Attempting to explain last night's off-camera "Oh God!" exclamation before Bobby Jindal's response to Barack Obama, Chris Matthews, at the top of Wednesday's "Hardball," claimed he was taken aback by "The odd, antebellum look of the scene. Some people heard my reaction at the time," which contrasted with his view of Obama's address: "He wowed us! That's the running headline from last night's presidential address to the Congress. Barack Obama gave a great speech." This naked display of bias was so transparent that it caused guest panelist, former Republican Majority Leader, Tom DeLay to point out the obvious: "Listening to your introduction somebody is gonna accuse you of being biased."
The following is Matthews' entire opening monologue and then DeLay's reaction as it was aired on the February 25, edition of "Hardball":
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Good evening I'm Chris Matthews. Leading off tonight - the battle last night. It was his debut and he wowed us. That's the running headline from last night's presidential address to the Congress. Barack Obama gave a great speech filled with upbeat themes, common sense economics and a strong personal agenda on health, education and energy. If politics is strange to you and you can't really tell the difference between the two political parties you got it thrown at you last night. The Democrats are the party of Washington and strong government. The Republicans are the party that views reliance on government as embarrassing at best. The party coming into power has a leader and is proud to say so. The party that lost power did it's best to deny last night, it ever had power and put forth a spokesman who spoke as if the main perpetrator during the past eight years of budget deficits, untamed spending, Jack Abramoff and an unpopular war was not the very party he was representing. Add to that the peculiar stagecraft of the opposition party. That scene in the Louisiana Governor's Mansion. Governor Bobby Jindal walking from somewhere in the back of this narrow hall, this winding staircase looming there. The odd, antebellum look of the scene. Some people heard my reaction at the time. What was the message in all this? Was this some mimicking of a president walking along the state floor to the East Room? And at the same time did the Republicans, who are so far from Washington, they can't be blamed for anything?
...
[After playing clips from Obama and Jindal]
MATTHEWS: Well Mr. DeLay I liked that. It was a clear distinction between the parties. What do you think?
TOM DELAY: Listening to your introduction somebody is gonna accuse you of being biased.
—Geoffrey Dickens is the senior news analyst at the Media Research Center.
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"At least the headline I'm running with"
February 25, 2009 - 17:48 ET by JTP"he wowed us. That's the running headline from last night's presidential address to the Congress." We expect nothing less of you botingles.
"I need more cowbell!" SNL
Of course he was and is biased...
February 25, 2009 - 17:56 ET by bigtimerWe all knew Matthews and msnbc team would have to come up with some line, any old excuse will do...other than the truth!
I didn't catch the first part of this, so I am glad you have it here, but Delay was great as usual with the rest of the segment that I heard.
Yes, of course, Tingles,
February 25, 2009 - 17:56 ET by SickofLibsYes, of course, Tingles, Jindal was mimicking your hearthrob by walking.
At least he didn't try to enter the scene thru an ante bellum window.
SoL...That was a great
February 25, 2009 - 17:59 ET by bigtimerSoL...
That was a great zinger....I forgot about O and the window episode!
Of course...so did the msm asap!
BT, yeah, that's a really
February 25, 2009 - 18:36 ET by SickofLibsBT, yeah, that's a really old story - happened waaay back on Jan. 28!
At this point, I think Tingles' brain could be described as also ante bellum.
Also
February 26, 2009 - 09:14 ET by klchadwickAlso, knocking his head on either Marine 1 or AF1...lovely. Has it been Bush, it would still be playing on air every 30mins.
Old habbits are hard to
February 25, 2009 - 18:12 ET by urbuggenmeOld habbits are hard to break-break-in
Obviously, not a lick of an
February 25, 2009 - 18:24 ET by CoolShadesObviously, not a lick of an apology. It's like pMSNBC is run by a bunch of kids.
It's the AV Club running amok
February 25, 2009 - 18:37 ET by SickofLibsAnd not the cool kids, either.
Actually
February 25, 2009 - 18:42 ET by 10ksnookerI found the Kenyan Communist a little odd.
Bad lie
February 25, 2009 - 19:25 ET by easygoerAn Antebellum mansion in the deep South? Shocking
Liberal Commentators are Disgusting individuals
February 25, 2009 - 22:55 ET by pbthinkerAnyone who knows Bobby Jindal's history knows what a great story it is. The biggest problem it has, he doesn't have a (D) after his name. Being a Rhodes Scholar used to be the stamp liberals used to identify intelligence, well only if you're a liberal. A conservative Rhodes Scholar? It must be an accident.
These same people never, ever cut Bush a break, in 8 years and yet they cry because Republicans disagree with Obama on policy? Where on earth do these people live? These are the same nuts that would love to see the fairness doctrine, assuming it would only shut-down people that disagreed with them.
We can all point to the "what if it had been a Republican or Conservative that said that" and know the answer but these people don't even have the sense to realize how wrong they are.
Election 2008-God's way of showing us that elections count.
There is a developing story surrounding Jindal's response
February 25, 2009 - 23:58 ET by nwahsAs reported on WWL-TV in New Orleans, there was an open microphone on Bobby Jindal for 4 minutes before his response. WWL's 10pm news played parts of that 4 minute open microphone, where Bobby Jindal states how sore his throat is. It also reveals edits are being made to the speech right up to air time. Bobby Jindal has a habit of speaking very quickly. In the open microphone, its apparent he's being coached to speak more slowly.
I don't think any mainstream media will report on this open microphone. The last time I checked, WWL-TV did not have the report up on their web site.
