Salon editor Joan Walsh said Sunday that MSNBC's Chris Matthews roots for Barack Obama.

Appearing on CNN's "Reliable Sources," Walsh was asked by host Howard Kurtz to comment on Matthews' remark that he had forgotten the President was black during Wednesday's State of the Union address.

"There's no such thing as post-racial, and so I disagree with Chris about that," said Walsh.

"But on the other hand, I think his heart really is in the right place in terms of -- you know, he roots for this president" (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript):

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST: There tends to be a one-liner that everybody remembers from these kinds of speeches. In this case, though, it was not spoken by the president. It was Chris Matthews.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS MATTHEWS: He is post-racial, by all appearances. I forgot he was black tonight for an hour.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: Joan Walsh, I've got less than a minute. Your reaction to those words?

JOAN WALSH, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SALON: There's no such thing as post-racial, and so I disagree with Chris about that. But on the other hand, I think his heart really is in the right place in terms of -- you know, he roots for this president. Like that or not, people criticize him for that. But, you know, he was trying to say something positive on...

KURTZ: He definitely was trying to say something positive.

But did he put it rather clumsily, would you say, David Frum?

WALSH: I would say it was clumsy, yes.

KURTZ: David?

DAVID FRUM, FRUMFORUM.COM: I think the meaning of it so leaps out at people, it almost defies comment. You just wonder what happens all the other hours of his life.

KURTZ: All right.

Isn't it nice how liberals always forgive the transgressions of other liberals by saying, "Their  heart was in the right place?"

Of course, it's certainly no surprise Matthews roots for this President. He told us two days after Obama was elected that was his job: 

What's concerning is how obvious he is about it, and how others in the media -- even those on his side of the aisle -- are not only beginning to notice, but also criticize him for it.

Maybe this is part of a growing trend: one liberal in the press says something REALLY over the top, and others quickly respond.

But why?

Is it because leftwing journalists are getting sick of hearing how liberal the media are, and they want to squelch the most blatant examples to promote the appearance of impartiality?

Or is it more selfish than that?

After all, if you are willing to publicly call out one of your own, maybe it makes YOU look less liberal.

Whatever the reason, let's hope it continues for it really is great theatre watching these folks go after each other rather than conservatives for a change. 

—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.

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