here for some reason; maybe she just hasn't had time yet,) and the obvious obsession, in these days of wimmin and blacks being uppity enough to run for high office, with their own cojones and how every man, woman, and child must be admiring their manliness....I guess its hard to get knocked down a peg or five.... but, I have no empathy for those who have played such a deadly and destructive role in American History. Serving as a warning to others might be the best payback to a suffering country.
We've Finally Got a Piece of the Pie....

Chris Matthews, Nad Defender

I trust that title will be enough to make you click here.

Thus Spake Tweety: McCain is the new Reagan

The long romance between Chris Matthews and the somnambulent, baggy-eyed, Aqua Velva Senator Droopy from Tennessee is over. So is the "I'm Ronald Reagan. No, I'm Ronald Reagan. No, you dumbass, I'm Ronald Reagan" dance of the Republican candidate. Yesterday Matthews decided that John McCain is the new Reagan:

CM: It’s a heavily invested night. He brought his mother. Cindy looked very much like a first lady. It was a fascinating presentation. It gave me the tableau tonight of a man who believes—he may be wrong, of course—that this is his big night. That this is the night (that) will launch him. I would expect that the next step tomorrow morning, he gets up and calls Nancy Reagan and ask for an endorsement. I think he’s going to try to make himself “the Reagan candidate,” as he did in that speech, try to do it now, go for it, this is his chance, try to bring the party together under him. I think this is it for him and he knows it.

Video at Crooks and Liars.

Tucker's Hoof-in-Mouth Problem: An Open Letter to MSNBC.....

An Open Letter to MSNBC

I am one of the many, many people who has been “hurt” and dismayed by Chris Matthews’ abuse of his position, and woman hating, boorish, behavior. The viewers obviously agree, as this situation has blown up and resulted in an on air apology from Matthews last night. That apology can only be the result of many complaints over the past months and even years, and especially due to his contention that Hillary Clinton would never have gotten anywhere if she hadn’t been a wronged woman.

I am SO tired of having to watch that man, first repeat over and over who my candidate was going to be, then act incredulous at the fact that he may have been wrong, and continuously cut down the candidate who he obviously has a grudge against, and THEN sheepishly apologize, obviously not meaning it, and seemingly at the direction of his bosses, for the disgustingly misogynistic statements that he makes constantly, and for his boorish behavior…But no, he didn’t even actually apologize; rather, he told us that we had misunderstood his LOVE of politics and the players. Well, I don’t buy it. I didn’t misunderstand, and I am tired of being put down by another pasty white man who thinks that he represents the melting pot of America…think again!

This evening, I had the unlucky opportunity to walk into a room where the horrible Tucker Carlson was on the TV, and before I could flee, he was saying, “I know that we are not supposed to say it around here, but….” And then go on to restate the same crap about Hillary! I believe that this was part of a spot on the Tyra Banks interview that Clinton did and her talking about Bill cheating.

Is that issue out of bounds for Hillary? No! Its part of her life story and she can talk about it if she wants to. It’s a huge leap to say that she only got where she is because of it!

Tucker has no visible means of support! He has horrible ratings, nothing to say, and a bad attitude. His libertarian views are based on a prep school/frat boy existence that would, of course, allow him to support himself and his family with no social safety net and no care for anyone else in society. Who does he represent in the audience? Not me, that’s for sure! He actually proves, every time I see him, that he has an incredible amount of animosity towards me and people like me. So, who are you trying to attract with his show? And doesn’t it make sense that he has such low ratings? Does he even have sponsors? How does one get this kind of job security, because it’s a rare thing in today’s America.

Tonight, Tucker Carlson had the nerve to pile on to Matthews’ apology and restate the offending statement as if he is giving some sort of virtual high five to his friend…what could your producers, programmers, and whoever the bosses are over there, be thinking anymore? Did you come to the decision with Matthews to have him apologize only to have the petulant little child, Tucker, run between your legs and stick his tongue out at the viewers who complained? That is what he just did. And he did it not only as a statement against management, but as a clear message to the viewers…I consider this to be offensive and directed at me, as much as it is directed at Clinton or anyone else out here who might disagree with the frat boys club who think they know everything.

I am a woman and a long time MSNBC viewer. I am also someone who is very involved with the political process and I hope to turn to MSNBC for some insightful commentary, considering what else is available. But, obviously this is not the direction that your programmers want to go in.

Your few saving graces, such as Rachel Maddow, David Schuster, and the commentary of some fantastic guests such as Sam Seder, are feeling like not quite enough. Yes, I will watch Keith Olbermann anytime and follow him anywhere he broadcasts from, but the rest of your lineup is such that I have to turn off the station as soon as that hour is over! When are you going to make some changes?

