Do you like Chris Matthews?

[Fixated]

A lot of DUers seem to hate Matthews, but I don't think he's always that terrible. What do you think?

[janx]

1. I used to like him, but he does the "interrupt" schtick too much

for my tastes. The more he does that, the more he becomes like the right-wing talk show hosts.

[Demobrat]

2. I don't like the way he

jumps on people when they don't answer quickly enough for him. It's like if you take a moment to think or formulate an answer he jumps down your throat, and the only way to deal with the guy is to verbally overpower him. I don't like that. I want people to be able to take a moment to think about their answers, just like I like to think about mine when somebody asks me a question. I don't believe that shouting somebody down means you've won the argument. It just means you're a verbal bully.

[Eloriel]

3. Shoulda had one more choice:

He's not "okay," but once in a while he's not 100% terrible.

:evilgrin:

Eloriel

[Robin Hood]

4. Tonight on highball join our special Republican panel,

where we will be discussing how much Democrats suck and how great Republicans are. Next! On Highball.

You could also use that intro for 90% of all the other pundit shows.

[last1standing]

5. He's too damn fickle.

Every time you think he's on your side of an arguement, he changes course. The Iraq War and Hillary Clinton would be two good examples of this.

[Ecotopian]

6. Loved his book "Hardball"

All I really know of him is from what I've learned in Hardball which gave me my first perspective into politics. For that I'm forever indebted to him and that's the only reason I like him. Other than that, I really don't know that much about him. If he's an a**hole and I see it, then my respect for him will drop accordingly.

[Robin Hood]

7. Doesn't the fact

That he usually only has Republican neo-cons on his show just to bash dems, bother you? Hell! These guys don't even bother with fair and balanced anymore, they don't even bother putting on a descenting voice, only a cheerleading choir of radical right wing nut-jobs.

Plus his wife reads Ayn Rand, nuff said.

[Eric J in MN]

21. maybe when he started giving lectures for conservative groups

Maybe when he started giving lectures for conservative groups, he was corrupted.

[JNelson6563]

25. that is a good book

he wrote it before he became a "star". Much great stuff in there.

Now he's an ego-maniac bought and paid for by the whore-press machine. Sad. He had potential.

Now he sucks.

Julie

[Eric J in MN]

8. I used to like him, but he's moved way to the right.

Matthews used to have on one Repbublican pollster, Frank Luntz, and one
Democratic pollster.

Now he just has one Frank Luntz, and doesn't always identify him as a Republican pollster.

By the way, Matthews voted for George W.

[FrenchieCat]

9. Matthews is

technically bought, sealed and delivered....

Sure, he gets out of line every now and then...but he falls back in when it counts.

Also, I think it's his way to keep us off balance so that we start to trust him and then he backstabs.

He a real cunning bastard with very beady eyes and a snear on his fat face that I would not want to meet in a dark alley....I don't care how "white" he is.....

[salin]

10. why does he have to be so LOUD ?

what is with the volume that he keeps up ALL OF THE TIME. What a loud obnoxious fellow. I still find it hard to believe that he ever worked for Tip O'Niell.

[Donna Zen]

11. No!

What I find amazing is that he has any skin left on his stomach.

[The Zanti Regent]

12. I call him "BLOND FRANKENSTEIN"

He Od'd on Clairol and turned his brain Abnormal

[Barbara917]

13. Why does everyone call him "Tweety"?

He's a poor host. He's rude. Deosn't listen to the answer. Interrupts. He generally just has bad manners.

[tlb]

14. The right wing hates him too, and call him the same silly names.

To most of the real world, that tends to be interpreted as meaning he is a centerist, and belongs to neither side.

[Terwilliger]

15. Chris Matthews is a Democrat

He's got some kind of angle and he plays it to the hilt.

[BadFaith]

17. Matthews...

...was actually the top aide to former House Speaker Thomas "Tip" O’Neill. If you've ever seen the movie "Dave" (where Kevin Kline plays a man who covertly replaces the President), both O'Neill and Matthews appear together in a short scene (Matthews had no lines). A friend of mine used to intern for him, and described him as a center-left Democrat. As well that he, at least at one time, considered running for Congress in Pennsylvania.

Whatever his personal politics, Matthews is, however, a media creature. He did voice off-air criticism of the President and the fact that Bush has surrounded himself with and is being controlled by a "neo-conservative power vortex" run by V.P. Cheney, but generally reserves his on-air wrath for anyone currently in a negative media spotlight. And that's his job, because that what the mainstream corporate media is.

[JPace]

30. I heard him say recently....

in answer to a guest who referred to
his being a democrat he said...
"I don't know how much a democrate
I am anymore". Then he quickly went
on to something else.

