Who else is sick of Chris Matthews comparing Obama to JFK?

[Nancy Waterman]

Matthews is shamelessly pushing his book non-stop and complaining that Obama isn't enough like JFK. He ignores
the completely different set of circumstances of the early 1960's as compared to today. There is no unified enemy like the Soviet Union. Instead it is partisan warfare from within. There is the internet. There are the billions of dollars of right-wing smear money and the ubiquitous right-wing media. I could go on and on.

Matthews ruined his show on Sunday getting everyone to agree Obama was no JFK, the Saint. Does no one realize that it is easy to idealize a president who only had 2 and a half years and who didn't start by keeping us from falling off the cliff of a second Great Depression. And every show since has eventually gotten into Matthews and his new book, blah, blah, while complaining about Obama who should be "strong" like veteran JFK. I turn him off now. Makes me sick.

[Lint Head]

1. Here

[Sannum]

2. Who else is just sick of Chris Matthews?

[tularetom]

10. +! bazillion

Slobber boy was on every MSNBC show yesterday pimping his silly ass book.

[ashling]

16. I was gonna say

even though sometimes he has a rant that pretty much hits the mark, his general pushy style and stupidity make him hard to stomach.

[graywarrior]

37. Me me me!

:puke:

[Sherman A1]

43. +1000

I never watch his show.

[Nancy Waterman]

3. Plus much of JFK's success came from foreign policy

An area in which Obama has had uncontested success.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. I Don't Like The Comparisons But JFK Was A Remarkable Person

He is one of the few people who actually pulled strings to get into service.

[Nancy Waterman]

9. I agree JFK was a great man and a great president

It is the disparaging comparisons that are uncalled for. We are in a different world with different challenges.

What would any previous president have done with a minority in the Senate that essentially blocked everything with a filibuster or an insane majority in the House that lived in fantasyland and was more interested in getting the president to fail than the country to succeed. We are in uncharted waters.

[Pirate Smile]

26. I think it is nasty the way he is playing them against each other.

[Raven]

5. I have been amazed at how shamelessly CM has been pushing

his book. I might have bought it but I don't think I will now. JFK was a great president but he didn't walk on water.

[EffieBlack]

11. I agree completely

I thought the book sounded interesting and planned to buy it. But I've been so turned off by his shameless self-promotion that I've changed my mind.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

12. It's His Second Book On Kennedy

It's a "hard" read which gives him , at least in his own mind, bona fides as an intellectual and not just some guy with a television show.

His analysis of the Kennedy-Nixon friendship is interesting. He said they were friends despite being political adversaries. Fair enough. But I read when Nixon made his "you won't have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore" after losing his CA bid for governor John Kennedy told his brother Bobby "Nixon was sick."

[elleng]

13. The 'pushing' was probably part of his contract w publisher,

but we surely don't have to listen to it repeatedly OR buy the book.

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

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[AlinPA]

6. Matthews is a loudmouthed slobbering fool.

[TwilightGardener]

7. I saw that on the Today show yesterday. Barf-o-rama.

[elleng]

8. Tired of hearing about his book, but expect this to go on for some time.

And on Nov 29, he'll be at Politics and Prose! I WON'T BE THERE!!!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

47. Is this is D.C.? If it is, I will confront Tweety on this nonsense!

[elleng]

52. Yes, DC.

http://www.politics-prose.com/event

[Cigar11]

14. I am …

JFK was a Politician at the time of his Mothers injection!

Obama didn’t become a politician until after college.

No comparison.

[doc03]

15. That reminds me of the Quayle/Benson debate. Well I remember

JFK myself and Obama is no JFK, I can agree with Tweety on that one. If JFK was around today I think he would be eating the Republican Congress' lunch. I do get sick of his shameless book promotion.

[WI_DEM]

17. I'm tired of it--JFK was no saint as Matthews apparently wants to try to make him out to be

and was a cold war hawk.

[jenmito]

18. I was gonna start a similar thread. I'm so sick of Chris pimping his book by comparing JFK to Obama

and giving "advice" to what Obama could and should do to be more like JFK. One thing he keeps saying is that Obama should use the word "we" instead of "I" and when someone pointed out that Obama's poll numbers are improving, he actually said it's because Obama has started using "we" instead of "I" lately. :eyes:

[Dash Riprock]

20. I don't watch him.

I got sick of him a long time ago!

[progdog]

21. Can't watch him anymore.

:puke:

[cui bono]

22. I've been sick of Chris Matthews long enough not to have to hear it. n/t

[zbdent]

23. I thought that zombie poster issue was over and done with ...

oh, I see ... not that type of comparison of Obama to JFK ...

[JanetLovesObama]

24. I tweeted this to Matthews

"stop bashing Obama just to sell your goddamn book"

I did this on Tuesday and Wednesday right after his show. Obviously did no good.

[Pirate Smile]

25. One of the things Matthews has been saying that is particularly obtuse is his going on and on about

how Obama doesn't have the same "connection" to people as JFK did.

Matthews is from an Irish, Catholic family (as am I). OF COURSE, Catholics and, specifically, Irish Catholics felt a special affinity for JFK. He was the first (and only) Catholic POTUS.

Matthews likes to get a group of rather wealthy, white men or women together and then say dumb-ass crap about there not being "a special connection".

