I would like to register my anger and disappointment with a clip of Chris Matthews' Hardball I recently saw. I know Chris Matthews isn't popular around here for some strange reason no one seems to be able to articulate in an intelligent fashion, so this may not come as a surprise to you. Suffice it to say, I hold media commentators to a certain standard -- a standard which I expect, nay, demand they uphold. Those who fail to do so are little more than charlatans not deserving of the attention of serious people. In short, they should just sit down and shut up.
Let me explain my standard. I expect, in commenting on footage or clips, that a commentator never exaggerate or engage in bravado over its contents, that it be viewed with a cold, discerning eye and reported upon as such. For example, in using phrases like
'TAKES APART' (note the caps, if you somehow missed them on your first reading) in reference to the Hardball throwdown that I believe marked Michelle Malkin's last appearance on the show there would, I think, be no hyperbole. What I saw last night, however, in this site's "recommended diaries" was something
very different indeed.
Just to clear the air up front, I will say that Chris Matthews is one of my favorite media pundits, so when I hear the words "TAKE APART" and Hardball in the same sentence, my interest is naturally aroused -- the moreso if Michelle Malkin is involved, but that's neither here nor there.
Now then back to this "recommended" "diary" -- the second set of scare quotes I include, I suppose, just for good measure -- As I said, my interest was aroused. So naturally, I set about looking for the footage, since seeing a rebroadcast was by that stage out of the question. Reading the diary, I tried a site called "Crooks and Liars" (rather appropriately named, given the diary in question). There it was, much to my excitement at the time.
So I clicked it and up it started. I was expecting a beatdown, of course. A Malkinization, if you will. So here it is, some kid from Texas playing political candidate and some other dude who apparently lost a primary or something. Here in Connecticut, we have a word for guys like that. Anywho, this Texas kid was a remarkably adept Bush clone and remained surprisingly cool under a somewhat, but not particularly remarkably, hostile line of questioning. He stuck to his talking points with admirable tenacity. If I were in Texas and didn't have a reasonable education or knowledge of the world, I might vote for him myself. He did not squeal. Chris did not yell at him. The other guy's "dramatic" "interruption" -- emphasis this time on the second set of quotes -- did not really slow this Texas kid down.
To summarize, I was extremely disappointed, not with Matthews, who was just doing his job, but with the so-called commentators of the diary section. I arrived to a scene of unmitigated adulation, with the exception, of course, of the I-hate-Chris-Matthews-but-can't-articulate-quite-why contingent. This Haskell fellow was apparently the hero for saying the word "soundbite" and it was, they said, really remarkable that Matthews called the kid's talking points talking points. Haven't they seen O'Reilly do this? Pundits accusing people of spin is in fact a fairly common sight.
A perfectly TV free day for me was thus ruined by a frivolous diary and a gaggle of over-enthusiastic recommenders. How can I take a place like this seriously if this is the sort of viewing advice I get? In my book, the credibility and judgment of this community took a huge plunge the moment that clip ended. How is it that people have become so starved for favorable media coverage that a fairly middling piece of coverage like that one can be so universally lauded, its praises sung to the heavens as by the chorus of so many seraphim?
Well, call me when Chris has Michelle Malkin back.