I run hot and cold with him, he says
he loves the military man because early
in his career he learned that they fight
hard for their country because that is
all they have. That must give him feelings
for the poor, but he seems attracted to
those who weld power. I think he is
conflicted inside and it shows. I also
can't stand his coddling of Peggy Noonan
who seems to be a favorite of his. If he
is a democrat he is a lousy one.

[gemini_liberal]

16. yeah I like Chris Matthews...

Christopher Matthews is the name of one of my best friends LOL

as for the one you're implying, I cannot reall formulate an opinion on him, for I haven't really seen him, but from what I've heard, he seems like a douchebag.

[PeakOil2008]

18. Matthews is a Suck Up

But he only sucks up to the GOP because it's chic to be a Republican these days. Were the tables to turn, and they eventually will, he will probably reassert his Democratic heritage, if he doesn't deny altogether that he denied it before.

[Classical_Liberal]

19. He is very much a pack journalist

.

[Dr Fate]

20. He voted for Bush- nuff said.

n/t

[Punkingal]

22. I think it is disgusting....

the way he slobbers with admiration for George Bush.

[AmericanDem]

23. Matthews, like many others, is a BoyMan

Like so many others I see on television. People like Hannity,Carl Cameron on Faux news, Scarrsborough on MSNBC, anyway you get the picture.

They are this group of adults that really never grew out of their spoiled snot nosed ways. Were told, over and over again, growing up, how smart and special they were and were shielded from most of lifes trials and tribulations.

They then get into a postion that has some bit of influence on others and try to press their warped perspective of life on others.

Unless there is a guest i'm interested in, 1 minute of Matthews's views and child-like interupting is all I can take.

[UTUSN]

24. Ah, a Tweety Thread--Thanks. Replies to Posts #

******QUOTE*****

1&2. His flaw is much more significant than mere "interrupting" and "shouting". He's a traitorous (to us) wingnut operative.
6. Hardball, the book was published in 1988. He long ago stopped being THAT Tweety.
21. He was corrupted by his flunky mentality of worshipping success in the person of RAYGUN, who thrashed Tweety's Dem bosses, CARTER and Tip, not by giving speeches to wingnut groups, which came later.
8. The so-called Democratic pollster, Pat CADDELL, is just as much a hopeless traitor as Tweety is. Theoretically, these ex-Dems claim that they are the truly idealistic Dems, that they carry the flame of JFK. It's just a strawman. They will never be Dems again.
13. Addendum below.
15. "Democrat...angle...hilt" ...I'm thinking, I'm thinking.
23. O'REILLY, too (manboy).

To all not listed, who said negative, hateful, and spiteful things about Tweety: I'm with you all the way!

ADDENDUM FOR 13. Tweety's name & history:
During Campaign 2000 the media whores were swooning over the nicknames Shrub was giving some of them. Media Whores Online ran a contest to nickname Chris-the-Whore. In the first 3 or so weeks, there was no clear, catchy front runner, with "The Screamer" sort of leading. Then one of The Whore's own Hardball staff LEAKED to MWO that his own staff called him Tweety because of the Clairol shade he favored. This was immediately declared the winner. But in some quarters, it wasn't entirely satisfactory. For one thing, by the time it was declared, the shade had changed to platinum, leading to a suggestion he be called Carole LOMBARD. Plus, "Tweety" sounds too affectionate towards this JERK WHORE. Then M-TV held it's 20th or 25th or whatever anniversary, and all the cable whores were doing segments of Brittany shedding her duds down to almost nothing. Not to be left behind in any whore game, Tweety followed suit, with a guest from Time Mag, the young humor columnist, whassisname Joel STEIN. The staff kept re-running the Britany clip, and Tweety was clearly DROOLING disgustingly. The Time dude said, "You're beginning to creep me out." Tweety responded, "Yeah, well, wait till YOU're 50." This led to the suggestion that "Tweety" be modified to "Tweezer" to retain the hair reference while canceling out the affection factor and also adding the (dirty old) "geezer" angle.

Just to round out the Tweety portrait: 1- He is our enemy. 2- The last time he was identifiably a Democrat was circa 1988 when his book, Hardball, was first published. 3- He's a political flunky who worships SUCCESS, and started "turning" through admiration for RAYGUN's kicking his Dem bosses' rears. 4- He was ABSOLUTELY VICIOUS to President GORE all through Campaign 2000. 5- He triggered a gun incident by ERRONEOUSLY naming Kathleen WILLEY's supposed "jogger" (Pat BUCHANAN's mentally ill brother took the gun to the house). 6- He is a de facto wingnut operative. 7- He voted for Shrub.

