Somebody, Please, Help Tweety Talk!

The past two nights, watching Tweety, on 'Hardball', has been, even more, excruciating, as to his reporting on the Haiti earthquake.

He has put on his "Super-Serious" suit, and looks, sternly, into the camera, with all his dramatic announcements.

And, biggest of all, he sounds like a total, Ted Baxter-like jackass, whenever he pronounces the name of Haiti's capital city, Port-au-Prince.



You can go out to 'Hardball' and pull up some of the videos, to check it out.

Even Atizine, on Twitter, noticed "Watching newscasters who pronounce almost nothing else properly, try their hardest 2 say 'Port Au Prince' like a local is absolutely weird..."

Almost overnight, Monty Python created a new "Ministry of Silly Talk", and Tweety is their first, gleaming star graduate.

Most normal people pronounce the name of Port-au-Prince, sounding as "Port-O-Prince".

Tweety has been pronouncing it, apparently, in the Francophile manner, as "Port-O-Prance" really dragging out the "Prance" part, making it sound like "Prawnce".

Much in the same behavior as being the only person, outside of the family secret bunker, that pronounces the name of the former Shadow President, as "Cheeny", versus the rest of the standing world, as "Cheney", or "Chay-ney"

Maybe the Darth Vader clan is okay with his mashing their name ...

But somebody needs to clue Tweety in, that he works for MSNBC, not Le Monde.


Bonus Tweety

Clooney: Wouldn’t Cast Matthews In A Daydream ,,,When Pressed, Matthews Admits Miffed Not Cast in Clooney Film ...“Forget This Zelig Mishmash, I Could Have Played McCarthy … And Played Him Damn Good”

MSNBC's Matthews Uninjured Pulling Head Out Of Judy Miller's Ass ...Hardball Host Fawns Over Former White House Stenographer; Stays Away From Tough Questions

Was Tweety Covering Morning Jokes' Back?

Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting

Oh boy, leave it to Tweety.

H/T to John Cole, over on Balloon Juice, for the catch;

This Chris Matthews quote is a Palinesque work of art:

MATTHEWS: And I think we have got to get serious about catching terrorists, not just catching weapons. I‘m waiting for the terrorist who knows kung fu or something that gets on an airplane without a weapon. God knows what that is going to be like.

Hey, Gerald, happy new year, even under this circumstance.

WTF!

We go from a kid, putting a bomb in his underwear, to sketching out a new Jackie Chan movie?

Steve Benen was also scratching his head;

Also note the context: Matthews is urging us to "get serious" about counterterrorism, and in the next sentence, warning us of the potentially deadly consequences of terrorists who know "kung fu or something."

Oh man ...

Was Tweety hitting the punch a little early this evening?

But, on another note, Tweety's wing-in-mouth solved our New Year's Eve music choice.

Everybody, get up and shake it!

Carl Douglas - Kung fu fighting(original)




Bonus Tweety Riffs

MSNBC's Matthews Uninjured Pulling Head Out Of Judy Miller's Ass ...Hardball Host Fawns Over Former White House Stenographer; Stays Away From Tough Questions

Clooney: Wouldn’t Cast Matthews In A Daydream ...When Pressed, Matthews Admits Miffed Not Cast in Clooney Film ...“Forget This Zelig Mishmash, I Could Have Played McCarthy … And Played Him Damn Good”

Was Tweety Covering Morning Jokes' Back?

Tweety, The Head of the Democrats?

Please ...

It's enough to have him getting thrills up his legs, and fawning all over dubious guests.

Nora WD has a post up over on Open Salon, on Newt "Contract On America" Gingrich speaking at Fordham University last evening.

At Fordham, Gingrich compares Limbaugh to Chris Matthews

Among many gems, was this;

When asked if a more hospitable America is safer, he replied yes but quickly added that "you don’t gain respect by letting people walk all over you." The Obama administration, Gingrich said, reminds him of Jimmy Carter's administration (which Republicans would love given that Carter lost to Reagan in 1980). Gingrich, who's been divorced twice but just converted to Catholicism, told us that "to drive God out of public life is fundamentally destructive to America." One of my favorite moments of Gingrich’s speech had to be when he compared Rush Limbaugh to MSNBC's Chris Matthews, after being asked how he felt about conservative media stars such as Limbaugh and Ann Coulter. He proceeded to say that they are not politicians and are not running for office and given this we should not consider them to be representative or leaders of the Republican Party, just as no one considers Chris Matthews to be representative or a leader of the Democratic Party (he also referenced Al Franken here).

If Tweety were the head of the Democrats, hopefully that would finally drive it into his thick skull, to lose the phone number of The Rat Catcher.

Why on earth does he continue to bring on his program, the disgraced former Congressman from Texas, Tom DeLay?

