In less than 30 minutes Monday, George W. Bush went from being a former president with "slight" "mental" and "rhetorical ability" to a "masterful and wonderful" speaker.
Such hypocrisy came from MSNBC's Chris Matthews. Let's play Oddball (video follows with transcript and commentary):
CHRIS MATTHEWS: But doesn’t it to this day, you guys, still scare you in your spine that a president with as slight a mental and as a rhetorical ability as George W. Bush - he was no Churchill, he was no Hitler, he was no Stalin, he was no call to arms kind of guy - was able to talk the American people into that war over absolute B.S.
That was Mr. Hardball doing his typical Bush-bashing in a segment previously addressed by NewsBuster Scott Whitlock.
But later in the program, as Matthews discussed the Fight 93 Memorial - something near and dear to his heart as a Pennsylvania native - he was suddenly impressed with the former President's speaking skills:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEWS: We’re back. That was former President George W. Bush really being masterful and wonderful the other Saturday, on Saturday at an event dedicating the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
So, when talking of war, Bush was rhetorically challenged.
But when speaking before an audience in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, about a project Matthews supports, the former President was masterful and wonderful.
Isn't it marvelous how the intellectual capacity of Republicans fluctuates with liberals depending on whether or not they agree with them?
It's much like how folks such as Matthews treat Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). When he was battling Bush for the nomination in 2000, he was all the rage.
But when he went up against Barack Obama in 2008, he was the scourge of the earth.
As I've said for years, it takes a lot of rationalizations to be a liberal these days.
