Hardball

Today, the news is all about the U.S. military’s successful elimination of Osama bin Laden (go USA!), but for much of the last two weeks the media have preoccupied themselves with demanding higher taxes and scorning proposed Republican budget cuts as mean-spirited attacks on the poor. The worst of these quotes have been documented in this week’s Notable Quotables newsletter, now posted at…

MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews on Thursday continued to obsess over his favorite issue, the birthers. He excoriated the Republican Party, smearing that the "haters" now "have a party to call all their own, the GOP." Painting with a broad brush, Matthews mocked, "How did the right-wing fringe manage to take over the Republican Party?" He later repeated the talking point, wondering, "Coming up,…

For weeks MSNBC's Chris Matthews has been complaining about the lack of declared GOP presidential candidates. On Tuesday's "Hardball," former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele exposed Matthews' hypocrisy concerning this matter marvelously demonstrating that once any of the possible candidates formally enters the race, the avowed liberal commentator is just going to trash…

For what seems like the umpteenth day in a row, MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Monday brought up Donald Trump and President Obama's birth certificate. On this occasion, the "Hardball" might have wished he hadn't when guest Errol Louis of NY1 marvelously said, "They like the fact that it bothers people like you, Chris, and I think they get more pleasure out of bugging you than anything else" (video…

Former Newsweek editor Howard Fineman on Monday spun Paul Ryan's blueprint for reforming Medicare as saying to younger Americans "screw you." Appearing on MSNBC's Hardball, the senior politics editor for the Huffington Post eagerly went along with host Chris Matthews' hyperbolic description of the Republican plan. Responding to the idea that Ryan would exempt Americans 55 and older from…

Until now, MSNBC's "Lean Forward" ad campaign had largely avoided wearing the network's leftward slant as a badge of pride. Sure, there were hints here and there that "Lean Forward" really means "left-leaning," but the older ads were subtle compared to the latest batch which beat you over the head with their liberal take on major political issues. For example, you can expect to see MSNBC's…

A left-leaning guest on MSNBC's "Hardball" got into quite a heated debate with Chris Matthews Friday when she tried to point out some classic liberal hypocrisy. In a segment dealing with Florida's Koran-burning Pastor's desire to protest a mosque in Dearborn, Michigan, progressive Muslim author Irshad Manji supported Terry Jones's first amendment rights marvelously pointing out, "We liberals…

For the second day in a row, MSNBC's Chris Matthews excoriated the Tea Party, trashing them as supporting cuts in Medicaid because that's a program for "poor people." On Thursday's Hardball, however, he added a new attack, asserting that Tea Partiers don't like Medicaid because it's used by "minorities." Talking to Newsweek's Richard Wolffe, Matthews cited a Marist poll showing little…

According to MSNBC's Chris Matthews, "the only cuts that [Tea Partiers] seem to want are the cuts for the poor people." The Hardball host smeared the conservative protesters on Thursday while discussing planned reforms to Medicare and Medicaid.                                                Guest Jonathan Alter laughed at Matthews' attack, prompting the anchor to mock, "You're laughing…

MSNBC has lately been spending a tremendous amount of time on Donald Trump and the President's birth certificate. The round the clock coverage of this issue led MSNBC contributor Pat Buchanan to say on Tuesday's "MSNBC Live," "MSNBC is transfixed with it" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

There are times when I watch MSNBC and wonder if there are actually producers paying any attention to what's going on. Consider the following brief segment from Tuesday's "Hardball" wherein host Chris Matthews first derided a Dallas, Texas, reporter for being tough during an interview with President Obama and then immediately chastised Donald Trump for being displeased by the constant…

Aside from ABC's Jake Tapper, where were the denunciations from the media of President Obama's uncivil, hyper-partisan speech on the budget the other day at George Washington University (GWU)? That's a question that NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell asked on last night's "Media Mash" segment on Fox News Channel's "Hannity." It was a speech that the president invited Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis…

Hardball's Chris Matthews on Thursday slammed Fox News as a "roach motel" for possible presidential candidates, knocking the chances of that network's analysts, Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin. Yet, the MSNBC anchor, who obsesses daily about the so-called birther issue, admitted he hasn't been as tough on Donald Trump as he could. (Trump, of course, hosts The Apprentice on parent channel NBC…

MSNBC's Chris Matthews has on numerous occasions said he's a liberal while also having gotten a thrill up his leg on national televisionwhen presidential candidate Barack Obama spoke back in 2008. Despite this, on Wednesday's "Hardball," he asked the Wall Street Journal's Stephen Moore, "What do you think, I'm on the far left?" (video follows with transcript and commentary):