Matthews's Advice to Dems: Treat GOP Like Accused Murderers

Chris Matthews is as frustrated as an able-bodied seaman after six months without shore leave. While Matthews clearly senses this is the year for the Dems to snatch back the Speaker's gavel, hisfrustration is born of the fear that the Dems will squander the opportunity out of timidity - an unwillingness to attack President Bush on the war in Iraq.

Things boiled over during the 5 PM EDT edition of this evening's Hardball. With guests Howard Fineman of Newsweek and Chuck Todd of the Hotline as witnesses to the meltdown, Matthews first played a hard-hitting Moveon.org ad accusing Republicans of misleading the nation into Iraq and trying to "exploit 9/11" to win elections. Matthews complained that while the Republicans are willing to use the same kind of tactics against the Democrats, Dems "are afraid to run an ad like that."

Really? The party whose surrogate, the NAACP, ran the infamous TV commercial accusing George Bush of being the equivalent of a racist murderer dragging a black man to death behind a truck wouldn't scruple to run an anti-war ad?

Things got very ugly a bit later, when Matthews said this:

"There's a great saying, the prosecutor says you've got to point to the guilty guy in front of the jury and say 'he committed the murder' because if the jury doesn't believe you believe the guy did it and have the guts to face them with it, they won't find him guilty. And I think the Democrats have got to point the finger and say they're right: he's the bad guy."

The image displayed here is of Matthews illustrating just how Democrats should point the accusatory finger at the president.

Remember this the next time your hear a Dem self-righteously decrying the Republicans' harsh tone, as they have at great length over Majority Leader Boehner's recent statement. Chris Matthews, former aide to Dem Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, and leading MSM light, has counseled them to treat the President of the United States like a murderer in the box.

Mark Finkelstein lives in the liberal haven of Ithaca, NY. View webcasts of Mark's award-winning TV show 'Right Angle' here. Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net