Did Matthews Suggest 'Evil Lurks' in Bush's Heart? [Video]

Photo of Mark Finkelstein.

Has Chris Matthews surged and accelerated his war against President Bush? Did the MSNBC host and analyst refer to the Commander-in-Chief as "evil"?

In the course of Matthews dialogue with Lester Holt, guest-hosting on this morning's "Today," Holt raised the possibility that President Bush might choose to expand the war into Iran:

Holt: "The president of course has stepped up language against Iran for its interference within Iraq. He sent a naval aircraft carrier group to the Persian Gulf. If he makes this now against Ahmadinejad, if Ahmadinejad becomes the 'poster thug' in this case, does that increase support for the war?"

Matthews: "Well, the president may well choose to widen the war for political reasons . He may do it for military reasons. We do have our troops under assault in Iraq and he has to protect the troops. And if there is Iraqi [sic, presumably Iranian] involvement in the other side he has to take steps. The danger is we might cross the border into Iraq [sic, again surely referring to Iran], therefore triggering a reaction from Iraq, from Iran rather, and then we go to war with Iran. And I think the President might well want to do that. Who knows what evil lurks? But the fact of the matter is that the American public may never get a say in this. The Congress may never get a say in it."

You be the judge: video here.

I read "evil lurks" as referring to President Bush, Matthews way of saying "who knows what Bush might be up to next?" For those would argue that the "evil" Matthews was referring to is Iran's, have a good look again at the statement. "Evil lurks" immediately follows Matthews' speculation that President Bush might want to go to war with Iran. Matthews' comment immediately following "evil lurks" reinforces this interpretation. He complains that neither the American public nor Congress might ever have a say on Bush's plans.

But, altogether now, as Andrea Mitchell has assured us, Chris Matthews is not a liberal.

Mark was in Iraq in November. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net

—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.


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The left is learning, But Chris is in denial

Before the midterms, Chris was asked why he doesn't have Amb Wilson on to explain his side of the Plamegate gig-where his accusations against the VP, the President, Rove, etc were proven to be lies as well as his reports of Niger Uranium. Chris privately tried to reply that Wilson would just lie more. Chris knows reality.

The night of the election, Newsbusters pointed out that Chris was confronted with the greatest lie of the war in Iraq: Democrats never even started to brainstorm a plan for their "New Direction In Iraq", and after Gov Dean admitted this, after Dean was off the air, Matthews stopped just a heartbeat shy of telling his panel that Dean was a liar of the worst degree.

Now we have other reporters pointing out the ice-water-cold-truth: lacking an alternative plan (because they lied and mislead people like Chris), Americans can either support the President, or accept defeat.

Some reporters are seeing this very clearly, but being shut down by the liberal drool machines who know reality, but can't accept it (ie Chris Matthews, CNN, MSNBC leadership, etc).

link

Even harder for Moonbattus Denialus' like Chris Matthews is the fact that more and more mislead Bush-haters are having to face this reality as well

If Chris was a real journalist, a real political media cog in the check and balance of govt, he'd ask why the excuse-making continues, why there's no impeachment for a buzzillion crimes against humanity claimed by the Dems, and then he'd look in the mirror and ask himself if he was a patriot or a partisan.

Sadly blood-sucking vampires have no reflection.

SO, has Chris Matthews presented any other plans for Iraq, has he supported the war effort (ie, the anti-war, but for victory excuse is DOA), or has he accepted defeat like a French surrender Monkey?

I'd ask Mr. Mathews what's hi

I'd ask Mr. Mathews what's his solution? Which Dem has the one he likes? 

I know he wants to talk to Iran. Ok, fine.  They deny the Holocaust, deny basic freedoms to their citizens, demand we become Muslim or be destroyed.  I'm sure Mr. Mathews can tell us where our common ground starting point is with that scenario.

  If all it takes to be leader is the abilty to complain about the other guy and site polls, then we're all qualified.  The hard part is solutions which right now it's clear the Dems and libs aren't up to that task. Whining is so much easier.

I still want to know how does the middle east become more stable with a power vacumn if  we leave now? What fills the vacumn; Daisys?  The Soviets bailed out of Afghanistan in the 80's and from that power vacumn we got the Taliban and a country full of terror camps. And gee look we have troops there now.  Are libs really this myopic?

Given the choice between winning in Iraq and GWB looks like a hero or losing and GWB gets the blame, which would Mr. Mathews choose? 

The solutions HAVE BEEN PRESENTED

Democrats DEMANDED that the President put more troops in, so he did, and before the order was even issued....they opposed putting troops in.

The Democrat's strategy for Iraq is to lose, blame the President, then if that finger-pointing campaign works and they get the WH in 08...they'll wage war on Iraq and blame the WH some more OR appease everyone in the region and blame Bush.

Beyond blaming Bush for anything and everything...they have no plan/

Matthews

Matthews and his ilk are putting America at risk. The irony is that their garbage, just as in Vietnam, is causing this war to go on. Liberals love to deny reality. They want to live in their fantasy world of peace at any price. Reality is that Iran is a major player in this. Our kids are dying, not because of the President, but because of the monsters of the press who wish ill on America simply to rationalize their own ideology. Iran has to be faced no matter who is president. If not, our children and grandchildren will suffer horribly. The press would rather stick its head in the sand and blame "evil" America. Typical, disgusting liberalism.