Anyway, Nora WD also had a good Newt zinger in there, as well;

The other notable guest may only have been notable to me, given that we had a small run in at the end of the Speech. As I was leaving the auditorium with friends, we were discussing the beginning of Gingrich's speech in which he talked about traveling to Poland with his wife. We then proceeded to innocently (and privately) joke about how we should have asked him to clarify which wife he was referring to: the one he divorced while she had cancer, or the one he cheated on with his current wife, or his current wife. As we were joking about this, a man grabbed me by the arm and said “I know what you’re talking about.” Not really knowing where he was going with this and being a little angry that he thought it would be ok for him to grab a 19 year old girl by the arm, I gave him a confused and slightly dirty look. He then proceeded to ask me if I had heard of Monica Lewinsky, and if I would have still voted for Bill Clinton. I politely said yes and walked away.

Go check out At Fordham, Gingrich compares Limbaugh to Chris Matthews

Bonus Links

Bob Cesca: Step Away From The Constitution, Mr. Gingrich, And Put Your Hands Where We Can See Them

Top Ten Cloves: Reasons Leading To Newt Gingrich Deciding Not To Run For President

Clooney: Wouldn’t Cast Matthews In A Daydream ...When Pressed, Matthews Admits Miffed Not Cast in Clooney Film ...“Forget This Zelig Mishmash, I Could Have Played McCarthy … And Played Him Damn Good”

Doc Bloc Death Knock? ... MSNBC Climbs Into the Big Yellow Taxi

Okay, "Sticks nix hick pix" it isn't, but it appears MSNBC is looking to get out of the rerun business

MSNBC Wants to Add a 3rd Prime-Time Show

Building on the momentum of its prime-time hours, MSNBC is developing a 10 p.m. program that would complement its left-leaning evening lineup, the cable news channel’s president said this week.

[Snip]

Unlike most major networks, MSNBC’s original programming ends at 10 each weeknight. The 8 p.m. program “Countdown With Keith Olbermann” is rerun at 10 p.m., where it usually ranks third.

[Snip]

But at 10 p.m., MSNBC replaced live programming with documentaries and repeats in 2006. It moved the reruns of “Countdown” there in March to capitalize on the political year. Reverting to tape at 10 p.m. puts the network at a disadvantage, especially on busy news nights. Meanwhile, CNN and Fox News are battling for first place in the hour. Last year, “Anderson Cooper 360” on CNN outperformed “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren” on Fox News among younger viewers, but the Fox program averaged a higher number of total viewers.

Hmmm ...

We once joked, at the height of the Missing White Woman bonanza, that MSNBC was going to launch a 24/7 Rita Cosby Channel, and, apparently, they are reluctant to plaster a Keith Olbermann Doc Bloc of sorts, endlessly replaying his Countdown program on the channel.

And, now, they want to cash in on their "left-leaning evening lineup" ...

Something seems to come to mind about that;

Dont it always seem to go
That you dont know what youve got
Till its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Perhaps this is an opportunity to make amends, for their boneheaded cowardness, for their capitulation to the Right Wing Freak Show, and the Bush Grindhouse, when they dumped Anti-War proponent Phil Donahue from their line-up.

Exit Phil Donahue

Phil Donahue on his 2003 MSNBC firing: "We had to have two conservatives on for every liberal. I was counted as two liberals."

MSNBC Sabotages Donahue

Then again, we haven't seen Rita Cosby pop up anywhere.

From this view, it would be nice if they came up with a second "progressive" program, and stop subjecting us to the Tweety rerun at 7:00PM.

And don't you dare put Morning Joke back in Prime Time!


Bonus MSNBC Riffs

MSNBC's Matthews Uninjured Pulling Head Out Of Judy Miller's Ass ... Hardball Host Fawns Over Former White House Stenographer; Stays Away From Tough Questions

Top Ten Cloves: Things Joe Scarborough Likes To Eat and Wear When Sitting At Computer

Developing Story - MSNBC Making Pitches To Become Eulogy Channel

Rachel Maddow: Hillary Apologist and Obama Basher


Bonus Bonus

Joni Mitchell Big Yellow Taxi

Have Shovel, May Run?

Oh man, would I love to see this ...

Tweety on the campaign trail - as the candidate!

Can't you just see it? ... All lathered up with Aqua Velva, wide-eyed, charging out there, that thrill running up-and-down his leg.

The first sightings of this surfaced earlier this month.

From Bob Cesca's Goddamn Awesome Blog;

When Chris Matthews said, "I want to do everything I can to make this thing work, this new presidency work," it was all about a potential senate run. In fact, we'll find very few anti-Obama remarks on Hardball until (and if) Matthews announces he's not going to run. The short explanation is that if Matthews wants to unseat Arlen Specter, he's going to need the White House.

Others also picked up on the Public Policy Polling report, including Chris Cillizza, who predicted that "Here's one certainty: If Matthews does decide to run, this will be the marquee Senate race in the country in 2010."

Well, Sean Quinn, and Nate Silver, over on FiveThirtyEight.com, say, with a caution, that it's a go;

Chris Matthews Staffing Up for Probable Senate Run in 2010

Chris Matthews, it appears, is in.

FiveThirtyEight has been hearing for some time that Matthews is serious about running for the United States Senate, but it took a trip to Georgia among the Georgia-runoff-congregated and well-connected Obama organizer throng to confirm.