I was happy to see someone Tweet at him that - You know who feels a special affinity for this President, Chris - minorities. African-Americans and other minorities.

I actually don't think that is exclusive though because I feel that way too but am not a member of those groups.

The fact that Tweety does NOT UNDERSTAND that basic concept just emphasizes how truly CLUELESS he can be sometimes.

[Thumper79]

27. Matthews is a whore

He is just trying to sell his book.

[CakeGrrl]

28. It's a nonsensical comparison. Sounds like Matthews is just shilling for his book. -nt

[ClarkUSA]

29. It's important to note that Ted Kennedy thought very differently, as does Caroline Kennedy.

[GeorgeGist]

30. JFK?

I haven't forgotten Nov. 22, 1963.

[treestar]

31. I am sick of all who compare Obama to other Presidents

Other Democratic Presidents, and claiming they are all better than he is.

[madamesilverspurs]

38. Concur.

He's not FDRish enough. He's not enough like JFK. Maybe he should just change his name to Barack Delano Kennedy and be done with it. Think that would help?

[Autumn]

32. I can't understand why anyone would watch him

I haven't watch him since he pushed for war with Iraq. I find him nauseating.

[cpwm17]

33. That's not how I remember it

I remember CM being one of the few on the MSM that openly opposed the Iraq War. He'd even used the "neocon" word.

CM changes his expressed opinion frequently, but before the war he was consistently antiwar - at least what I saw.

[Autumn]

36. Then you and I watched him on different days

the idiot was all gung ho for whatever Bush wanted.

[chieftain]

34. Mathews is just plain weird.

If you read his earlier book about Kennedy and Nixon, it is clear that he loves the Trick and does not like JFK. I also note his conversion to full blown fawner of Hillary. I think she has been great but it wasn't that long ago that he vilified her on a regular basis. I enjoy the guy sometimes but he mystifies me.

[DemocratAholic]

35. i agree somewhat, disagree somewhat

i would completely agree the way Chris Matthews is selling his book on his TV show is shameless, and I find it embarrassing to watch this experienced, respected journalist selling himself like a prostitute. It puts a stain on his reputation and everything he does. He should at least wait for the end of the show, but he introduced this book as the 2nd topic on his show, as if writing a book about a president from the 1960's was breaking news. Furthermore, he behaves way to sentimentally about it, as if JFK was his father. He pierces his lips and gets a tear in his eye.

One thing though that I somewhat agreed with the contrast between JFK and Obama, although JFK was not as principled as many like to make him out to be. On the other hand, I really grow weary of these comparisons between Obama and former presidents. I actually think Obama would be smart to stop looking to dead presidents for advice.

[bigwillq]

39. Turn.Off.The.TV.

Problem solved! :)

[Tarheel_Dem]

40. I'll have to take your word for it. Can't bear to watch him.

:hi:

[burning rain]

41. Love Tweety, but his doting on JFK goes way over the top.

Kennedy did not have great domestic accomplishments and likely would not have, had he lived and gotten a second term. A president's greatest legislative accomplishments generally come in the first two years, and Kennedy failed to get Medicare and civil rights through Congress. I doubt he ever would have; that took the master of Congress, Lyndon Johnson. However, Kennedy was elegant, devastatingly handsome, had rock star charisma, and a lot of folks go ga-ga over that. Also, I can appreciate that Catholics of Tweety's generation idolize JFK. It would not be such a big deal to elect a Catholic president nowadays, but back then Protestant anti-Catholic animus had a lot more fervor and social acceptability, so his election was a thrilling achievement.

[Enthusiast]

42. If Obama was Catholic Matthews would love him.

Seriously.

I make it a point to never turn on Hardball.

[opihimoimoi]

44. Mission Accom Banner Gusher....He was in love w W when the Lincoln came home and he landed on deck w

a woodie...

[Carolina]

45. Can't stand him

and not because of his bloviator occupation and drooling "can't get enough of myself" behavior on the air.

He's full of himself, trying to sell his book and still full of shit.

Case in point: Years ago when my ex and I lived in DC, we were looking at a house in the Cleveland Park area of the city. The realtor was talking, etc to us, when in walked Matthews whose wife Kathleen was a news anchor at the local ABC affiliate. Rudely interrupting us, he started firing off questions to the realtor. When she politely told him that she'd be with him "in just a minute" and continued on with us, he demanded: "Don't you know who I am and who my wife is?!

Screw him and the hot air balloon that serves as his head.

On another note: No, BHO is no Jack Kennedy! The comparison is ludricrous and thank God, Teddy didn't live to see the change, the new generation he was so hopeful about turn into more of the same BS.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

46. I am sick of him and every "pundit" who does it. I am sick of the people here at DU who do it.

It's a false comparison that has no basis in political reality and no respect for the history of the political system in this country!

[demgrrrll]

48. Right here waves hand wildly. I think it is ridiculous.

I think he is ridiculous, and the last let me finish I watched when he said something about the stimulus not being large enough without mentioning that he took what he could get, not what he necessarily wanted was just dishonest. He is a goofball sometimes.

[jenmito]

49. He's even going to be on MTP this Sunday to do the same "stuff" he's been doing all week

(or more). :eyes:

[Ship of Fools]

50. Count me in.

[They_Live]

51. Does anybody here

remember subtle references to JFK and MLK in Obama's marketing material? I do. This was prior to his running for president.