The list of words MSNBC's Chris Matthews believes are racist if uttered by a conservative got longer on Wednesday.
You can now add "urban" which offended Matthews when Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) said it during an interview Monday, but didn't bother the Hardball host in the slightest when Salon's Joan Walsh said it on his own program two days later (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):
"There's more of this dog whistle crap going on," said Matthews before he introduced guests Walsh and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Cynthia Tucker. "Here's Paul Ryan expressing his surprise at the pro-Obama turnout in an interview Monday."
In the video clip, Ryan said, "I think the surprise was some of the turnout, some of the turnout in urban areas which definitely gave President Obama the big margin to win this race."
Pretty innocuous, wouldn't you say?
Not for Matthews who thinks everything uttered by a Republican is racist.
"This guy Paul Ryan, who I still don't think is right for primetime yet by any means, talking about the urban vote," fumed Matthews. "No, they won the other side because they got the most, because they won fair and square which is the first thing Ryan said."
Really? So if a conservative talks about urban, suburban, and ex-urban voters just like anyone else might, he or she is being racist?
Do only blacks live in cities in America? There are no whites in Manhattan, Boston, or Philadelphia?
Apparently not.
But the really delicious part came a few moments later when Walsh referred to urban and suburban voting areas without a squawk from Matthews.
"Paul Ryan lost his home district, lost his city, his hometown, let's just say that, which is not a particularly urban place," Walsh said without any pushback from Matthews.
She added, "And I cast my first vote for Jimmy Carter in suburban Milwaukee."
So you see, it's fine for a liberal - even a white liberal - to say urban. Not the slightest bit racist.
But when a Republican does it? Dog whistle!
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Chris Matthews and MSNBC should be ashamed of themselves for putting this dishonest propaganda on the air day after day after day.
It's one thing for this station to intentionally become an arm of the Democratic Party.
But shouldn't it as a so-called "news network" have some responsibility for truth?
If not, shouldn't it be moved away from other real news channels on cable and satellite networks so that people won't link them together with stations whose goal is it to inform rather than misinform?