According to multiple sources, who confirmed the Tip O'Neill staffer-cum-MSNBC host has negotiated with veteran Obama staffers to enlist in his campaign, Chris Matthews is likely to run for United States Senate in Pennsylvania in 2010. Matthews, 62, would run as a Democrat. Arlen Specter, the aging Republican incumbent, will be 80 if he chooses to run for re-election.

Preliminary public polling suggests Matthews would start at a deficit, in part because Matthews' name recognition is lower than Specter's.

My money says, while it may be tempting, the lure of going from a former staffer to holding the office may be an alluring pull that Matthews finds it hard to step away from.

That is, until someone with sanity that hangs around him points to the MSNBC Tape Vault, and miles-and-miles of videotape that would have a Matthews Campaign in a permanent Press Conference mode, explaining away his gaffes and inane comments.

Steve Benen also noted such;

As for Matthews' chances, your guess is as good as mine. I glanced through Media Matters' recent hits on Matthews' on-air comments, and it's safe to assume the MSNBC host would have a lot of explaining to do before Pennsylvania Democrats gave him the nod.

And just in case, Matthews doesn't hear that friend, someone else can paint him a picture that should resonate.

Scene, the first debate, Matthews, with, at least, three other candidates ... Matthew gives a complicated, long-winded, foolish answer to some question, and all it will take, for any of the other candidates to neutralize him for the rest of the campaign, is for one to look at him and repeat the lament about his colleague, Morning Joke, plastering Tweety with;

"Jesus, Chris, why don't you get a shovel ..."

Or, as Olbermann did to him, just give him the hand gesture, that he was talking too much.

Thank the staffers, close the campaign HQ, and here's some lovely parting gifts for you, Mr. Tweety ...


Bonus Tweety Riffs

The Raw Story - Claim: Chris Matthews 'staffing up' for Senate run

Ta Nehisi Coates: Chris Matthews for Senate

Chris Matthews' Leg

Digby: Frederick of Hollywood and the Tiny Silicone Penis

Was Tweety Covering Morning Jokes' Back?

MSNBC's Matthews Uninjured Pulling Head Out Of Judy Miller's Ass; Hardball Host Fawns Over Former White House Stenographer; Stays Away From Tough Questions

Tweety Baits, Rat Catcher Bites

Something is going on here.

For the second time in a month, Tweety, either on his 'Hardball' program, or, as last night, in the Special Election coverage, is showing great restraint, patience, just laying back, and letting the Flying Monkeys of the Right Wing Freak Show shit all over themselves.

We had, of course, the incident that launched The Garlic's Ignorant Dolt of the Week, when Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann dove right in, channeling her inner McCarthyism.

And last evening, in MSNBC's Special Election Coverage, Tweety brought on The Rat Catcher (aka former corrupt Republican Majority Whip, Tom "The Hammer" DeLay, who, before he displayed for the world, his legislative intellect, and unbridled greed, prepared for his role in high government via his exterminating business).

Now, there is a question of judgment, why Tweety, and/or MSNBC, would want to have The Rat Catcher on for an interview, being it was, in effect, The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Night of Barack Obama.

But on he slimed, with Tweety baiting him about the unfolding meltdown of the Republican Party, giving The Rat Catcher the opportunity for him to toot the tin, RNC talking point of how a Democratic Majority is going to bring on the end of the universe.

At the end of The Rat Catcher's spewing, Tweety, all smiling and chuckling, cuts his legs off on national television, labeling him a "hater" (perhaps code for something else, no?)

Here it is, captured for posterity;

Rethug Tom Delay Says Dems Will Screw Economy, Chris Matthews Calls Him A Hater




Let's roll out a deal for The Rat Catcher ... We'll give'em a special nod as "Ignorant Hater of the Day!"


Bonus Rat Catcher Riffs

DeLay, the Lobbyist? ...DeLay Resignation Clears Way For Medal of Freedom Award; To Scold Wayward Republicans, President To Conduct Ceremony In Full Session

Lobbyist Sought $15M To Introduce Bush To Cheney; New Documents Show Abramoff Peddling Secret Bunker Access, In Concert With Fallen House Leader DeLay

Old Ethics Rules Back In Force; DeLay Now Facing Additional Charges; Stowaway On Air Force One Effort To Avoid House Investigation

DeLay's Wife Demands To Speak With President; Wants Answers But Not Sure Where To Camp Out - D.C., Crawford or Hurricane Region?

Cheney Backs DeLay At Fundraiser, Despite Upheld Charges; VP Promises Former House Leader "Strong Iraq Press"; Cheney Takes Cut From Gate For New "Bunker" Fund

Conservatives To Fete DeLay Tonight; Last Chance For Favors In Case House Leader Censured or Expelled

RNC, Congress Planning 'Support Our Majority Leader' Rally For DeLay; Music, Speakers and Celebes Slated For K Street Parade; President To Attend If Not In Gulf Region Again

MSNBC Waves The Right Flag

MSNBC Removes Olbermann & Matthews From Election Anchor Duties

Well, what can you expect?

