On Thursday night’s "Hardball," Chris Matthews compared Barack Obama's writing abilities to those of the great American writer Mark Twain. Prompted by Philadelphia radio talk show host Michael Smerconish’s praise of Obama's first book "Dreams From My Father," the "Hardball" host effused: "It's almost like Mark Twain. It's so American, it's so textured."
The following exchange occurred on the March 13 edition of MSNBC’s "Hardball:"
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I think that this argument that he's an empty suit is gonna get tested and proven false. I just finished and have spent all week long, reading to my radio audience excerpts of "Dreams From My Father," Barack Obama's first book. And I'm telling your audience on "Hardball," if you want to know what makes this guy tick forget the grandiose, highfalutin speeches this is the real deal.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Great book.
SMERCONISH: And people can make up their own minds but it's gonna get totally fleshed out.
MATTHEWS: It's unique because he's a politician and not since U.S. Grant has a politician written his own book.
SMERCONISH: Exactly.
MATTHEWS: And that is refreshing.
SMERCONISH: Yes.
MATTHEWS: And you're thoughts here? Did you read the book? Once you read it you have a different take. It's almost like Mark Twain. It's so American, it's so textured. It's so, almost sounding like great fiction because it reads like us. It's picturesque. Is that the right word? Picturesque? I think it's got that quality.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Ha!!
March 13, 2008 - 18:25 ET by mvfreemanThat's the first thing I thought of too. Is it because it's fiction? Or because he really knows how to embellish a story?
Twain vs. Obama
March 13, 2008 - 21:45 ET by easygoerFunny how that works, mvfreeman; Twain's most famous books; The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and his masterpiece, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, while properly considered novels, contain some autobiographical and anecdotal information. Looks like Obama just did the opposite with his novel....er autobiography.
A young lady friend of mine, deep in the throes of Obama mania, keeps
trying to get me to read his book. She recently emailed me a passage
from his book in which he describes Hawai'i's natural beauty. It's not
bad. So I sent her Twain's ode to Hawai'i which, she had to admit, is
simply on another level.
I won't bore you guys with Obama's passage, but here's Twain's absolutely beautiful ode to our 50th state:
"No alien land in all the world has any deep strong charm for me but
that one, no other land could so longingly and so beseechingly haunt
me, sleeping and waking, through half a lifetime, as that one has done.
Other things leave me, but it abides; other things change, but it
remains the same. For me its balmy airs are always blowing, its summer
seas flashing in the sun; the pulsing of its surfbeat is in my ears; I
can see its garlanded crags, its leaping cascades, its plumy palms
drowsing by the shore, its remote summits floating like islands above
the cloud rack; I can feel the spirit of its woodland solitudes, I can
hear the splash of its brooks; in my nostrils still lives the breath of
flowers that perished twenty years ago."
Oh well isn't this just
March 13, 2008 - 18:36 ET by bigtimerOh well isn't this just precious.
Picturesque... textured, I think I'll just run to the big city and buy it to cuddle up with tonight.
Matthews and Smerconish...their reading recommendations just have to be priceless.
Give me a break!
I have heard enough BS from Obama to last me my lifetime.
Obama makes Matthews tingle
March 13, 2008 - 19:46 ET by Gat New YorkObama makes Matthews tingle up his leg.
I'm waiting for Matthews to come right out and ask Obama to have sex with him.
I'm waiting for Matthews to
March 13, 2008 - 20:30 ET by GregEI'm waiting for Matthews to come right out and ask Obama to have sex with him.
hahahahahahah!!! ROTFL!
Obama the new Mark Twain?
March 13, 2008 - 18:44 ET by R D HelmWhy is it that these lefty talking heads are always comparing certain libs to people who are no-longer around to call BS on it?
Comparing Keith Olbermann to Edward R. Murrow is one example. I quite believe that if Mr. Murrow were around today he would have been appalled at the slight.
As for comparing Barack Obama to Mark Twain, well, that is just wrong on so many levels.
Theme for Election '08: I want my mommy!
I thought his father was from Kenya
March 13, 2008 - 19:26 ET by kgI thought his father was from Kenya? How can this be so American?
"Forget change, I want improvement!"
And?
March 13, 2008 - 22:01 ET by mvfreemanYou can be from anywhere and still have the american dream.
And O is a citizen.
These sickly sweet accolades
March 13, 2008 - 19:02 ET by Chris NormanThese sickly sweet accolades tossed at Obama are beginning to sound slightly patronizing.
These sickly sweet accolades
March 13, 2008 - 19:03 ET by the strugglerThese sickly sweet accolades are gonna last for the duration.Kinda like the "Everlasting Gobstopper".
John McCain threw me under the Straight Talk Express---Billy C.
After a certain point,
March 13, 2008 - 19:18 ET by Chris NormanAfter a certain point, you've got to wonder, if they're such sycophants that no compliment is too much or if they're over-praising him like he's some underperforming child. If it was me, I'd tell them to, "Shut up, already! You're making everybody nauseous, including me!".
