Reviewing Chris Matthews’ Inauguration Coverage…
Slate’s Jack Shafer reacquaints his keyboard with a familiar target; Chris Matthews…
Nobody in TV news stir-fries his ideas and serves them to the audience faster than MSNBC’s Chris Matthews. Drawing from a larder filled with old anecdotes, unreliable metaphors, wacky intuition, and superficial observations, the always-animated Matthews steers whatever’s handy into the hot wok that is his brain. The sizzling free-associations skitter through his limbic system, leap out his mouth, and look for a resting spot in the national conversation, where they steam like fresh lava in untouchable heaps.
Anything can set Matthews to cooking, but nothing summons his inner chef like a National Event of Great Importance such as yesterday’s inauguration. If you watched MSNBC’s coverage, you understand why Keith Olbermann wears a body apron and totes a fire extinguisher whenever they co-host: to keep the flying grease from setting his suits aflame.
A couple of hours before the oaths were given, Matthews and the MSNBC team of Olbermann, Eugene Robinson, and Rachel Maddow were chatting, and they spotted Muhammad Ali in the gallery. After Olbermann had his say, Matthews butted in.
“Well, and can I point out something else about him? He beat Sonny Liston,” he said.
Both Olbermann and Robinson agree, but that doesn’t deter Matthews, who is looking for a TV argument.
“Nobody can beat Sonny Liston, and he beat him. And he couldn’t fight again after that,” Matthews ejaculated.
January 21, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Matthews is a moron.
Muhammad Ali become a very important political figure in the early 70s for his stand against the Vietnam War, and the best this buffoon can come up with is that he beat Sonny Liston & that he saw him once while coming off the elevator.
Brilliant insight. Hope you MSNBC lemmings relished every minute of this stupidity yesterday.
January 21, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Us MSNBC lemmings are going to enjoy a functioning democracy again while you right wing bomb-throwers bitch and moan for the next 4 years. Chris Mathews can be a buffoon from time to time, but he’s also a savvy analyst of politics with a gigantic amount of history in his head.
I try to take each case as it comes and see things through the other side’s eyes if I disagree on this site. It’s getting old though. So many of the right wing opinions here are standard shoot-from-the-hip attacks on anything perceived as non-conservative. It’s childish and predictable and boring.
January 21, 2009 at 7:38 pm
So many of the right wing opinions here
Jack Shafer is a rightwing bomb thrower?
January 21, 2009 at 7:44 pm
I don’t know Jack (pun intentional). I’m talking about the comments such as “Mathews is a moron, hope you MSNBC lemmings enjoyed it.” It’s not even a discussable statement, it’s a drunk in the corner of the bar yelling.
January 21, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Cry me a river. Leaving aside the B.S. about a ‘functioning democracy’ I too hope that conservatives don’t try to tear the country apart the way ‘some’ liberals have for the last eight years. That would be personally embarrassing. Disagreeing, however, does not necessarily constitute bomb-throwing or bmoaning. Andy Levy on Big Hollywood wrote a great column about what we shouldn’t do and I think I may be in love.
As to Chris Matthews, he’s like the crazy uncle at the holidays;take that any way you wish. I do worry about his health, however. Stress raises the blood sugar and something about him just screams stress. I remember someone commenting yesterday on what a long day he was putting in.
January 21, 2009 at 7:51 pm
I’m talking about the comments such as “Mathews is a moron, hope you MSNBC lemmings enjoyed it.”
I agree but, c’mon, I’m sure you’ve spent enough time on the internet to see that type of nonsense everywhere.
Poltical blogs, sports blogs, cooking blogs, hell, knuckleheads post everywhere.
Matthews is a smart talented guy but he needs a leash to keep him a bit under control. When he’s doing color or commentary, he’s fine; but when he’s behind the wheel with Olbermann things can get a little all over the road.
Yeah, metaphors pulled out of my rear.
January 21, 2009 at 7:54 pm
I guess I just realized it’s hopeless, and it’s kind of depressing. As long as I’m on this blog I’m going to keep hearing “liberal MSM” and “in the tank” and all that other gibberish. I think I’ll go back to reading about bicycles for a while. This place is getting to me.
January 21, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Joe, my post didn’t say one word about Obama, liberalism, the next four years, or anything you just attacked me for.
I talked about Matthews and his stupid commentary, and you call me a conservative bomb thrower.
Aren’t you the one that just yesterday was ranting about what a criminal Bush is?
January 21, 2009 at 8:00 pm
I liked his story about him coming off the elevator. I would have liked the word jock less, but it is chris and he has no frontal lobe, so what can you do?
January 21, 2009 at 8:00 pm
I guess I just realized it’s hopeless, and it’s kind of depressing.
Well….
Look your side runs both ends of Pennsyvlania Avenue. The judiciary to follow shortly. You “control” (largely) the press, academia, Hollywood and the publishing field. The international press loves Obama and, to me, clearly tilts left.
If you’re depressed now…
You want to switch sides?
January 21, 2009 at 8:04 pm
The southland, including those making money off the films, is conservative.
January 21, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Matthews is nothing if not colorful. Aside from often disagreeing(unimportant), the only thing from him that bothered me was apologizing for the Hillary comment. He clearly meant it(and was right), and it seemed gutless.
January 21, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Never mind kids. Asperger’s meltdown. Google it if you really want to know. You don’t. See ya in a few days.
January 21, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Joe, we enjoy having you around.
You’re a common sense liberal (talk about an oxymoron….jk).
I like your posts and our debates.
January 21, 2009 at 8:32 pm
My son has it. He’s fun, especially when he screams like a banshee at 14 years old. Thought the tantrums would stop a loong time ago…
Don’t leave us, we need the balance.
January 21, 2009 at 8:34 pm
I don’t scream anymore, I just start typing the word CRIMINALS a lot…
January 21, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Is dissent still Patriotic? Keith Olbermann says it’s patriotic to dissent during the Bush administration, so is it patriotic to dissent during Obama’s Administration? Would Keith Olbermann call us racist or fascist to exercise our free speech like he did during the last 8 years?
January 21, 2009 at 8:47 pm
I’ve never typed LOL before, and I refuse to do it now, damnit.
January 21, 2009 at 8:48 pm
That last comment was to Joe. I hate it when people jump my line.
January 21, 2009 at 8:58 pm
I won’t type LOL either.
January 21, 2009 at 9:02 pm
LOL.
January 21, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Nobody can beat Sonny Liston, and he beat him. And he couldn’t fight again after that,” Matthews ejaculated.
And “ejaculated” is the right word. Ali (actually still Cassius Clay) beat Sonny Liston in both 1964 and 1965. In the former, Liston refused to come out for the 8th round and in 1965 was knocked out in the first round by a punch that nobody saw! IOW, Liston either (or threw) quit in both fights.
Chris Matthews should stick to Obama worship; he knows nothing about boxing!
January 22, 2009 at 3:58 am
I didn’t see the MSNBC coverage, but I can imagine Matthews going off like a loose cannon.
He is very politically astute….the problem too often is that he recounts congressional races and the like that very few people are aware of. It’s like being in a college class on the first day with a PHD professor who doesn’t realize he is talking way over the class’ heads and needs to be told to reign it in.