This is from the same nitwits, the stuffed shirts and suits in the upper echelons of NBC, MSNBC, General Electric (or some combination of, maybe all), that fired Phil Donohue and hired Rita Cosby.

Rita Cosby, for heavens sake!

The public (very public) dumping, demotion, spanking, and/or otherwise, stiff slap-to-the-face of Keith Olbermann and Chris "Tweety" Matthews by Phil Griffin, the president of MSNBC was/is meant to embarrass them.

(And dig how the NYT helped with the slapping - MSNBC Takes Incendiary Hosts From Anchor Seat)

Whatever it was about their chores as anchors of political events (debates, primaries, conventions), could have been handled internally, without public fanfare, a subtle shift that may, or may not, have gone unnoticed.

Ratings, maybe, likely were the biggest reason, however, with the various outcries from the Right Wing, most recently by Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain's camp, it certainly gives the appearance the Griffin is caving in to the Freak Show crowd.

And, perhaps, the three-martini-voiced Tom Brokaw.

From Atrios;

I'll just add, for the hundredth time, that Keith Olbermann's expressed "liberalism" is almost entirely limited to a dislike and distrust of the Bush administration, a view shared by 70% of the public, and a concern for civil liberties and executive power abuse. On top of that he has a somewhat liberal "sensibility," but his show covers little of the broader "liberal agenda." But he makes Tom Brokaw uncomfortable so, you know.

And guess what ...

They're plugging in Karl Rove's dancing partner, the dreadful David Gregory to man the Captain's chair for future political events.

Yeah, that oughta send the ratings skyrocketing ...

With Tweety, it could be nothing more that him being Tweety that pushes him off the main stage.

But Olbermann, this is what is going to give this story legs.

To get the full scope of this, Glenn Greenwald has a excellent breakdown of it, with his "The right dictates MSNBC's programming decisions", and he says this;

The irrefutable fact is that nothing attracts ratings for MSNBC -- and nothing has attracted ratings in the entire history of that channel -- the way that Olbermann does. Yet here is MSNBC removing him from the anchor position, reducing his role in its political coverage, and clearly diminishing his stature (and implicitly criticizing his coverage). That is extraordinary for a media company to publicly embarrass, diminish and tarnish its own principal asset. It is plainly doing so for ideological, not ratings-based, reasons: namely, it fears doing anything to anger the White House, the McCain campaign and the Right in this country.

The most recent item that, likely, drew ire, was Olbermann pissing in the tea of the Republican's cup, rightly calling them out on the propaganda 9-11 Tribute video they ran at the convention last week.

Check it out.

The 9-11 Tribute at the RNC - And Olbermann's Reaction

"This "tribute" which served to only throw fear into the political discourse and frighten voters was shown at the 2008 Republican National Convention. Keith Olbermann spoke for many of us at the sickening images used for political gain"



A classic, if anything, to show who's pulling Stumblin' Bumblin' Johnny's strings, with his Rovian campaign.

Leni Riefenstahl would have been most proud of them.

Because the video narrator assured us, this won't happen again, as in "This is a war American will win, because we'll have a President that knows how".

Knows "how to" what - make propaganda films?

Start wars on lies and false information?

Torture people, obstruct justice and stomp on the Constitution?

Inferring McCain will be the "President that knows how"?

Please ....

(We should note, as, no doubt, you heard, how the GOP, in their video shows, used stock images of African Americans, and, more hideously, of a soldiers' funeral, and the infamous McCain Green Screen, in which they screwed up showing Walter Reed Hospital, instead, displaying a school in Southern California has been much-discussed.

The only thing missing from this video was, at the end of it, a 'Sponsored by Walmart' and voiceover from Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain, telling the RNC crowd that he wants to thank them for going shopping after September 11th).

Olbermann wasn't the only one to notice.

The Jed Report asked "Did they just cross the line on 9/11?", Creature, on State of Day, simply labeld it Exploiting the dead, while Hilzoy, over on Obsidian Wings, was "Angry";

I didn't want to write about that. It's still pretty close to the bone. But I have never thought that I had a monopoly on honor and decency and love for my country. I wish more prominent Republicans would stop assuming that they do.

Sasha Issenberg, in The Boston Globe, penned an obit, "The death of a taboo";

ST. PAUL -- One of the most enduring taboos in American politics, the airing of graphic images from the September 11 attacks in a partisan context, died today. It was nearly seven years old.

The informal prohibition, which had been occasionally threatened by political ads in recent years, was pronounced dead at approximately 7:40 CST, when a video aired before delegates at the Republican National Convention included slow-motion footage of a plane striking the World Trade Center, the towers' subsequent collapse, and smoke emerging from the Pentagon.

The September 11 precedent was one of the few surviving campaign-season taboos. It is survived by direct comparisons of one's opponents to Hitler.

It was intimated that Olbermann may do a "Special Comment" on this 9-11 Tribute Video, and with this naked, public rebuke, by his own bosses, it should, possibly, make for some good fireworks.

