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Absence of Balance: Six Guests, No Republicans, on Tonight's Hardball
Hardball/NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

Posted on 03/27/2006 5:28:47 PM PST by governsleastgovernsbest

by Mark Finkelstein

March 27, 2006

Wouldn't you think that someone who fashions his show "Hardball" would have the intestinal fortitude to invite on at least one guest who disagrees with his world view? At least tonight, Chris Matthews apparently thought that unnecessary.

Here was Matthews guest line-up this evening:

Philippe Sands: left-wing Brit, author of a new book, Lawless World, accusing Bush of having decided very early on in the game to go to war against Iraq.

John Podesta: the lugubrious former chief-of-staff to Bill Clinton and member of Hillary's inner circle.

Pat Buchanan: while the Today show had the chutzpah last week to bill him as a 'Republican strategist,' this 2000 presidential nominee of the Reform Party tonight acknowledged the undeniable - that he's "left the party." His gloves were off on this evening's show, accusing his favorite targets, the "neo-cons," of ginning up the Iraq war.

Susan Page: reporter for the Dem-friendly USA Today. Let's call the affable Page a voice of the more reasonable realms of the center-left media.

Craig Crawford: the snarky MSNBC/CBS political analyst who enjoys taking snide shots at the Bush administration.

Charlie Cook: political pollster, he of the Cook Political Report. Call Cook reasonably down-the-middle, but consider that the bouquets he put in his bio come from the NY Times, Bob Schieffer Al Hunt and David Broder. No one has ever accused Cook of being a Republican.

Sure, Matthews has had his share of Republican guests. But couldn't he have found at least one to round out tonight's left-leaning/Bush antagonist line-up?


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: buchanan; bushhate; charliecook; craigcrawford; enemedia; hardball; liberalbias; liberalmedia; matthews; media; mediabias; mslm; msm; newsbusters; patbuchanan; phillipesands; podesta; susanpage; today; todayshow
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1 posted on 03/27/2006 5:28:51 PM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
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To: Behind Liberal Lines; Miss Marple; an amused spectator; netmilsmom; Diogenesis; YaYa123; MEG33; ...

Hardball/NewsBusters ping to the Today show list.


2 posted on 03/27/2006 5:29:35 PM PST by governsleastgovernsbest (Watching the Today Show Since 2002 So You Don't Have To.)
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To: governsleastgovernsbest
Should rename the show Noballs.
3 posted on 03/27/2006 5:29:53 PM PST by inkling
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To: governsleastgovernsbest
Six Guests, No Republicans, on Tonight's Lardball

There, that's better.

4 posted on 03/27/2006 5:30:00 PM PST by xcamel (Press to Test, Release to Detonate)
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To: governsleastgovernsbest

The words "intestinal fortitude" and "Chris Matthews" should never be mentioned in the same sentence without a negative in between. He's an assclown of the highest order.


5 posted on 03/27/2006 5:30:41 PM PST by stm (You can fix a lot of thing s, but you can't fix stupid)
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To: governsleastgovernsbest

I was not aware that show is still on.


6 posted on 03/27/2006 5:35:26 PM PST by Cedric
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To: governsleastgovernsbest

Softballs.


7 posted on 03/27/2006 5:36:20 PM PST by Echo Talon
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To: governsleastgovernsbest
The question is: Why is he still on?! His ratings certainly don't generate enough revenue to make a profit. Who is subsidizing this program, and why? The audience is so small, paying to keep it going makes no sense, politically or monetarily. I don't get it. Sharper minds step in please.
8 posted on 03/27/2006 5:38:03 PM PST by ExtremeUnction
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To: governsleastgovernsbest
Hardwhat?
9 posted on 03/27/2006 5:40:24 PM PST by Fudd Fan (Truth will set us all free. Libs will get us all killed.)
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To: Fudd Fan

The larger question is "why is MSNBC still on?".

Nobody watches it.


10 posted on 03/27/2006 5:42:28 PM PST by Ikemeister
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To: ExtremeUnction

Tomorrow, Chrissy is really going after Bush, the panel will be made up strictly of Freepers.


11 posted on 03/27/2006 5:43:23 PM PST by bybybill (RATS WIN, WE LOSE)
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To: Echo Talon

"Softballs"

or Goofball


12 posted on 03/27/2006 5:46:58 PM PST by BadAndy (Islam is a religion of submission. YOUR submission.)
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To: governsleastgovernsbest

I don't know anyone who watches Matthews and his garbage show.


13 posted on 03/27/2006 5:48:39 PM PST by FlingWingFlyer (Sacrificing unity and national identity for "diversity" and "multiculturalism" is a really dumb idea)
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To: governsleastgovernsbest

It sounds like Matthews had half his audience on his panel.


14 posted on 03/27/2006 5:48:59 PM PST by Lancey Howard
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To: governsleastgovernsbest

Shocked to hear that Pat B. has a soft spot for Islam after hearing for so many years that he was a bigot and a racist, but if you say so and this blogger would put it into writing and sign it then I pretty much should believe it.


15 posted on 03/27/2006 5:49:32 PM PST by junta (It's Jihad stupid! It's the borders stupid!)
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To: governsleastgovernsbest

Thanks for watching and reporting. Matthews is pathetic.


16 posted on 03/27/2006 5:51:16 PM PST by PGalt
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To: governsleastgovernsbest

The numerous guests and their family members will likely provide a positive blip for Hardball's ratings.


17 posted on 03/27/2006 5:54:42 PM PST by Plutarch
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To: governsleastgovernsbest

I'd simply like to ask the assembled guests of Matthews, who are all undoubtedly anti-Bush and anti-Iraq War, that if we are supposed to be fighting Al-Qaeda and it's friends, what do they make of the latest hard evidence showing conclusively that Hussein aided and abetted Al-Qaeda? I'd like to see them squirm out of that.


18 posted on 03/27/2006 5:56:55 PM PST by driftless ( For life-long happiness, learn how to play the accordion.)
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To: governsleastgovernsbest

Chris doesn't need to balance each show. What is the ratio over time?


19 posted on 03/27/2006 5:58:48 PM PST by jimfree (Freep and ye shall find.)
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To: All

An amusing aside: perhaps conscious of the lack of Republicans, Matthews decided to offer up as a token Republican none other than . . . himself! He stated that for years he had been in the habit of voting for an unidentified Republican congresswoman from his home state of Maryland. Liberal Republian Connie Morella, perhaps?


20 posted on 03/27/2006 5:59:51 PM PST by governsleastgovernsbest (Watching the Today Show Since 2002 So You Don't Have To.)
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