Matthews' Advice to Dems: Point Finger at Bush Like a Prosecutor at a Murderer

Hardball/NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

[governsleastgovernsbest]

by Mark Finkelstein

September 13, 2006 - 19:59

Chris Matthews is as frustrated as an able-bodied seaman after six months without shore leave. After 12 long years in the desert of the congressional minority, Matthews clearly senses this is the year for the Dems to snatch back the Speaker's gavel. His frustration is borne of the fear that the Dems will squander the opportunity out of timidity - an unwillingness to attack President Bush on the war in Iraq.

Things boiled over on this evening's Hardball. With guests Howard Fineman of Newsweek and Chuck Todd of the Hotline as witnesses to the meltdown, Matthews first played a hard-hitting Moveon.org ad accusing Republicans of misleading the nation into Iraq and trying to "exploit 9/11" to win elections. Matthews complained that while the Republicans are willing to use the same kind of tactics against the Democrats, Dems "are afraid to run an ad like that."

Really? The party whose surrogate, the NAACP, ran the infamous TV commercial accusing George Bush of being the equivalent of a racist murderer dragging a black man to death behind a truck wouldn't scruple to run an anti-war ad?

Things got very ugly a bit later, when Matthews said this:

"There's a great saying, the prosecutor says you've got to point to the guilty guy in front of the jury and say 'he committed the murder' because if the jury doesn't believe you believe the guy did it and have the guts to face them with it, they won't find him guilty. And I think the Democrats have got to point the finger and say they're right: he's the bad guy."

The image displayed here is of Matthews illustrating just how Democrats should point the accusatory finger at the president.

Remember this the next time your hear a Dem self-righteously decrying the Republicans' harsh tone, as they have at great length over Majority Leader Boehner's recent statement. Chris Matthews, former aide to Dem Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, and leading MSM light, has counseled them to treat the President of the United States like a murderer in the box.

[potlatch]

Maybe you should put Ann above - so he doesn't drool on her, lol!

[RichInOC]

Chris Matthews is as frustrated as an able-bodied seaman after six months without shore leave.

I honestly didn't need that image in my head.

I'd like to point the finger in Chris' direction, in order to show him he's number one with me...if you know what I mean.

[FreeKeys]

There is a golden opportunity to destroy the Democrat Party this year. Oh, I know all the stories about the weak and RINO pubbies, and some have good or even great justification. But, we must remember that the key objective is the destruction of the Democrat Party and MSM ilk like Chris Matthews, Howard Fineman, Keith Olberman, Jon Stewart, Al Franken, etc. The way to do that is to unite, regardless of differences for now, send a donation to the RNC and get out and vote in November.

Well said. And I would add the following: Collect formatted email messages to send out the week before the election (like THIS one, for example) and as many email addresses as you can find, especially in swing states and districts. If you're a FReeper, you've got the equipment, the brains and the motivation to do it as well.

[demkicker]

Once upon a time, long ago, Chris Matthews had some credibility. Like I said, that was long ago and he's managed to squander every bit of it away with his vicious partisanship. Only a few left wing wackos enjoy the torture of watching Hardball.

It's become a freak show, where Chris has become rather Jerry Springeresque on steroids. I can't believe he's still on the air.