Watch this video where Chris Matthews displays his utter lack of class with Keith Olbermann. While almost every other journalist and blogger on both sides of the political spectrum are giving condolences and highlighting Russert’s deserved credit of being one of the most fair and unbiased journalists of today’s media, Chris Matthews used the opportunity to go off on an anti-war rant. He added insult by comparing him to the “American people” in the sense of being fooled by the Bush administration into supporting the war. Besides displaying how opposite he is than Russert on the subject of bias, he had to go on and add his own elitist touch by presenting himself as a superior journalist.
Even Keith Olbermann knew better than to go there, changing the subject quickly after Matthews’ rant. He provided a moment of irony later when the two most biased “journalists” on television heralded Russert’s objectivity as if they understood what the word meant. Neither Olbermann or Matthews could carry Russert’s shoes, and Matthews in particular proved why last night.
One might be tempted to give Matthews a pass, as the shock of his friend’s passing had to be hard on him, and one could see the pain. However, Matthews makes clear that he deliberately chose to make this point, leading with, “This might be tricky,” and later saying that he had spent two hours preparing for the delivery of this anecdote. The choice of casting Russert as a dupe within hours of his death was deliberate.
Asked by a justifiably teary-eyed Keith Olbermann to reflect on the sudden death, Mr. Matthews professed his love and admiration, calling Mr. Russert “everyman”, a “true patriot”, “Mr. America” — by which he meant that the Meet the Press moderator had supported the Iraq invasion because of the trumped-up threat of nukes. …
It’s hard to fathom a soul so craven that he would use a eulogy to resurrect his timeworn attack on the stagecraft of the Bush administration. But the overflow of Chris Matthews’ darkened heart also spilled onto the rest of us ‘patriotic Americans’ who were fooled by what Bush-Cheney Inc. was “selling.” In a nutshell, we’re all just a bunch of hard-working dopes like Tim Russert.
I completely agree with everything Scott said above except that is hard to fathom. I’ve seen Chris Matthews be an opportunist elitist so many times, this comes as no surprise. Of course it still disgusts me. However, this is definitely crossing the line from partisan hack to the realm of total scum.
