Just on GP. I’ve tolerated his empty-headed, often loopy pronouncements, his filibustering way of asking a question at tedious, syntactically cumbersome length, then answering it himself while his expert guest struggles to get a word in edgewise, and his nonsensivcal value judgments of his guests’ responses, like he’s a judge and jury of what’s sensible, tasteful, timely, responsive or whatever other standard he’s seeking to impose on that particular response.
He’s a blight on the political landscape, and I hope he gets his ass kicked if he runs for the Senate in 2010. Also, he keeps pronouncing “Pennsylvania” as “pennsAvania,” and referring every national issue to his Pennsavania roots, like I give a shit.
Also he keeps running a decades-old photo of himself on the MSNBC promo, like we’re not going to notice that he looks much older than his Bar Mitzvah photo.
You know perfectly well that Chris is a nice Irish Catholic boy. Other than that, you may be right. I know he was scolded by Women In Media or their representatives for some comments that he made that they considered sexist. He was nice enough to apologize. And I did hear him correct Pat Buchanan when he was sexist in some of his comments about Sarah Palin.
Despite his poorly timed interruptions that drive me up the wall and his total misconceptions about the South (and those Confederate momuments in Virginia, for example), I like Chris. I watch Hardball almost unfailingly. I think he has his ear to the ground and picks up on what’s going on faster than anyone in cable news.
He makes even the most profoundly stupid guest feel that he or she has contributed greatly to the program. And he has people from different sides represented.
His “bejesus” certain broke everyone up on election night. Give the guy credit for that if nothing else.
You say you have heard of the possibility of his running for Senate in 2010?
I like Tweety, I have to admit. I can’t even put my finger on why, though I do agree that it’s clear he has his ear to the ground. But so many of the things that should annoy me just amuse me. A few days before the election, he had the regular strategists on, and the Repub dude said “Four stage of (something)” and the Democrat joked “I thought you were going to say the four stages of grief” and Tweety came back with “I though so, too, but you don’t say it. That’s just cruel.” I don’t know why it made me laugh, but I really do get the sense that he doesn’t want anybody to walk away from his show with hurt feelings.
At the same time, he always looks like he’s laughing at them. Which also amuses me. I like when he’s exasperated with Pat Buchanan he calls him “Patrick.” Of course, MOST of the regular talking heads are complete fucking morons. Including Patrick. So I’m not too heart broken when Tweety doesn’t let them get a word in edge wise.
Of course, his “Barak Obama is the greatest black man in the history of the universe” shtick is a little weird. I mean, his heart is completely in the right place, and you can tell that when he gushes like that, he’s sincere. But still…just a little weird. (Though no weirder than Buchanan’s “I for one welcome our new Democratic overlords” speech on Tuesday evening).
I’ve only started getting into him in the past several months, and his habit of interrupting his guests before they even begin to answer his questions drives me up the wall, but he seems like a really intelligent guy with a deep understanding of the political game. If nothing else, he’s worth keeping around for moments like his utter dismantling of Michele Bachmann when she went into her “Anti-American” schtick recently on his show, and his hilarious rejoinder to Tom DeLay the night of the election: “I like the way you hate, sir”.
That was actually the straw that broke the camel’s back, him arbitrating tastes and quashing actual observations. Did you notice how he stepped on Steve MacMahon (the Dem) and never let him actually make his point about the four stages of whatever? Instead, he let the Pubbie (Todd Harris) make his point, and cut MacMahon off with his silly tirade about how cruel Macmahon’s joke was, how he tries to protect his guests’s feelings, blablabla. A quick “Man, that’s harsh” would have sufficed, but instead the conversation got diverted from his guests’ point to a discussion of TV show decorum, Mathews’ personal standards, etc–like that’s why we tune in, to find out the workings of Mathews’ rats-nest mind.
Oh, I was annoyed he didn’t let the Dem finish his point (which didn’t actually seem to have anything to do with the little joke he made), but I think it more than anything it was embarrassing for Todd Harris—I mean, it couldn’t have felt good to have Tweety jump to the defensive to protect his delicate feelings. Especially since the implication is that it’s mean to kick the loser why he’s down.
He will always hold a special place in my heart for his election day coverage quip. For some godforsaken reason, MSNBC had that criminal, Tom Delay, spewing crap. After one nasty swipe at Nancy Pelosi, Chris told him “I love the way you hate, Mr. Delay.”
When he has a guest on for a 5 minute segment, he can take 4 minutes asking one question. I feel like screaming ,he’s got it .He knows what the question is ,let him answer.
So he pronounces it like he’s from Pittsburgh. I hear ‘Pennsuhvania’ every day.
Why do you tune in? Obviously the guy is paid to do what he does, much like other blowhards (Hannity, O’Reilly, Limbaugh, Maher) who do everything they can to shout over everyone who disagrees with them.
But since that’s basically their job description, I’m not sure there’s much room to complain.
I thought he was pretty funny on the Jon Stewart show recetly.
He gave Stewart an iced “Fox” cookie that he said was really from Carl Rove, and insisted he eat it.
I can’t remember the exchange during that interview, but I sometimes get the feeling Wallace doesn’t believe what he himself says. Or else, he has a really odd sense of humor.
I believe you are confusing Chris Matthews, the highly agitated red-haired guy on MSNBC, with Chris Wallace, the guy with the weird bulgy face on Fox News.