NEVER,NEVER trust a liberal

Right

<blockquote>Democrats DEMANDED that the President put more troops in, so he did,
and before the order was even issued....they opposed putting troops in.</blockquote>

That is something I haven't heard people figuring out much. Good point.

Remember that it is not Chris

Remember that it is not Chris Matthews' obligation to create an alternative solution to the situation. However, it is his obligation as a 'non-biased' media outlet to press the new congress leaders for their alternative. This is not being done.

--Perpetual itching without benefit of scratching to the enemies of America.--

I fully agree. It is not at a

I fully agree.

It is not at all his obligation to provide a plan to succeed in Iraq, or to demand that America accept defeat (which he does).

Has anyone noticed that Gov Dean hasn't been on Hardball since he revealed on election night that there never was a plan for their "New Direction In Iraq"?  It's the longest he's been off the show since he became DNC Chair.

Matthews knows the truth, he just can't accept it.

No impeachment

No "New Direction In Iraq Plan"

No cut and run from Iraq

No bi-partisanship (that's a friggin JOKE after seeing Franks little hissy fit and/or Boxer's polite comments to Condi)

No more ethics (their entire ethics reform gig was just a play to get more control on budget and to oust bi-partisanship in budget debate)

No Min Wage increase (well, ok, everyone gets a min wage increase except Samoa because the Tuna fishermen need to be cheap labor for Starkist in Pelosi's district to make any money, right?)

Matthews knows the truth, can't accept it, and instead just pretends the lies are truth so that he can keep his "talk tough to power" show on the air.  Problem is...he's not even talking tough to power anymore-just raving to a lame duck, and letting power's lies go unchecked, accepted as truth, and giving the few lying Democrats a free pass regardless of damage to the nation.

Chris Matthews makes Hitler's PR guys look tame and impotent.

I read &quot;evil lurks&quot;

I read "evil lurks" as referring to President Bush, Matthews way of saying "who knows what Bush might be up to next?"

 I watched Matthews this morning oin TODAY, and that's exactly how it came across to me, Mark.

And Matthews still talks about the war, not in terms of victory or defeat, but in terms of its impact on potential Presidential candidacies.

Thanks for your confirmatio

Thanks for your confirmation, Galvanic. Some folks over at Free Republic were dubious, but I believe it's clear that Matthews was referring to Pres. Bush.

Who knows what evil lurks .

Who knows what evil lurks ...in Iran, not in Bush's heart.

da shadow do! &quot;There

da shadow do!

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

Typical &quot;unbiased&quot;

Typical "unbiased" liberal, but Fox News is the one that's biased according to them.  Matthews is nothing but a douche.

1994

I want to focus some attetion on the banner in the photo which reads "Can Congress stop White House plans?"

I think this is something the fine people here at NewsBusters should take up. I wrote about it on my blog.

I have been staggered by the obvious double-standard on display across the media front with Pelosi becoming the new Speaker vs what they did to Gingrich in 1994-95. It is so obvious and so blatant, I don't know how the media people can look each other or the public in the eye. -- And this "Can Congress stop White House plans?" is a big part of that story.

If you look back at the bombardment Gingrich and the new Republican majority in the House got immediately after the 1994 election (well - as part of the run up to it as well) --------- one consistent theme was how ---- Gingrich as a personality, the man, was bad. He was demonized as being so confrontational and so driven by "extremist" view points on issues ---- his elevation to Speaker was a dire omen for things to come in Congress.

The specific mantra was that he and the new Republican majority were going to make national politics so divisive, Congress would grind to a halt and stay in gridlock -- to the detriment of all the dear readers listening to the media barrage.

Fast forward to today, and what a different message we get pelting us relentlessly about the head!!

Now, obstructionism is not just fine -------- people like Matthews keep repeating to anybody who will listen that fighting Republican policy tooth-n-nail is the sacred mandate the voters gave them, and people like Matthews say they are afraid Pelosi isn't going to push hard enough....

It is all truly shameful. The media's memory must be like that of a gnat (and the scrupples to match).

Does rationality lurk in Mat

Does rationality lurk in Matthews' brain?

The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.

- Arabian Proverb

Support from Obama - on Iran/Syria

Support from Obama - on Iran/Syria

I'm taking this out of context a bit - but to the MSM, context is not usually an important consideration.

Following President Bush's speech last week, Obama said: "I think there's nothing wrong with us as part of a broader military strategy making sure that Iran and Syria aren't engaging in mischief in iraq."

So Chris, is Obama evil, also?

Remedial education, even coll

Remedial education, even college level renaissance of education.  Sorry I though Chris was going to get re-educated about such matters of national importance and possibly impotence and not just dither on on such subjects that someone of his CV should have been quotable.  I guess this is just another Chris Matthews comment of a Holy Cross grad to shred and discard without further thought.  Maybe he should have been an Augustinian.