Chris Matthews and the Religion of Obama

April 24th, 2016 8:59 AM

Chris Matthews’ admission that, “I felt this thrill going up my leg,” upon hearing Barack Obama speak in 2008 is nothing short of legendary in the annals of media bias. His remark set the stage for what was to become the nearly evangelical fervor among liberals for the president.

The word ‘evangelical’ will be dismissed by some as hyperbole but there may be medical evidence that, at least in Matthews’ case, his love for President Obama truly is evangelical.

While re-reading William F. Buckley, Jr.’s classic God and Man at Yale this weekend, I came across a passage that was nothing short of astonishing.

In his critique of one of the texts used in Yale’s Psychology Department, Buckley describes the sole and “unabashedly derisive” passage on religion included in F.L. Ruch’s Psychology of Life. According to Ruch:

“It is interesting to note that when the part of his brain thought by the phrenologists to be the center of religion is stimulated, a man twitches his leg.”

There you have it. For Matthews and his fellow travelers, we now have clinical evidence that their allegiance to Barack Obama transcends mere politics. It is akin to a religious experience, evangelical in its adherence to the faith of liberalism.

And who are we to argue with phrenology?