Matthews: 'Failure to Act on Debt Ceiling Will Create a Horror for Our Country We’ve Never Seen Before'

Chris Matthews on Wednesday gave a lesson on utterly shameless fear-mongering.

In the final segment of MSNBC's "Hardball," the host said, "Failure to act on the debt ceiling will create a horror for our country, a horror we’ve never seen before" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

CHRIS MATTHEWS: No matter what the protesters say, by the way, this is the right truth and it is the truth: failure to act on the debt ceiling will create a horror for our country, a horror we’ve never seen before.

Suddenly one day we’ll find ourselves like Greece or Ireland or Portugal, one of those countries at the periphery of the strong economies – Germany, China, India. Suddenly we’ll be one of those countries that the strong world looks at with disdain, looks down on really. We’ll become objects of pity, pity not for what was done to us like on 9/11, but for the pathetic sight of what we’ve done to ourselves.

Yes, if we don't raise the debt ceiling, it'll be a greater horror for our country than the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Great Depression, and 9/11.

And this guy actually has two shows airing nationally.