*****UNQUOTE****

[Eric J in MN]

28. thanks for explaining where "Tweety" name came from (nt)

nt

[UTUSN]

31. You're Welcome, & While the Thread Is Still Up

About the ONLY funny line in SNL a couple of seasons ago came when Darrell HAMMOND started "doing" Tweety. HAMMOND *cracked himself up* when he said, "For the....FIFTY...people who watch this show..." (Referring to Hardball)

Sidebar: Tweety, the egomaniac, was absolutely THRILLED by SNL picking him up. He said on his first show after the first SNL job, "I am now an icon. I've been ("done") on SNL." He was saying this withOUT irony, totally straight.

And HAMMOND's portrayal has changed in these couple of years. At first, he targeted Tweety as the self-absorbed blowhard he is. But now it's like Tweety is the SANE one, with the Tweety GUESTS being the nuts, with Tweety shaking his head in SANE disbelief at the nuts in front of him. This is a bad take on Tweety.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

26. He has two personalities. One day he's the "good" Chris THEN he turns

into evil "Tweety." One minute you're saying "yeah" THEN he goes to commerical break and has turned into evil "Tweety" the media whore.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

27. his ratings went WAAAY down when he went on a few rants attacking Bush.

Instead of us taking advantage of this and writing in telling him to keep up those attacks like the freepers do - show that SOMEONE approves of Bush being attacked - we jumped on the freeper bandwagon - saying that we thought he was bad too. Maybe we could have had him on our side a little bit more.

[Sticky]

29. His show is worth taping

because some segments are good - I fast forward through the suck-up parts. Peggy Noonan, his Dem mouthpiece is utterly disguting! She makes me cringe...

[JohnLocke]

32. He can't keep his ass in his seat!

He's always interrupting and jumping up and down. That said, he's OK...

[mandyky]

33. He hates the Clinton's

and has been too GOP friendly of late, but I can bear watching him if he has folks on that don't over irritate me. LOL

I never watch Scaroborough and have only watched Countdown once, but I can deal with CM most of the time. I refuse to watch any network or show concerning Michael Jackson and other fluff stuff.

[UTUSN]

34. He Did a Michael JACKSON Show Just Last Week

Yet, to date I know of NO Tweety show on Enron----correct me if I'm wrong. But when Enron broke in 11-01, and broke hard the following January, good old Tweety decided that the Middle East was suddenly comPLETEly engrossing and spent the next couple of months doing ONLY M.E. shows, including a helicopter ride, with him in sunglasses, over (ARAFAT's headquarters?) --------a la Whorealdo, and he was SCARED SHITLESS. Enron?---neh, not a story for Tweety.

If I'm wrong and somebody knows of Tweety doing an Enron segment, well, he's STILL a wingnut flunky. With all the contempt that is drabbled on "Centrists Democrats"----you know, Tweety had that option, to be still a Dem albeit a "Conservative Democrat"----but, no-o-o-o-o, he wants to love RAYGUN and Shrub.

Here's another re-hash of Tweety-viciousness: He performed the public execution of DONAHUE on DONAHUE's own show. It was when Tweety was on his book tour for his latest so-called "book," those slim, small, large-type, lots-o'white-space things, the one that is a Cliff's Notes version of American Civ 101, listing what IS and what IS NOT American Culture (The Great Gatsby). From the moment DONAHUE introduced him, Tweety had a strange look, like, coldness, hatred. After a couple of minutes of verbal fencing with DONAHUE taking the Liberal side and Tweety NOT, Tweety STRUCK like a poisonous snake, saying, something like, "THAT's what's wrong with you Liberals. Why can't you love America," something like that. DONAHUE was clearly shaken but kept going like he didn't realize what was happening, and at one point did one of his trademark mannerisms, the shrugging and waving his arms. Tweety lashed out with pure hatred, "What's with the MONKEY (mannerisms)? What's THIS? (mocking the movements)" It was the coldest, most hateful thing.

Those who think we should cultivate him, to get him to take our side, he's JUST NOT AVAILABLE TO US. As somebody said above, the wingnuts will take his help but THEY DON'T TRUST HIM. We'd be fools to trust him ever again. Somebody also said that he is one of those whose mother or the nuns told him he was just the smartest thing, and he has never gotten over it. He himself has said that he can PLAY Right and PLAY Left and drive the opposite side NUTS, and he interprets this as being "smart," whereas it adds up to complete lack of integrity.

[elperromagico]

35. He's a strange cross between fascinating and maddening.

n/t

[0007]

36. I don't hate anyone, but you can't pay me to watch his tripe..

Is Chris that blonde looking blue eyed cow that the mindless adore?