How about "Shut up, for
March 13, 2008 - 19:27 ET by motherbeltHow about "Shut up, for crying out loud! You're embarrassing yourself!"
I wonder if Chris Matthews ever got a thrill going up his leg while reading Mark Twain. Hey, some of that Tom Sawyer stuff is pretty emotional! (sniff!)
mb,To put it crassly,
March 13, 2008 - 19:46 ET by Chris Normanmb,
To put it crassly, Matthews may feel a tingle up his leg while reading Twain, but apparently feels a tinkle down his leg when listening to Obama.
What about Hillary?
March 13, 2008 - 19:05 ET by Redrowan2000Geeze if Obama's like Twain does that make Hillary like Shakespeare. I wonder who read Twain to Matthews, I doubt he read any on his own.
"Don't let the bastards grind you down"
Red
Matthews and Obama, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.
March 13, 2008 - 19:20 ET by SupermanChris Matthews' love affair with Obama is getting out of control:
"If Obama's speeches don't make you cry, you're not an American"
"Obama sends a chill up my leg"
They might as well change the name of the show to "Obamaball".
Obama = God
March 13, 2008 - 19:41 ET by planetrepublicanMany of us predicted this would happen...I thought it would happen with the Hill but this guy works just as well the Matthews & MSM and the other libs. Spin, spin, spin, now he's Mark Twain, for God's sake! What's next, comparing him to Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, the Pope, Jesus Christ, God??? Wait and watch, I would not put it past these buggers. Matthews is a pathetic fool.
Presidential authors
March 13, 2008 - 20:14 ET by easygoerMATTHEWS: It's unique because he's a politician and not since U.S. Grant has a politician written his own book.
What the hell is Matthews saying here? Richard Nixon wrote his own memoirs. Not only that, but he penned at least ten other thoughtful and serious books, mainly on foreign affairs.
Or is Matthews saying Obama's book is the first autobiography since Grant's to be written pre- presidency. Wrong again, Chrissy. Grant, in one final effort to save his family from financial ruin, wrote his now classic memoir when he was dying of throat cancer. He finished it only a few days before he died.
Then there's JFK's Profiles in Courage, which isn't autobiograhical and wasn't even written by him. At the time of its publication, however, that inconvenient fact was well hidden from the great unwashed.
Matthews statement, taken at his word, would have you believe that in the 123 years since Grant's death, not one American politician has written his own book. The assertion is laughable and Matthews is a complete joke.
Interesting
March 14, 2008 - 17:28 ET by cheefloIn fact, it was Mark Twain who published Grant's memoirs. He did so even as his own fortunes had been severely diminished by his investment in the Paige Compositor. Technologically, it was a superb typesetting machine, but the inventor tweaked it so much, and it had so many complicated and malfunction-prone parts, that it never went into production. Ottmar Mergenthaler got to market first with his own less-perfect, but very serviceable typesetting machine.
You have GOT to be $hitting
March 13, 2008 - 20:15 ET by Gary P JacksonYou have GOT to be $hitting me!
Great writer
March 13, 2008 - 22:21 ET by MountainmamaEveryone has a dominate learning style. If a person is very good with speeking and writing, then that is their dominate learning style. And, usually they are very weak in the math and sciences. Lets now find out how smart Obama is in the math and sciences. Probably not.
really?
March 13, 2008 - 22:44 ET by mvfreemanCome on. Lots of sci-fi writers are strong in both areas.
And realistically if someones' forte was math and science they wouldn't be in politics.
"If a person is very good
March 13, 2008 - 22:52 ET by balboa"If a person is very good with speeking and writing, then that is their dominate learning style."
Guessing you're a math person? ;-)
Yes, I am a math person.
March 14, 2008 - 12:04 ET by MountainmamaYes, I am a math person. We are not all blessed with the gift of gab.
Two of a kind?
March 13, 2008 - 22:50 ET by pocomoco"It's almost like Mark Twain. It's so American, it's so textured."
Does Mathews realize that Twain was a fictional humorist and story teller?
Well, maybe he's right in equating Obama with Twain, after all.
I'll gladly support a BHO
March 13, 2008 - 23:12 ET by bws53I'll gladly support a BHO career change if he were to become a wry humorist and author instead of politician. As a bonus, Matthews would be able to spend all the time he wants gushing all over him and not worrying about pesky secret service agents.
Makeup must have a heck of time covering up Chris' brown nose.
Well, someone had to ask
March 14, 2008 - 02:14 ET by ConservativeRexWell, someone had to ask it, and it might as well be me. If Matthews compares Obama to Twain, who plays Jim in Mr. Matthews version of Tom Sawyer....
And I STILL believe that Matthews has a man crush on Barry.
first
March 14, 2008 - 05:27 ET by AgnosticAs our first 'black' president, President Bill Clinton would get the honor of playing Jim.