Unlike CNN, MSNBC’s Hardball didn’t surrender its entire hour to the House Judiciary Committee debate on the Articles of Impeachment, but considering all the nonsense uttered by host Chris Matthews and an assortment of guests, perhaps it would have been better to follow CNN’s lead.
Matthews gushed minutes after leaving the proceedings that “I think the Speaker separated in biblical language the wheat from the chaff” in making the Articles about “abuse of power, because we know what he did with Zelensky and we knew it was compromising national security and national security works in the suburbs” when people “read the paper” “in the morning.”
Yes, Chris. Because while there are some of us that are old souls, fewer and fewer people engage in the routine of reading the newspaper and, if they do, automatically believing what’s inside.
After an eye-rolling and smug lecture from MSNBC presidential historian Jon Meacham, Matthews reiterated how the “beautifully done” Articles of Impeachment made him feel warm and fuzzy inside. He added that voting for impeachment is “a very good thing to vote for” because it shows, well, you care about America’s security.
Washington Post reporter and PBS Washington Week moderator Robert Costa continued the nonsense, peddling the left’s talking points that, in part, impeachment is due to the fact that the Trump administration as prevented Congress from “legislat[ing]” and carrying out oversight.
If by that he meant fulfilling something Democrats have waited years to do as opposed to anything else, then sure.
Skipping ahead to the last ten minutes of the show, former Newsweek editor-turned-MSNBC analyst (read: liberal hack) Howard Fineman screeched that Republicans are “not dealing with any issue of substance at all, sneering, calling names, creating scary figures, like Adam Schiff.”
Reminding us why he’s not an actual journalist but a pundit, Fineman ruled Republicans are engaging in “childish behavior.” He even accused the GOP of lacking any reverence or “deep dedication to the processes of the Constitution and to the rule of law.”
Someone get Fineman a fainting couch.
“They've been made into children by Donald Trump because of the tribalism of Trump's theory of government and the fact that as you pointed out early in the show, the Trump administration has stonewalled and sneered at every attempt at subpoenas or investigation of his administration,” he added.
The GOP hatefest continued with the pair acting as though they care about the future of the right (click “expand”):
MATTHEWS: How did he know that these guys would be puppetoons? How did he know that every one of these guys would act like wound up puppets?
FINEMAN: [B]ecause here is Donald Trump's main gift. He smells weakness and fear in anybody in the room with him. He took one look at the Republican establishment when he was busy kicking in the door and saw they were all weak and without moral compass —
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
FINEMAN: — and he just kicked the door down, and he's ruled them ever since, and he's going to rule them with fear until the very end....I covered Reagan. Reagan had ideas. The Republican conservatives movement was a real and important thing, but by the time Trump was knocking on the door, it had completely lost its way and he boarded an empty ship.
Matthews concluded by asking him whether the future GOP presidential conventions and Fineman replied that he has “no idea if there is a Republican Party by then.” Shocked, Matthews replied that it was such a “frightening” and “profound answer.”
To see the relevant transcript from MSNBC’s Hardball on December 12, click “expand.”
MSNBC’s Hardball
December 12, 2019
7:26 p.m. EasternCHRIS MATTHEWS: I think the Speaker separated in biblical language the wheat from the chaff. She said the wheat here, the good stuff, is abuse of power because we know what he did with Zelensky and we knew it was compromising national security and national security works in the suburbs because the people that get up in the morning, like me, the big people, they get up in the morning, the women and men, read the paper, they know what’s going on, whether it’s The Inquirer or it’s The New York Times, whatever it is, they know what's going on and they know national security is what counts when you're a congressperson. She picked the right spot to beat Trump with.
(....)
7:31 p.m. Eastern
MATTHEWS: I think the language of the articles are beautifully done, as I said economically written and they get to the point. And I do think separating the wheat from the chaffed is very important. She did not go after emoluments. Nobody’s going to pout, you know, except for the far left, no one’s going to kick this guy out of office because he made some money off the hotel down on Pennsylvania Avenue. It’s not going to happen, so I do think it's solemn, but it's also political. She picked the right spot for Max Rose of Staten Island and Madeleine Dean of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and all these people and she may have even gotten, you know, Brian Fitzpatrick of Bucks County to vote for this thing because this is, to me, a very good thing to vote for. You're voting to defend the interests of this country against a President who didn't defend those interests.
