Matthews Dismisses Mitchell's Defense of Bush 41 Over Scanner Non-Gaffe

By Brad Wilmouth | February 05, 2012 | 12:41

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It's astonishing that someone whose profession is to talk politics still has not heard that the alleged gaffe of President George H.W. Bush being unaware of the existence of checkout scanners as he visited a grocery store during the 1988 campaign has been disputed, as the veteran MSNBC host repeated the alleged Bush gaffe while opening his syndicated Chris Matthews Show which aired on Sunday.

After guest Andrea Mitchell of NBC tried to correct him, he was still unconvinced and declared, "I'm still not letting him off on that."

As Mitchell was finishing her first turn to speak near the beginning of the show, she tried to correct Matthews. Mitchell: "A quick word about the supermarket scanner. That was an inaccurate pool report which followed him everywhere. I think even worse was, 'I'll have a splash of coffee.'"

Matthews replied: "Okay, why was it an inaccurate pool report?"

She explained: "Because he was actually asking how this particular scanner worked. He wasn't really asking-"

Unconvinced, Matthews injected: "Well, I'm looking at the picture there. It looks like he hadn't seen one of those before."

After fellow guest Richard Stengel of Time magazine and Mitchell noted that Bush "didn't know the price of a loaf of bread," Matthews concluded: "Okay, I'm not letting him off on that."

Below are both video and a transcript of the relevant portion of the Sunday, February 5, syndicated Chris Matthews Show:

ANDREA MITCHELL: A quick word about the supermarket scanner. That was an inaccurate pool report which followed him everywhere. I think even worse was, "I'll have a splash of coffee."

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Okay, why was it an inaccurate pool report?

MITCHELL: Because he was actually asking how this particular scanner worked. He wasn't really asking-

MATTHEWS: Well, I'm looking at the picture there. It looks like he hadn't seen one of those before.

RICHARD STENGEL, TIME MAGAZINE: And he didn't know the price of a loaf of bread.

MITCHELL: He didn't know the price of a loaf of bread.

MATTHEWS: Okay, I'm not letting him off on that.

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Comments

Mathews

Submitted by mmilesll on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 12:52pm.

Once a dumb ass always a dumb ass. No offense to donkeys. This guy can't shut up long enough to figure out how stupid he really is.

Bread

Submitted by angelann1 on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 12:57pm.

How much is a loaf of bread chris? Do you even know? Well, you do have dough for a brain !!

BDK

I don't know either

Submitted by MrLuigi on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 1:53pm.

Believe it or not I don't know what a loaf of bread costs either. I'm not wealthy by any means, in fact I'm working class. But I live within my means so there's no reason to pay attention to what a loaf of bread costs. I don't know what a gallon of milk costs either. I guess if I began haphazardly bringing children into the world I'd have to take a closer look.

MrLuigi

Submitted by hydrodynDM on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 2:16pm.

I'm exactly the same way. I live within my means and I know, approximately, what I'll spend on groceries each week. But I'd be hard pressed to tell you how much any of the individual items I buy cost.

Too funny

Submitted by MrLuigi on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 2:46pm.

I laugh at every effort that liberals use to say the republicans are out of touch with regular americans. I am a regular american who doesn't know what a loaf of bread costs. And as for those checkout scanners, my store doesn't have them so the first time I used one I was a bit intimidated. You might even say I had a look of never having used one on my face.

Well now,

Submitted by Boudin on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 3:21pm.

You never have to worry about that look again.

Seek Truth, Defend Liberty

Price fixation

Submitted by CO2Maker on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 9:18pm.

I remember back when a loaf of bread, a gallon of gasoline, and a pack of cigarettes all cost about the same, 20-25 cents. Yes, for some of you, that was waaaaay long ago, back when the new rave in music was something called stereo hi-fi (not wi-fi)! Time passed and inflation lifted all boats until the OPEC embargo pushed gas prices up for a while, but then they settled back down and fell into line. Later, the behemoth tobacco lawsuit permanently distorted cigarette prices. So now, a loaf of bread (in NC) is about $3.00, a gallon of gas is $3.55 (today), and a pack of cigarettes is around $5.00.

Yeah, I remember that yardstick. Cigs, Gas and Bread.

Submitted by acaiguana on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 9:26pm.

It would be sad except the pressure isn't for cigarettes to come down; it is for gas and bread to go up.

The inflationary spiral just gets greater. And the cigarette tax isn't working out too well either.

ACA

...

Quoted from: 'Acaiguana notes from the Underground' (Soon to be at theaters near you)

How this idiot

Submitted by nolefan2 on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 1:05pm.

remains on the air is a mystery to me. And, FYI, Chris, there are a lot of items in the grocery stores that don't have the prices marked. I guess, being the genius YOU are, that you know how everything works. Bully for you!

Well I am glad to hear that

Submitted by Sude23 on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 1:29pm.

Well I am glad to hear that he justifies his reports based on what you think the picture is showing...

Game show ?s

Submitted by CJohnson on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 1:31pm.

Even my golden retriever gets bored watching Chris Mathews play hardball.

Hakapelita!

Mathews does us a service

Submitted by Reaver on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 1:34pm.

Mathews does us a service here by providing an insight into the working of the liberal media mind.

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Okay, why was it an inaccurate pool report?

MITCHELL: Because he was actually asking how this particular scanner worked. He wasn't really asking-

MATTHEWS: Well, I'm looking at the picture there. It looks like he hadn't seen one of those before.

RICHARD STENGEL, TIME MAGAZINE: And he didn't know the price of a loaf of bread.

MITCHELL: He didn't know the price of a loaf of bread.

MATTHEWS: Okay, I'm not letting him off on that.

Don’t confuse me with facts Andrea, this fits the template too well for me to stop using it. Like the Romney “I’m not concerned about the very poor” quote. It fits the media template like it was made to order. How could we not take it out of context and run with it?

“Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.” ~ William F. Buckley, Jr.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Submitted by liberalsarefunny on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 1:44pm.

Remind me again why nobody watches this network? I forget...

Just wondering Chris

Submitted by thestalkinghorse on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 2:18pm.

Does Chris Matthews think that the Vice President of the United States should just wander into the nearest market and do his own grocery shopping?

If he's not a socialist, then what is he, a free-market champion?

MATTHEWS: Well, I'm looking

Submitted by motherbelt on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 3:08pm.

MATTHEWS: Well, I'm looking at the picture there. It looks like he hadn't seen one of those before.

IOW, Don't bother me with facts, Andrea, I'm lookng at a picture and I'll decide what's going on.

BTW, if I'm not mistaken, Bush was actually expressing surprise at the fact that "this particular scanner" (as Andrea actually refers to it) could read torn labels.

Exactly

Submitted by Galvanic on Sun, 02/05/2012 - 6:11pm.

Matthews discerns more from a picture than the pool reporters who not only saw the man live, but heard the conversation.

A woman named Mimi Alford has just released a book in which she claims that as a 19 year-old White House intern, she had an 18-month affair with Matthew's 'flawed hero' JFK. Excerpts from the book in the NY Post are rather explicit, and reveal a very dark side to Chris' hero. I would tell Matthews that I've read the excerpts, and "I'm not letting JFK off on that."