I guess "winning" the dubious honor of Quote of the Year in the Media Research Center's 21st Annual Awards for the Year's Worst Reporting hasn't encouraged Matthews to be more objective.
Not a chance, for in the first "Chris Matthews Show" of the New Year, the Obama-loving host displayed a lack of journalistic integrity that has made him a consistent focus of media analysts across the fruited plain.
As Sunday's program wound to a close, Matthews posed the following to his panel (file photo):
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Time for this week's big question: will 2009 match 2008 for Barack Obama? Will it be a great year for him? Norah.
NORAH O'DONNELL, NBC: Well, he will have Air Force One which makes it a lot better. As even George W. Bush said it's one of the greatest perks of the President. It's going to be a tough year for him because he has to carry out on all these promises he made to the American people.
A fair answer, wouldn't you agree? Next up was Klein.
It better be for the country's sake. I, I think it will be.
Matthews responded, "Good for you!"
Good for you?
So, it wasn't good for Norah that she felt "It's going to be a tough year for [Obama] because he has to carry out on all these promises he made to the American people."
But it's good for Klein that he responded as a cheerleader rather than an objective journalist?
You know, given the awful year the mainstream media have had -- with declining stock prices, ad revenues, print space, employment, and respect from the citizenry! -- a more appropriate question for Matthews to have asked his guests was, "Will 2009 be a better year for sycophantic, liberal journalists that are destroying the very industry that employs them?"
Alas, if Klein responded -- "It better be for the country's sake. I, I think it will be" -- it seems a metaphysical certitude Matthews would gush, "Good for you!"
How appalling.
*****Update: As NBer StarAZ astutely reminded us in the comments section, Matthews believes it his job to make Obama's presidency a success...