Then again, Olbermann, if he really wants to push the envelope, rock the boat, and risk being fired, he can always have Phil Griffin be the "Worst Person in the World" tonight (though, he may want to do a Special Edition of it, and label Griffin the "Biggest Asshole in the World!").

Also worth watching, aside from it being the debut, is to see if Golden Girl Rachel Maddow weighs into it at all.

Holy Neilsen Ratings Batman!

Stay tuned ...


Bonus MSNBC Cave-in Riffs

MahaBlog: So Much for Freedom of the Press

Steve Benen: MSNBC FEELS THE HEAT...

Joe Gandelman: Quote of the Day: On NBC Axing NBC Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews As MSNBC Anchors

Bob Cesca: Keith And Chris

Oliver Willis: MSNBC Caves In To Right Wing Bellyaching Again

Brilliant at Breakfast: MSNBC capitulates to Karl Rove and the Republican Party

John Aravosis : You can turn off NBC and MSNBC during the debates and elections

Digby: The Refs Begin To Tremble

Keith Olbermann ... Setting The Standard That, Almost Guaranteed, Will Not Be Followed

Yes, I'm going a bit late to this (in part, waiting, and waiting, for MSNBC to publish the damn transcript) but it is a story that has gone vastly under-reported.

A major news anchor made an error, a mistake and then, didn't gloss over it, didn't blame anyone else ... And, in both print, and on-air, brought attention to his mistake, accepted the responsibility for it, and apologized for it ...

Yes, the man, Keith Olbermann, host of MSNBC's Countdown, called himself out.

The issue stemmed from an interview Olbermann conducted with Lawrence O'Donnell, on Thursday, 17 January, in which there was no mention or reference to O'Donnell's lowdown smear of John Edwards, in a post he wrote on Huffington Post, the week before.

At some point, between the end of Countdown on Thursday evening, and before 11AM the next day, Olbermann did get hip to it and posted an admission of his error on the Daily Kos, announcing at the very end that "It will be addressed tonight on the show."

Addressed indeed.

Just before the first commercial break, on the Friday 18 January broadcast of Countdown;

"And a note about last night‘s COUNTDOWN and the discussion of Barack Obama‘s evoking of the name Ronald Reagan as a president of change. Lawrence O‘Donnell of Huffingtonpost.com was our guest in the 6th sentence of his first answer, Lawrence dismissed criticism of Obama about for the Reagan reference by John Edwards and that said, Edwards, quote, “Is not a factor in these races coming up except possibly Nevada.” He was entitled to say that but I should have pointed out to you that a week ago, Mr. O‘Donnell wrote a piece for “Huffington” in which he called Edwards, a quote, “Loser,” who, quote, “Might in the end become nothing other than the southern white man who stood in the way of the black man.” I would have pointed out to you if he had pointed that out to us. We can‘t do on air vetting (ph) of everything, every analyst has ever written, the newscast would then consist of 58 minutes of that plus the theme music. But when it is relevant and it‘s pointed at recent it should happen, my apologies that in this case it did not."

Jeez, take just MSNBC, and NBC, let alone the rest of the MSM (The NYT would have to publish months of editions to cover Michael Gordon's stenography), if they applied this standard to Little Timmy Russert, and Tweety Chris Matthews, they'd have to launch another channel (and Tweety was recently forced to apologize, on-air)

Rachel Maddow: Hillary Apologist and Obama Basher

"...I see a lot of shades of George Bush as a candidate in what we’re hearing from Obama ... I think that Obama learned a little bit about how to campaign from what George Bush did. I hope that he would be, of course, a better president than Bush has been though ..."

Who's paying Rachel Maddow's salary, MSNBC, Air America Radio, or the Hillary Clinton Campaign?

The Liberal/Progressive's rising media darling was wearing her Hillary on her sleeve last evening, late into the coverage as a panel member on the MSNBC broadcast of the post-Iowa Caucus discussions.

When you Google "Rachel Maddow", you (or at least my search provided) get 192,000 results.

Looking over the first 100, there's nary a negative word about Ms. Maddow, not even from the Freakshow denizens, Dittoheads, or the Sludge Reports' flying monkeys.

And if she is a Hillary fan and supporter, God bless her, but was it part of her assignment with MSNBC last evening to bash Dem Iowa Caucus winner Barack Obama?

Rachel Maddow as Obama Basher

From the MSNBC transcript;

OLBERMANN: Rachel Maddow, the subject of strong views. Did not the strong views get us the president we have as well? Is there not fire to be played with in that category.

MADDOW: Well, it’s interesting. I actually feel like although I like Obama a lot more than I like George Bush as a politician and I guess probably as a person, I see a lot of shades of George Bush as a candidate in what we’re hearing from Obama. In that what Obama’s actually offering are fairly liberal policies, but spoken in language and delivered in a style that’s very moderate and that’s actually kind of post partisan in tone.