The reason I think mainstream media will not report this, as it shines some light on why Bobby Jindal was not the confident speaker the nation came to know during hurricane Gustave. I would appreciate NewsBusters to pressure WWL-TV to put their report on this on their web site.
And now you know.
And the general sat and the lines on the map
Moved from side to side.
nw... ...and now we know
February 26, 2009 - 00:19 ET by bigtimernw...
...and now we know the rest of the story...
Thank you...it may really explain a lot to others also...I was surprised, sort of disappointed at the start, until he warmed up, thought it was just nerves, which I am sure still had a part to play in the whole scenario, it would be for most people, no matter who you are...for me it was the substance of what he had to say that mattered.
Now I do have to say, he sure has been on a lot of shows since last night, and his voice has sounded just fine...so who knows, it may have been a combination of a sore throat and nerves ;-)
Questions on the Jindal uplink
February 26, 2009 - 00:23 ET by nkviking75How did WWL have access to that four minutes? Were they providing the uplink?
Also, did the GOP operatives who were coaching Jindal work with Sarah Palin last year? If so, fire them!
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
The story originated at WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge.
February 26, 2009 - 10:15 ET by nwahsThe story originated at WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge.
I'm suspect it was WAFB's equipment and they were responsible for sending the feed to the networks.
"Also, did the GOP operatives who were coaching Jindal work with Sarah Palin last year? If so, fire them! "
Thats what I was thinking. I see Jindal on television all the time and never looked as he did the other night. That was just bad.
Here's a link to the story
http://www.wwltv.com...
And the general sat and the lines on the map
Moved from side to side.
Chris Matthews & his ilk...
February 26, 2009 - 00:15 ET by Mother...give me an involuntary tingle up my gag reflex.
The supposed 'news' twats running that circus are about as realistic a news source as 'Star' magazine.
Anyone taking the above sources for ANYTHING seriously needs to adjust their cranial screw-top.
I Live in La.
February 26, 2009 - 00:24 ET by richb313I live in Louisiana and I will be the first to admit that last nights PERFORMANCE was not Bobby Jindal at his finest. It was evident to me that he was over rehearsed. He is much better off the cuff. Who ever staged this should be fired. The actual CONTENT of the speech READS great. The CONTENT of President Obama's speech does not read as well. In todays society it is always style over substance. I say give it to Bobby again and he will hit it out the park. He makes mistakes as every human being does and the mistake he made last night was to listen to MEDIA Specailists. I would recommend that the Republican Response instead of a prepared statement be a question and answer style response from now on. No rehearsed statements as there is no way to predict how any speech will be recieved until it is given. If last nights response had been run in such a fashion we would have seen a totally different reaction from the talking heads.
rich.... Amen! I love
February 26, 2009 - 00:36 ET by bigtimerrich....
Amen!
I love your suggestions about how to handle a real response to these type of things...like you say, they can never know for positive exactly what words in the speech are going to be said, or changed at the last minute, or how the audience will respond etc.
I hope somebody is listening out there on the conservative side of the aisle!
I still want fire in the belly, no matter who it is when we get close to the next round of primaries.
He was not biased
February 26, 2009 - 00:48 ET by Dragonsbreathjust a delayed PE from is One's speech...
We had honest Abe, now we have dishonest Obama..
Jan 20, 2009 The day the constitution died... RIP.
Honest Abe
February 26, 2009 - 00:51 ET by richb313Honest Abe would not even be given a chance today. He was not the best looking man. He had a high squeaky speaking voice as I have read in several historical accounts. In todays TV world he would have been trashed from the beginning and never would have had a chance to rise above Dog Catcher.
Just what the hell is
February 26, 2009 - 02:05 ET by ConservativeRexJust what the hell is Matthews going to do when it finally comes all crashing down around him at the hands of Obami?
He thinks this fella hung the sun and the moon. I got news for him, this fella is a true blue Marxist and doesn't give a damn about Matthews, except on how he can use him.
I hear revolution written and spoken of often these days. It may be more than just a passing fad. But the revolution I am thinking will take place will not be modeled after our own revolution. I am beginning to think it will be more like the French Revolution and all the horror connected with that.
Ironically, the French Revolution that spawned socialism was carried out by socialist. What would happen in our country would be a reverse revolution to the French. The world is finally going mad.
Wrong description of Prissie Chrissie....
February 26, 2009 - 02:09 ET by ScrapironHe should have called him what he is, a foul mouth brain dead loser. Funny that FOX now has more viewers than the Communist News Network (CNN) and More S*** from the Nothing But S*** (MSNBC) networks combined. I will not allow either of them to be viewed in my home. Locked the suckers out. I think the advertisers are figuring out they are wasting money on the Lame Stream Media outlets. Ad revenue is tanking. I'd drive 3,000 miles to see Prissie Chrissie in the unemployment line. Post when the POS gets fired.
Old, Retired and glad of it.
When will we be treated to
February 26, 2009 - 03:18 ET by RR GOPWhen will we be treated to another scathing critique of His Oneness and all things Socialist by our esteemed GOP leaders like Palin and Thompson did last year? Do we only get that at the RNC every four years?
One of the 24% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 89% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.
Start of a smear
February 26, 2009 - 10:39 ET by KrandleJust another sucessful Republican Governor that the MSM can start to tear down. This was Matthews first chance to take a shot at Gov. Jindal and its just the start.
Chis Matthews is a pu**y.
February 26, 2009 - 17:55 ET by Joe BlogsI bet I can kick Chris Matthew's a**.He looks like an old woman.
Do you fight many old women?
February 26, 2009 - 23:00 ET by nwahsIs that a sport of yours? ;)
And the general sat and the lines on the map
Moved from side to side.