Chris Matthews: The American Revolution Is an Example of How 'Liberalism Always Wins'

May 13th, 2014 1:00 PM

According to Chris Matthews, the American Revolution is an example of liberalism in action, on par with fighting for gay marriage. In a new Lean Forward ad, the Hardball host appeared at Philadelphia's Independence Hall. Matthews equated, "It took 22 months of men debating in this room to achieve the Declaration of Independence. Progressive change takes time." 

Claiming the ending of slavery as a "progressive" cause, Matthews continued, "Abolition would take a great Civil War, but it came." Of course, it was the Republican President Abraham Lincoln and Republicans in Congress who freed the slaves and then passed the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution. Democrats opposed these civil rights actions. The host lectured, "Liberalism always wins eventually, just as it did here in Philadelphia, in the sweltering summer of 1776." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

Matthews declared, "Voting rights have taken a brutal fight, as will the case for marriage equality and equal pay for men and women." 

Another famous Lean Forward ad featured host Melissa Harris-Perry insisting that "kids belong to their communities." She lamented that we "haven't had a very collective notion that these are our children." 

[Thanks to MRC intern Laura Flint for the transcript.]

A transcript of the new Lean Forward ad is below: 

CHRIS [Walking through Independence Hall] It took 22 months of men debating in this room to achieve the Declaration of Independence. Progressive change takes time. Abolition would take a great Civil War, but it came. Women’s suffrage would take a crusade, but, it became part and parcel of our democracy. Voting rights have taken a brutal fight, as will the case for marriage equality and equal pay for men and women. Liberalism always wins eventually, just as it did here in Philadelphia, in the sweltering summer of 1776.