We don’t think of George Bush’s presidency as having been that way. But as a candidate, that’s exactly what he was. He was proposing very conservative policies, but in a conciliatory, compassionate, post partisan, can’t we all just get along kind of way. And that’s why people I think maybe ended up surprised at the way he governed. I think that Obama learned a little bit about how to campaign from what George Bush did. I hope that he would be, of course, a better president than Bush has been though.

Whoa, there girl!

Obama is Bush?

If fellow panel member Pat Buchanan said it, you would, well, brush it off, knowing what a whack-job Buchanan is.

And even being cautious about over-praise, being it was only one night, one event, but tying Obama to Bush?

Did the Hillary Campaign hack into her earpiece? Was she reading off the next morning's Hillary Campaign Talking Points?

Because, before she bashed Obama, you could see the hair on her neck rising, when host Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann and other panel members were talking in tones of Hillary being finished.

Rachel Maddow as the Hillary Apologist

MATTHEWS: This country moves in a strange pattern. In 1870, we gave African-Americans, men, the right to vote, at least in the Constitution. Obviously Jim Crowe got in the way of that for 100 years. But it was written down into law, the amendment to our Constitution, African-Americans, former slaves, will be voting citizens of the United States.

Women got to vote, which is always interesting, 50 years later. So there’s something perhaps primordial about the willingness of this country to at least, in theory, extend the franchise, the presidency, even, to an African-American rather than a woman. That is the interesting question mark that this Hillary Clinton campaign raises.

Let’s go to the panel with this hot potato, starting with Rachel Maddow.

Rachel, and then Howard, I want you, and Pat, and, of course, Gene Robinson, all of you from your different perspectives, what is it about America that here we are in 2008, finally picking an African-American with a real shot to be president of the United States, and a woman just got a very bad night in Iowa?

Rachel?

MADDOW: I think that you’re calling this a really bad night for Hillary too early. I think that we need to see how close it’s going to be. And if ultimately the results are a three-way tie or look close to it, or Barack Obama wins tightly, that’s a story. I think it matters.

I don’t see this as a huge rejection of Hillary if she doesn’t come in with a big win, honestly. I know you see it differently.

MATTHEWS: You mean, the fact that two-thirds of the Democratic Party voted against her isn’t a rejection?

MADDOW: Two-thirds of the Democratic Party will have voted against all of the candidates if it comes in as a three-way tie, Chris. That’s the point.

The issue, if it comes out it’s a really close race, it’s going to be close heading into New Hampshire as well. And I think we discount that at our peril.

If Barack Obama, as you guys are projecting is going to be the winner, I think that’s the America we all want to live in. I think it’s an amazing day for the country and it’s great. I don’t know if it means that he gets the nomination ultimately, but it’s an exciting, historic day for the country.

OLBERMANN: Let me throw something in from the decision desk. Edwards and Clinton are in, just apropos what you’re saying, Rachel, a very tight race for second in the race for the state Democratic delegate equivalent. Those are the numbers we’re seeing so far.

And again, NBC News has projected, as you heard, Barack Obama as the winner of this Iowa caucus at 36 percent. Those other numbers are as close as you would suggest they would be, 31 percent and 31 percent.

MATTHEWS: But Howard—well, Rachel, I’ll go back to you so you can have a response here.

From the beginning of this year in the polling we’ve noticed that Hillary has been ahead of Obama all year. So she can’t claim to be somehow a comeback kid or someone who, you know, somehow never had a chance. She had a big chance in Iowa and she’s lucky to get second.

MADDOW: No, I think it may be a more comfortable place for her to be running from, to be able to say, I’m fighting for this, and to maybe play the gender card in a big way, to say we have got to fight in order to get a woman in the White House in a way that she couldn’t have played that way had she been in an inevitable front-runner. So, I mean, I think it’ll be real interesting to see how the Clinton campaign responds to this. They’re going to have to come up with something creative, but it’s not the worst position for her to be in.

Funny, I missed the PR this morning, from the Hillary camp, telling us how thrilled they are, going into New Hampshire in five days, from a third-place finish in Iowa.

And I didn't see Big Bill, on camera, extolling how coming in third-place in Iowa was the best strategic way for his wife to start off on getting the nomination.

It has been reported that Ms. Maddow has received a tryout from MSNBC (she's been appearing on the network with greater frequency the past few months), for a possible show, possibly replacing the He-Man, Tucker Carlson

If that is the case, please, someone at MSNBC, take away the HRC pom-poms before she goes on-air.

Breaking News! Thompson Responds To FEC Charge, Claiming He's Now Moving Into "Testing Executive Privilege" Phase

Also Invokes "The Cheney Principle", Saying "He's Not Part of The Campaign"

"They can't lay a debutante's glove on me," growled Fred Thompson, former Senator and actor.

Reporters caught up to Thompson this evening, just as he had parked his red pick-up truck, and was about to climb into his sweet silver luxury sedan, asking for a reaction to the Federal Election Commission complaint filed against him today, by blogger and activist Lane Hudson.

"They got spit", bellowed Thompson, as the gaggle of reporters spoke over each other, while the former Nixon snitch buffed his cowboy boots with a $100 bill.

