Most Americans view Christmas as a time to consider such lofty things as peace on earth and good will toward men.
Not MSNBC’s Chris Matthews who actually devoted his entire Christmas Eve Hardball show to mercilessly attacking eleven conservatives with assistance from a panel of some of the most conservative-hating liberals in the nation (video follows with transcript and commentary):
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Hello, I'm Chris Matthews in Washington. You know, politicians on the right have done some disturbing and destructive things this year. They derailed every major legislative item they could including legislation on gun control, immigration, the budget, and even workplace discrimination. When they did take up legislation, it looked like this: more than 45 separate votes to kill the Affordable Care Act; abortion laws cooked up by the extreme right, and; countless measures attacking the poor like slashing food stamps.
They also advanced bills in three dozen states to suppress the voting rights of minorities. They nearly toppled the economy by bringing us to the brink of our first ever default, and they shut down the government.
But if you think that what they did was outrageous, just wait to hear what they said this year. The far-right has uttered some of the most shocking, offensive, disgraceful, and even crazy things you can expect to hear in politics. And over the next hour we'll show you most of them.
That’s how the program began.
After introducing his exclusively liberal guests – the Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart, Mother Jones’s David Corn, the Huffington Post’s Howard Fineman, and Salon’s Joan Walsh - Matthews began his attack on a total of eleven conservatives.
Many were household names such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx,), Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), and Evangelist Pat Robertson. Others - such as Congressmen Paul Broun (R-Ga.) and Blake Farenthold (R-Tx.) - were likely lesser-known.
What had to strike viewers – though certainly not MSNBC officials who truly seem oblivious to what goes on at their network! – was the level of bile and contempt being spewed at fellow Americans as the nation begins to observe a Christian holy day celebrated by the vast majority of U.S. citizens.
At times, the discussion devolved into what happens on schoolyard playgrounds when a group of kids get together to talk behind the back of a classmate they don’t like with some of them giggling or even uproariously laughing at the offensive gossip being shared.
As you might imagine, many of the targets were predictable.
An entire segment was devoted to attacking Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx.). Another to Congressman Steve King (R-Ia.).
People who had the nerve to criticize President Obama were targeted, as were those opposed to the Affordable Care Act.
To give you a taste of the level of childishness on display, this occurred near the end of the show:
DAVID CORN, MOTHER JONES: We can make fun of Steve King, because this is on one level quite ridiculous and absurd. But he comes from Iowa, that’s the first caucus, the beginning of the 2016 election. There will be a lot of people looking for his endorsement, trying to play to his crowd. The crowd he's playing to will be played by Ted Cruz and Rand Paul
MATTHEWS: Hardball plays in his district. What do they think when they watch this clown show?
HOWARD FINEMAN: Beyond Iowa, beyond Iowa and beyond the laughter, this is a serious issue and problem in American life. We just had an hour laughing at and enjoying the extreme statements of these people.
MATTHEWS: Right
FINEMAN: But these people are important in American politics, and not just because of Iowa, but because they represent a strain in American life that is very large right now in which there's no faith in any source of authority.
MATTHEWS: Okay, it's more fun to laugh. We’ll be right back after this.
Before the camera cut away for commercial, Matthews was seen laughing as others joined in with him.
After the break, Matthews concluded, “Well, it obviously doesn't hurt too much to laugh, because we've had a lot of fun talking about this craziness on the right.”
And that’s how Matthews spent his final show before Christmas.
Did he mention any craziness on the left? Did he bring up the Lie of the Year uttered by President Obama? Did he address the craziest, most vile statement of the year said on his own network by Martin Bashir?
No.
Instead, Matthews and his guests thought it would be fun to spend Christmas eve attacking eleven of their political opponents on MSNBC.
How very Christian of them.