Melina

www.RIPCoco.com
www.Brilliantatbreakfast.blogspot.com
www.SweetJesusIHateChrisMatthews.blogspot.com

Video and Transcript of Apology

Don't forget to read Melina's take on it here.




MATTHEWS: Good evening, I'm Chris Matthews. Welcome to Hardball. Well, we're in a time of a lot of frustration in this country -- Iraq, of course; the lack of health care for people who work every day; gas prices going up; the weakening economy that scares us every day -- and I come on here every night and try to wrestle with these frustrations, and also the changes in our country. We might soon have the first woman president, the first African-American president, or a man older than we've ever elected before. And of course, we always treat things here with hope -- our uniquely American hope that we can actually make things better, that we can make the greatest of countries, not only survive, but as [author] William Faulkner once said, "prevail."

In the midst of talking about all of this -- almost always without a script, and almost always on tricky subjects of gender and race, and right and left, and what's in our country's interest, and who I think is telling the truth, and who I think isn't -- I know I'm dealing with sensitive feelings. I've accepted all of this as part of the business I have chosen. This program, I am proud to say, is tough, fearless, and yes, blunt. I want people to react when I say something. I don't like saying things so carefully, so politically correctly, that no one thinks they even said anything.

What I've always counted on in all the wild, speeded-up conversations on Hardball, and elsewhere on television, is my good heart. I've always felt that no matter how tough I got, how direct, how provocative -- how purposely provocative -- people out there watching would know I was not out against them, that it was them I was rooting for, that while I was tough on individuals who sought to lead the country, I was not against the hopes we all have for a fair shake, in fact, a better deal for people who have been held back before we came along.

Some people whom I respect, politically concerned people like you who watch this show so faithfully every night, people like me who care about this country, think I've been disrespectful to Hillary Clinton, not as a candidate, but as a woman. They point to something I said on MSNBC's Morning Joe the morning after the New Hampshire primary, that her election to the U.S. Senate, and all that's come since, was a result of her toughness, but also the sympathy for her because her husband embarrassed her by the conduct that led to his impeachment, because he, in the words I used, "messed around."

The truth of course is finer, smarter, larger than that. Yes, Hillary Clinton won tremendous respect from the country for the way she handled those difficult months in 1998. Her public approval numbers spiked from the mid-40s up to the 70s in one poll I looked at.

Why? Because she stuck to her duty; she performed strongly as first lady. She did such a wow of a job campaigning for Senate candidates, especially Chuck Schumer of New York, that she was urged to run for a Senate seat there herself. She might have well gotten that far by another route and through different circumstances, but this is how it happened.

The rest is history: how Hillary went up to New York, listened to peoples' concerns, and beat the odds, as well as the Republicans, to become a respected member of the U.S. Senate. So, did I say it right? Was it fair to say that Hillary Clinton, like any great politician, took advantage of a crisis to prove herself? Was her conduct in 1998 a key to starting her independent electoral career the following year? Yes.

Was it fair to imply that Hillary's whole career depended on being a victim of an unfaithful husband? No. And that's what it sounded like I was saying and it hurt people I'd like to think normally like what I say, in fact, normally like me. As I said, I rely on my heart to guide me in the heated, fast-paced talk we have here on Hardball -- a heart that bears only goodwill toward people trying to make it out there, especially those who haven't before.

If my heart has not always controlled my words, on those occasions when I have not taken the time to say things right, or have simply said the inappropriate thing, I'll try to be clearer, smarter, more obviously in support of the right of women -- of all people -- the full equality and respect for their ambitions. So, I get it.

On the particular point, if I had said that the only reason [Sen.] John McCain [R-AZ] has come so far is that he got shot down over North Vietnamese -- by North Vietnam, and captured by the enemy, I'd be brutally ignoring the courage and guts he showed in bearing up under his captivity. Saying that Senator Clinton got where she's got simply because her husband did what he did to her is just as callous, and I can see now, it comes across just as nasty, worse yet, just as dismissive.

Finally -- as if anyone doesn't know this -- I love politics. I love politicians. I like and respect people with the guts to put their name, their very being out there for public approval so that they can lead our country. And that goes for Hillary and [Sen.] Barack [Obama (D-IL)] and John and all the rest who are willing to fight to take on the toughest job in the world.

So, let's get on with the show. Whoa.

(Transcript courtesy of Media Matters. Video courtesy of Petulant.)