I know lots of you guys think Chris Matthews is a total idiot. I feel the same way much of the time. But I also think he has his moments... times when he makes a lot of sense. Witness his take on Obama's speech on race. So he's at least capable of looking intelligent on rare occasions.
Today was not one of those...
Matthews had Jimmy Carter on Hardball tonight. They talked about a number of issues, but eventually turned to Carter's trip to the Middle East recently. Matthews asked Carter about the possibility that Syrian leader Bashar Assad wanted peace with Israel.
Matthews: I have this sense out there, and I'm not pro-Syria or pro-Arab, I'm trying to see peace over there. I'm trying to figure it out. And in all that you've learned over there, I get a sense that for some reason Bashar Assad wants a deal with Israel. Am I right?
Carter: Absolutely.
Matthews: Why does he want a deal, and at the same time playing games with the North Koreans with nuclear weapons and all that stuff? What's his real game here?
Carter: I'm not sure that's true, I mean nobody has proven that he has nuclear weapons.
Matthews: But what's his game? Does he want peace with Israel, does he want a real treaty with them, or what?
Carter: He wants the Golan Heights back.
Matthews: But will he sign a real treaty with Israel?
Carter: Absolutely. He told me that he is eager to do it, that starting tomorrow, and the only two requirements that he has. One is that the United States be involved, because the United States is blocking Israel now from negotiating with him, and also ---
Matthews: We are? How can we stop Israel from negotiating with one of its neighbors?
Carter: I know you're kiddin'.
Matthews: I'm serious, how can we stop them?
Carter: Well, the United States has a great influence in Jerusalem, as you, as I'm sure you know.
What you'll see if you watch the video is that as Matthews starts saying, "How can we stop Israel...", Carter starts smiling. You can tell what he's thinking, and those thoughts are verbalized a few seconds later. The whole time Matthews is just sitting there with a stunned look on his face.
I thought this was hilarious at first. But then I realized it was anything but. There are, I think two possible explanations for Matthews reaction.
One, he might really be as naive as he acted, not realizing that yes, indeed, the U.S. does have massive influence over Israel. I highly doubt that someone who's been around as long as Chris Matthews could actually be that stupid.
But the other possible explanation is that Matthews is playing the game so many others in the traditional media play... that being that the U.S. can do no wrong, and right-wing talking points must constantly be spouted in order to further the fascio-corporate agenda.
Carter noted that Israel and Syria are "about 85% there" toward reaching a peace accord. But apparently it's our own country that is holding things up.
(I couldn't find a way to embed the video, but it's here. The relevant part is about 7 minutes in.)