Viewers of Tuesday’s MSNBC Live were treated to a lovely rant by Hardball host Chris Matthews denouncing the tone of politics today, and about his ‘favorite kind of liberal.’ “There are real liberals and there are people who look and talk like liberals. Liberals to me, the good ones, are people who really do care about individual people.”
Matthews says his kind of liberal is one that doesn’t just say they want to help the poor. “They care about people who are poor. Not the idea of helping them… It means something to a true liberal.” Matthews seems to be under the impression that only liberals have the ability to care for poor people, and want them to be successful. “I worked for one of those guys, Tip O’Neill. They actually do care about people. And they cry sometimes and they're my favorite kind of liberal” he said, reminiscing about the good old days of liberalism.
Matthews also took exception with Taylor Gipple; the young man who questioned Hillary Clinton about being 'dishonest' at CNN’s latest town hall event. “Hillary, you know, I think somebody saying to your face or-- talk about bad manners. You know, “You're dishonest.” Well, wow, you're saying former Secretary of State, former Senator of New York, you're dishonest? That’s pretty nervy for a young person to say that to a major figure in American life, like that kid did.”
As if Matthews never accused Bush, or his vice president or his cabinet officers, of being dishonest? Gipple may not have realized that his place is beneath Hillary Clinton, and did not have permission to question the veracity of what she says. Matthews seems to have forgotten that Hillary is being investigated by the FBI for exposing highly classified emails, which she said never existed. But what difference does it make?
The ranting Matthews even went so far as to insinuate that Gipple, a Sanders supporter, is somehow a cog in the right-wing machine trying to take Hillary down. “She has to go back to the motives of those who raised the questions about her honesty, which unfortunately for her is very much like what she said back during the Monica days when she said, “there is a vast right wing conspiracy out to get me.” But, in fact, there is.” It appears that his favorite kind of liberals also don’t question what they are being told by their leadership.
Partial transcript below:
MSNBC Live With Thomas Roberts
January 26, 2016
2:06:58 - 2:08:56
FRANCES RIVERA: Chris, I want to ask you about the left here and the race there. When we talked about just-- seeing the two of them, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, with some sense of vulnerability on both sides when it came to that town hall. You have Hillary Clinton being asked about being dishonest, and she says, wait a minute, wait a minute.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: That was strong.
RIVERA: I've been around for a long time. I'm still standing. I don't know how tall, and then you have Bernie Sanders where you have that very emotional moment where somebody was saying, you know, in tears, that woman, it's so hard to pay your bills. Was that a moment for him to kind of take it and run, and in essence, did he kind of leave it?
MATTHEWS: Well, you know, I spent a lot of time with politicians, including liberals. There are real liberals and there are people who look and talk like liberals. Liberals to me, the good ones, are people who really do care about individual people. And when they say they want to help people who are poor, they care about people who are poor. Not the idea of helping them, but the people of need, where the people need a decent education or a woman wants to go work and provide for her family, she needs child care. It means something to a true liberal.
I worked for one of those guys, Tip O’Neill. They actually do care about people. And they cry sometimes and they're my favorite kind of liberal. Now if Bernie shows that, it shows authenticity. And people are really looking for that. Hillary, you know, I think somebody saying to your face or-- talk about bad manners. You know, “You're dishonest.” Well, wow, you're saying former Secretary of State, former Senator of New York, you're dishonest? That’s pretty nervy for a young person to say that to a major figure in American life, like that kid did.
And Hillary, what's she going to say, “I'm not dishonest?” She has to go back to the motives of those who raised the questions about her honesty, which unfortunately for her is very much like what she said back during the Monica days when she said, “there is a vast right wing conspiracy out to get me.” But, in fact, there is. This is the weirdness about politics. It can be that you also have a problem but your enemies are going to blow it up out of proportion.