Lane's complaint, filed yesterday, alleges that Thompson, and his Fred Thompson for President Exploratory Committee, have violated, at minimum, 11 FEC statutes dealing with "testing the waters" provision of FEC law.

The charges include violations of fund raising, advertising, and the securing of property for campaign headquarters.

"They might be swinging their lassos, but they won't be roping this bull", snorted Thompson.

Thompson indicated he was confident of getting the Republican nomination and even more confident of being elected President, so "why don't just everybody stop pissing in the chicken coop".

Thompson related that "his people" will be filing paperwork with the FEC in the morning, claiming that "FTPEC" is will now be "testing Executive Privilege", which will "moot" any actions the FEC may be able to take against Thompson.

"They just can't touch it ... It's off limits ... They won't be allowed to issue any subpoenas."

Thompson said that in addition to the claim of "testing Executive Privilege", he will also cite the "Cheney Principle".

"I'm not really part of the campaign," said the possible candidate. "Well, the job of exploratory candidate is an interesting one, because you have a foot in both the campaign and not in the campaign.

Cheney spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride confirmed the Thompson position.

"We are confident that Thompson is conducting his campaign properly under the law," McBride said.

MSNBC 'Hardball' host Chris Matthews says "He'll beat this rap."

"He's a big, beefy guy", chortled Matthews. "He's a big, beefy, mature guy, with sex appeal... Those types don't get tripped up in these little dust-ups ... He's Big Daddy ...Ha! ... He walks into the court, or the hearing room, or whatever and the judge, the commissioner ... Whoever ...They smell the English Leather on this guy ... The Aqua Velva ... That mature man's shaving cream ... With a little bit of cigar smoke mixed in ... Ha! ... You know the type ... He walks out of there without a scratch ...

Matthews was filling in for Thompson advisor, Mary Matalin, who the campaign hasn't quite solved how to utilize Matalin's experience, but without scaring the bejeezes out of everybody.

More as this story develops

"They might be swinging their lassos, but they won't be roping this bull", snorted Thompson

MSNBC's Matthews Uninjured Pulling Head Out Of Judy Miller's Ass

Hardball Host Fawns Over Former White House Stenographer; Stays Away From Tough Questions

MSNBC's Chris Matthews, host of 'Hardball with Chris Matthews', escaped serious injury yesterday, extracting his head out of the rectum of Judy Miller, former New York Times reporter and White House stenographer.

"We weren't sure," offered MSNBC President, Dan Abrams. "We sent Chris to the hospital, just as a precaution."

Abrams wasn't pleased with his hosts' interview with Miller, who served nearly three-months in jail for not disclosing her source in the CIA Leak Case, which turned out to be convicted felon, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Sources tell The Garlic that Abrams is considering a change in the title of Matthews' program, to "Soft Balls On Chris Matthews".

Matthews, with his trademark grinning and drooling, welcomed Miller with "Judy, you‘re a hero to the press. You are definitely a woman to be trusted with secrets ..." and started off the interview on a strange, blathering tangent;

I‘m in Los Angeles right now. I‘m up there in a—I was up in a Renaissance Hotel the other night, looking down—actually, when I got up this morning—seeing this whole city, crowded city, below me. Is it safe?

Matthews, fawning over Miller, continued his line of questioning the former White House shrill about the recent NIE report and the alleged strengthening of Al Qaeda.

Not once did Matthews, his cranium firmly squeezed into Miller's behind, question his guest about her role in spreading the lies and misinformation coming out of the Bush Grindhouse in the run-up to invading and occupying Iraq

Another point Abrams was upset about was the network teased and ran promos for Matthews show, and specifically his interview with Miller, offering the tantalizing prospects of her view and opinion on the commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence and incarceration.

Without asking her a single question about Libby, that Miller could have answered or chosen not to answer, Matthews gushed;

MATTHEWS: Judy, I believe in you. You‘re great. And by the way, I didn‘t ask you about Scooter Libby because—because the president didn‘t ...let‘s make it clear what happened here. If he had pardoned the guy, we could talk because there‘d be no further legal action against him. But because he‘s now floating around there in limbo, as the guy with clemency commutation but still appealing his case, you can‘t talk about the case.

MILLER: That‘s right.

MATTHEWS: I completely understand that. I sympathize with you.

MILLER: Thank you, Chris.

MATTHEWS: And I sometimes even sympathize with Scooter Libby.

"If this is how Chris plays hardball," an agitated Abrams fumed, "than we have to sit down and have a talk ... Either that, of he can pack his bags and move over to Fox News."

In a related story, unconfirmed reports have former MSNBC host Rita Cosby, recently losing out on a World Wonder title, was said to be stalking the graveyard where Anna Nicole Smith is buried, badgering workers and visitors. Cosby, it was said, still hopes to revive the deal with Abrams, to launch a 24-hour Anna Nicole Smith channel.

