Kurtz Bashes Beck for 10 Minutes, Spends 45 Seconds on Matthews Likening Gingrich to a Car Bomber
Howard Kurtz on Sunday spent a whopping 45 seconds scolding Chris Matthews for saying former House Speaker Newt Gingrich looks like a car bomber.
This was after the "Reliable Sources" host did an entire ten minute segment lambasting Glenn Beck (video follows with transcript and commentary):
HOWARD KURTZ: Here is something I really didn't like. Now, Chris Matthews is a colorful guy and sometimes we laugh when his tongue gets him into trouble, but look what he said this week about the former House Speaker who is exploring a run for president, Newt Gingrich.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS MATTHEWS, “HARDBALL”: He looks like a car bomber. He looks like a car bomber. Clarence, he looks like a car bomber. He's got that crazy Mephistophelian grin of his. He looks like he loves torturing. Look at the guy! I mean this, this is not the face of a president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ: Car bomber? Loves torturing? I'm sorry, that's just unacceptable. Go after Newt’s record if you don't like him. Talk about his three wives, but Chris, don't accuse him of looking like a terrorist.
Of course, we at NewsBusters quite agree with Kurtz's view here as Geoffrey Dickens reported Wednesday.
However, it does seem a bit hypocritical to mention Matthews' absurd assessment as practically an after-thought at the very end of an hour-long program when earlier Kurtz had spent almost a full ten minutes with the Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin and former Bush speechwriter David Frum bashing Glenn Beck.
This is especially ironic as "Hardball" initially airs in the same 5:00 PM time slot as Beck's Fox News program. Despite Beck's ratings decline, he still gets almost three times as many total viewers as Matthews.
Worthy of additonal time was Gingrich telling C-SPAN's Steve Scully last November that if he did run for president, he wouldn't participate in a debate moderated by Matthews because of how biased the "Hardball" host is.
If Kurtz still needed more material, we at NewsBusters have ample analysis sufficient for Kurtz to bash Matthews for ten minutes if he desired to give balance to his focus on 5:00 PM cable talkers.
All he has to do is ask.
- Noel Sheppard's blog
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Comments
I'm surprised he did THAT
Submitted by VBaxter on Sun, 03/06/2011 - 2:40pm.
I'm surprised he did THAT much. Most MSM reporters ignored it altogether.
Ron Paul 2012
I didn't watch Kurtz's show.
Submitted by TE on Sun, 03/06/2011 - 2:55pm.
I didn't watch Kurtz's show. Is it safe to say that Kurtz made no mention of the complete blackout conducted by Kurtz's like minded leftists in the Washington/New York/American press corps of that frothing at the mouth, leftist loon in the Wisconsin legislature telling that Republican legislator that she was "f#cking dead!!!"?
It's the ratings stupid.
Submitted by Miss_Me_Yet on Sun, 03/06/2011 - 3:14pm.
It's the ratings stupid.
Liberals ... we can't live with them, they couldn't survive without us ...
I saw this segment on Kurtz's show . . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Sun, 03/06/2011 - 3:49pm.
. . . and I found the selection of "Reliable Sources' to be ludicrous.
Rubin's bias goes without saying. Her comments were typical.
And then there is one of the MSM's favorite 'conservatives' David Frum, a Beltway insider who hates the Tea Parties.
The two of them attacked Beck's conspiracy theories without offereing any counter-evidence, and Frum fell back on his usual mantra that Beck and the Tea Parties are destructive to the GOP's chances in 2012, as if Beck is some voice in the GOP (Beck actually blames Dems and Republicans for our problems.)
Kurtz and company pointed to the decline in Beck's ratings without any analysis -- is it the result of his daily conspiracy lectures, or something else?
Kurtz said that they called a few unnamed conservatives to appear and defend Beck, but they declined. The implication is that they don't want to be associated with a lunatic.
But did he invite Beck? Kurtz never said that they invited Beck and he turned them down. Why not have him on RS and let his critics openly challenge the specifics of his theories? If Beck is totally wrong, the quickest way to debunk his theories is to challenge him point by point.
Instead, Frum makes Charlie Sheen-references to describe Beck. Wow.
A typical RS segment.
Frum Here To Insanity
Submitted by Jack Bauer on Sun, 03/06/2011 - 3:59pm.
Frum discusses Beck's so-called "declining ratings"?
Isn't that like Hollywood's least successful movie director in 2010, slamming Chistopher Nolan's Inception because it only made $300 million and not the expected $400 million?
As for Jennifer Rubin, I'm very suprised to hear she was in on this, because she is usually one very smart conservative lady.
All of the above Mr Obama? --- How about ALL OF THE BELOW, instead.
the MSM is a long-time joke
Submitted by ArrowSmith on Sun, 03/06/2011 - 6:33pm.
The last time they weren't was 1979 maybe?
Mathews doesn't have anything on Newt Gingrich
Submitted by NotFondOfLibs on Sun, 03/06/2011 - 11:00pm.
Chrissie Mathews has to call Newt Gingrich a "car bomber" because he has nothing on him. He can't stand the fact that Newt was a successful Speaker of the House and has written successful selling books. Mathews knows that Newt Gingrich would destroy Barack Obama in a 1 on 1 Presidential debate and that scares Mathews to death.
They pounded the table but...
Submitted by donnyvee on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 1:27am.
...didn't argue the facts. I saw about 90% of this circle jerk this morning. Unless i missed it, they didn't once refute any of Glenn Beck's facts or prove anything beyond their own self pleasure at being part of a like minded group.
Overstated
Submitted by WonderingAloud on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 2:41am.
I watched the program. It was hardly "bashing" or "lambasting". Noel hurts his point of view when he uses headlines in his blog-post that are hyped.
Wondering Aloud---
Submitted by matthewdean on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 3:19am.
I am wondering what your problem is?
Hype in another thread how Michele Bachmann is not an "effective conservative", lambaste Mr. Sheppard over his choice of headline at the top of this thread, and then deny the Beck bashing was actually bashing.
'S up with that?
Opinions ventured; or ideology at play?
MD
I tried watching this show. I
Submitted by amyshulk on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 10:53am.
I tried watching this show. I gave up on it because I didn't find it interesting or in the least informative. Looks like I made the right call.
Ronald Reagan