ROBERT COSTA: You made the case that abuse of power helps people running in the suburbs to talk about the issue of national security. Give some attention as well to this article of impeachment on obstruction of Congress. As a reporter, this is the culmination of two and a half years of frustrations among House Democrats that this White House subpoena after subpoena says no, whether it's an agency, a department or an impeachment inquiry, they are so frustrated that their branch doesn't legislate anymore and when comes to their other duty of oversight, they can't even do that.
(....)
7:40 p.m. Eastern
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Senator, the President — I know you have to be particular in talking to people like Mr. Horowitz who's a good public servant, but this President's trashing of every American institution is just his pattern now. They're all scum, including Republicans who don't like him.
(....)
7:51 p.m. Eastern
MATTHEWS: Well, what about tonight? You watched Doug Collins tonight making fun — I mean, I know the House rules. You're not supposed to make fun of the motivations of another member, whatever the party. Making fun when he says it’s [INAUDIBLE] — just saying you're a liar basically.
HOWARD FINEMAN: Yeah and also not dealing with any issue of substance at all.
MATTHEWS: Right.
FINEMAN: Sneering, calling names —
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
FINEMAN: — creating scary figures, like Adam Schiff, you know — who won’t come —
MATTHEWS: Shifty Schiff.
FINEMAN: — Shifty Schiff —
MATTHEWS: Oh yeah, he’s hiding behind it.
FINEMAN: — who won't come out of hiding. You know, this is all childish — childish stuff, and frankly I had just gotten out of journalism school at the time of Watergate and I remember that and I know the solemnity of the Clinton trial, which I covered and so on for Newsweek. This was childish behavior on the part of the Republicans. They've been made into children by Donald Trump because of the tribalism of Trump's
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
FINEMAN: — theory of government and the fact that as you pointed out early in the show, the trump administration has stonewalled and sneered at every attempt at subpoenas or investigation of his administration.
MATTHEWS: Okay. And here’s a guy — they ought to put a big sign on him. I always say to our producers always identify the witness because don’t always know who’s talking, whether it’s a journalist — straight journalist like you or it’s somebody from a political background. Here’s Louie Gohmert. You know what his background is? He is — he’s — he is a birther. He's a guy that only knew one thing about it, claimed Obama was born somewhere in Kenya and his white mother went over there to have him and just so she could claim him and could run him for president. A nut. He’s a nut.
FINEMAN: Well, Chris — Chris, when I said we’re in a different political world, this is an era of emotion and accusation. When the Nixon trial happ — when the Nixon impeachment process was underway, the members of Congress who were proud at least to have a veneer if not a deep dedication to the processes of the Constitution and to the rule of law.
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
FINEMAN: Donald Trump has sneered his entire life at the rule of law. He views it as a fungible, manipulatable thing that he learned how to do back in New York in the real estate business and that has given cover to every —
MATTHEWS: How did he know that these guys would be puppetoons? How did he know that every one of these guys would act like wound up puppets?
FINEMAN: — because here is Donald Trump's main gift. He smells weakness and fear in anybody in the room with him. He took one look at the Republican establishment when he was busy kicking in the door and saw they were all weak and without moral compass —
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
FINEMAN: — and he just kicked the door down, and he's ruled them ever since, and he's going to rule them with fear until the very end.
MATTHEWS: Yeah, he called them little Marco, low energy Jeb, he went through every one of them.
FINEMAN: Yeah, he looked at the Republican Party establishment and realized — look, I covered Reagan. Reagan had ideas. The Republican conservatives movement was a real and important thing, but by the time trump was knocking on the door, it had completely lost its way and he boarded an empty ship.
MATTHEWS: Thank you. Do you think when they have future Republican conventions 10, 20 years from now they'll have big pictures of Donald Trump on the wall?
FINEMAN: I have no idea if there is a Republican Party by then.
MATTHEWS: Thank you, Howard. A profound answer. A frightening one.