Links

Watch Video of Judy Miller plays Hardball with Chris Matthews

Hardball with Chris Matthews' for July 18 Read the transcript to the Wednesday show

Miller To Leave 'Times' With Movie Deal In Hand; Signs On To Star In Memento Sequel; Not Sure If She Will Continue Freelancing For Bush Admn.

Bonus Links

Editor & Publisher: Judy Miller Defends Leaker -- Of Harry Potter Ending!


Matthews' program could be retitled "Soft Balls On Chris Matthews"

Everybody, Give A Big Hand! ... Let's Welcome NBC's David Gregory To The Freak Show!

Boy, this one nearly knocked me off my seat.

No doubt, the blood sugar may have been a bit low, the morning caffeine hadn’t kicked in yet, and there was the inevitable let down of seeing the Cheneypalooza end last night.

What was this dizzying, shocking, surprising entity that provided this momentary dysfunction?

NBC's David Gregory thinks we just need to "strip away" Ann Coulter's inflammatory rhetoric to listen to her points

Boy, David, as Desi would say to Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do.

Do we have to get John Fund, Dorothy Rabinowitz or Richard Cohen to meet up with you, offering instructions on pulling your head out of your ass? Or can you manage that on your own?

Are you miffed, that the slobbering, fawning, drooling Chris Matthews didn't included a Rap segment on his show with The Coulterzilla the other day? Something you could have just happened to drop by on, and flash those same suave moves you displayed when dancing with Karl Rove?

And this isn't the first time you've used the Rightside/Freak Show smear points in your reporting.

This talk with Elizabeth Edwards ... You dragged out the now-ever-so-tired slam of the expensive haircut, paid speeches (though, to be "fair and balanced", no mention of Rudy911 and his goldmine speaking tour) and then chided Mrs. Edwards that she should have pushed aside all the bullshit Coulterzilla was firing at her and pay attention to "the point she's trying to make" behind it

To her credit, Mrs. Edwards, after laughing at Gregory, delivered a crisp response that basically said "Hey, if you want to side with Coulter, and you don't like my husband, don't vote for him"

Interesting also, in defending Coulterzilla, Gregory left out of the interview how Coulterzilla, just a few days ago, put forth “if I’m going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I’ll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot.”

What was the point behind that one, Gregory?

So David, are you going to go for the gold watch with the Peacock Network, or do we soon see a Press Release fired out on you joining Fox News?

You certainly seem to be going out of your way to impress them.

To steal from a Fox Noise program, "The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day"










Links

Mrs. Edwards responds to Coulter; June 28: She talks to NBC's David Gregory about the clash with Ann and how she hopes "people will speak out" against hate speech (Video)

Edwards equates Coulter’s words to racist ones; Presidential candidate’s wife calls commentator’s remarks ‘hate language’

Losers

Bloggers Are Foul-Mouthed Cranks

Bashing Elizabeth Edwards

Run For Your Lives ... Ann Coulter Alert!

I sensed something terribly wrong this morning.

Car alarms were blaring, for stretches of blocks ... Newly-budding flowers wilted before sunrise ... Dogs and other pets hid under beds, or otherwise found safe cover.

And I could have sworn I saw Kevin McCarthy running down the street, screaming "They're here already! You're next! You're next, You're next..."

What could this be?

Ahhh, the Coulter-meter was pinging off-the-charts.

The doyenne of the Freak Show is untethering herself from the Fox Network, to be on 'Hard Ball with Chris Matthews', the master of the smiling drool, this evening, so have a vomit bag nearby, for either the rank foulness that spews from Coulter, or the overt, drooling and fawning Matthews engages in .

Watch at your own risk.

Bonus Links

American goodwill, in shackles

Good Morning America's Chris Cuomo interviews Coulter, promotes Godless

Top Ten Cloves: Things Ann Coulter Would Spend "Coulter Cash" On

Garlic Exclusive! 1st Draft Of Coulter’s Plagiarism Response: Coulter Speaks (Sort Of)

Update

Ann Coulter Attacks John Edwards On Good Morning America

Update II

Elizabeth Edwards Confronts Coulter During Live Television Appearance


Has Ann Coulter Hit Her Tipping Point?

Top Ten Cloves: Things Overheard At Democratic Candidates Debate

News Item: Setting the Stage: The First Democratic Presidential Debate

10. What time does 'Grey's Anatomy' come on?

9. If Dodd doesn't make it, he can always get work as ''The Man from Glad'

8. Please, please, please ... It's South Carolina ... No Confederate Flag questions tonight

7. Gee, I thought Brian Williams would be taller

6. Bill Richardson, if he feels like taking a night off, can always pull in the actor Oliver Platt to sub for him, they look so much alike

5. Thank God MSNBC fired that Rita Cosby - Man, it would be torture to have her badgering us after this thing

4. What do I do if, in his rebuttal, Obama asks me how many times I was on Imus's show?

3. Stifle urges to do any "IED" jokes, like that jerk McCain did the other night

2. I hope I can get out of here tonight without getting placed on Keith Olbermann's Worst Person In The World

1. If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on Kucinich as the one to turn and say "Hillary, you ignorant slut!"

Separated At Birth?