Now, as you can tell from the title, these remarks are going to be favorable to Chris Matthews, so brace yourselves. First, let me say that I'd been planning to write this diary prior to Matthews' dust-up with Pat Buchanan yesterday evening, and prior to his slaughter of Kevin James this evening, so I'm glad to see he's not just having a good night or two, but is launching out on a whole new trajectory.
Let me also qualify that none of these remarks should be taken as diminishing my overall scorn for MSNBC and the MSM in general, but as I've liberal with that scorn in the past, I feel it's only fair to give credit where credit is due.
Let me finally qualify these remarks by saying that they in no way diminish Contessa Brewer's standing as the most impressive journalist on that network. And no, that's not a position she gets just because of her stunning looks, the childlike wonder she brings to her delivery of the most mundane political news, or the fact that her name makes me dream of marrying into both royalty and a beer fortune. Sigh... I digress...
Now, I didn't need the NYT magazine to tell me that Matthews is a self-centered attention whore. He himself wrote a book that I never read, but that I believe is titled, "the self-centered attention whore's guide to enduring yet another day of anxiety and self-doubt".
However, his burning need for self-affirmation aside, Chris Matthews has been on a streak lately worthy of Olbermann. And given his encyclopedic knowledge of US history, that streak has been even more astounding to watch.
It started, in my opinion, when he asked Terry McAuliffe about Hillary's W(hit)est Virginia speech:
What was the line in the speech that you found the most
Churchillian?
This will go down as the most under-appreciated snark of the 2008 political season.
Tonight's humiliation of Kevin James was painful to watch (will update once I can find a youtube link and once the transcript is posted) but made for some incredible TV. It was a perfect example of how Matthews can put his deep knowledge of US history and his total lack of journalistic grace together for devastating effect.
Edit:This diary has a youtube of the Kevin James flaying
In any case, just giving credit where it's due. Chris, keep up the good work.....