The Incredible Lightness Of Being...Man-Smitten Journalists
Suffering fools is one thing...are we expected to take them seriously too?
By haystack Posted in Elections | liberal media bias | Matthews | MSM | Olbermann — Comments (24) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
So, I JUST finished bemoaning this weird cult-like enthusiasm for a Presidential wannabe in his pretty empty suits standing alongside his Ghandi equivalent among women, and NOW I have to be subjected toTHIS, via Newsbusters:
During MSNBC's live coverage of Tuesday's presidential primary elections, after the speeches of Barack Obama and John McCain had aired, Chris Matthews expressed his latest over the top admiration for Obama's speaking skills as the MSNBC anchor admitted that Obama's speech created a "thrill" in his leg: "It's part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama's speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don't have that too often."
Umm, PLEASE tell me he didn't say that...PLEASE!
Apparently, Olbermann (another unbiased and neutral "journalist") was in on this little love tryst as well. Of course, we'll never know where Obama tingles him, but it's pretty clear they are both smitten with the Presidential hopeful from Illinois. The whole thing makes me tingle too...in the pit of my overturned stomach, thank you very much. Have a little context with that regurgitation? Then, go below the fold for the "objective assessment" from Matthews and the banter between him, Olbermann, and Brian Williams...if your stomach is empty of course...
Read On...
At about 10:13 p.m., right after McCain finished his speech, which came after Obama's speech, co-anchor Keith Olbermann remarked that, due to Obama's unusual speaking skills, it was a good idea for any other speaker to speak before the Illinois Democrat instead of after him. Matthews then expressed what he referred to as an "objective assessment" of Obama's speech:
I have to tell you, you know, it's part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama's speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don't have that too often. No, seriously. It's a dramatic event. He speaks about America in a way that has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with the feeling we have about our country. And that is an objective assessment.
After complimenting Obama for praising McCain's heroism, Matthews delivered a pessimistic assessment of McCain's situation as well as that of the Virginia Republican party:
But I just think that McCain's problem is he's over 70, he's standing there with John Warner, who's much older than him. He's standing with Tom Davis, who's retiring. He looks like an army in retreat in Virginia. That's what it looks like tonight. The Virginia Republican party used to own that state. They could elect people that are not particularly likable. They were able to do that in the past. Now they're having a hard time even fielding a candidate against Mark Warner.
Olbermann soon brought aboard Williams, who started off making fun of Matthews:
WILLIAMS: Well, let's talk about that feeling Chris gets up his leg when Obama talks, for starters.
OLBERMANN: No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
WILLIAMS: That seems to be the headline of this half hour.
MATTHEWS, laughing: Let it stand, then. Don't tread on it, Brian, if it's a good line.
Don't 'tread' on it? I want to stick a hot poker in my EAR after having heard it.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I think it's a fair question to ask whether "Journalist Licenses" might start getting pulled when these clowns start using our airwaves to campaign for candidates instead of just telling us what people say and do...and allow we, the consumer, to decide what "tingles" once we find out what's going on in the world.
Sheesh-and THIS on coffee number 2...
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The Incredible Lightness Of Being...Man-Smitten Journalists 24 Comments (0 topical, 24 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
I'm an Obama supporter but when Chris Matthews said THAT, I almost gagged. They are just so disgusting (MSNBC) right now. I want MSM to be fair to everyone regardless of my person preference.
Way too much man love over there.
which of his specific policy initiatives have moved you into his camp. HINT: we don't give a damn about how you "feel".
____
CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
are in the bag for Obama.
One of the disadvantages of living in Europe is the limited amount of quality television we get over here. So, while I am filing my nails and eating bon-bons all day, I watch AFN news. We get all the major news shows throughout the day.
It is an orgy for Obama. Plain and simple.
And it is so sad. As I watch, the man just says hopeandchangehopeandchangehopeandchange over and over again. And then he tells the crowd that even Republicans are whispering support for him.
Gag!
I may be an alcoholic before all this is over.
It can only mean total silence on one side, total domination for the other. Just a touch of Fascism there combined with a dash of Orwellian though control, a one way dialog, nothing else seems to make them happy.
I saw Obama speak last night after his victories, there wasn't enough substance there to hang a sock on, and the crowd was going wild. He didn't mention his vote on FISA however, big surprise.
McCain's line last night; "America makes history, it is not a victim of it". A superb thought, but you will never hear something like that from the left which views their country as one big, take your pick, maternity ward or hospice.
Obama is a symptom of a parlous state of education, thought, and emotion in our land. If anybody doubts this is a nation in slow decline, his vacuous effusions and avoidance of so much as a hint of ideas points to a national shift of brainless childishness.
Don't doubt it, it's happening right in front of us.
"a man's admiration for absolute government is proportinate to the contempt he feels for those around him". Tocqueville
Obama is a symptom of a parlous state of education, thought, and emotion in our land. If anybody doubts this is a nation in slow decline, his vacuous effusions and avoidance of so much as a hint of ideas points to a national shift of brainless childishness.
I've heard him give ideas many times. Maybe you just don't like the ideas.
BUT I do agree with on the state of education, thought, and emotion in our land (and I'm an Obama supporter). Yet I think Senator Obama taps into a large segment of our population that feels hopeless about our system. And hope isn't frivolous (McCain acknowledged that). Look, this is Redstate.com. I don't expect any of you to see Senator Obama the same way I do. But calling him an "empty suit" that just talks isn't fair. The man has done a lot in his life from the grass roots level on up. And I respect that just like I respect John McCain experiences. And Senator Obama HAS given ideas many times. Of course everyone here at Redstate are going to shred them, but they are ideas nevertheless.
Can't all of you just shred his ideas and liberal ways instead of saying he's just empty? That's the Redstate I know and love!
Wow, he has a way with words. Kitten-Republicans. The way he pulls it off is just fabulous. And he does have some substance - just look at his Illinois voting record where he voted NAY on a bill that would have made illegal situations where a baby who was born alive during an abortion procedure - before the bill, doctors could kill a baby during an abortion process where the baby was born alive. http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCommentary.asp?Page=/Commentary/archive/20080...
"He is so pro-abortion that he refused as an Illinois state senator to support legislation to protect babies who survived late-term abortions because he did not want to concede -- as he explained in a cold-blooded speech on the Illinois Senate floor -- that these babies, fully outside their mothers' wombs, with their hearts beating and lungs heaving, were in fact "persons."
He may have a DREAM, but it is not a DREAM I want to live in where government grows to provide health care and we create a cradle to grave mentality. Health care will create another rail in U.S. politics that will never be overcome - similar to Social Security and Medicare.
Erik
and since I'm SUCH a glutton for punishment, yes I am still an Obama supporter and YES I disagree with his vote. So what does that make me Erik? I know you going to give me a good name or something so have at it.
I don't have abortion high on my radar since it is SO personal. But if you hold abortion much higher, I can see how his vote would bother you immensely.
I'm not one for name calling. Not sure why you're proposing the attack as I'm not trying to call you out. Just trying to figure out why a conservative person could support Obama.
Am I concerned about his vote in this instance? Absolutely - goes far beyond the pale of where I stand on social issues. This is the murder of a baby who is no longer in the womb, but is breathing and living. However, I am less of a social conservative than a fiscal conservative. In any case, I'm glad you disagree with his vote.
How do you feel about Obama's speech in regards to growth in government, thereby creating a growth in taxes. Frankly, I was appalled at what he was preaching and I grew concerned.
I was listening to a local radio station call in yesterday. And two purported Republicans stated they would be voting for Obama. When asked what they felt about his experience, they didn't have much to say and acknowledged he didn't have any. But...he made them feel good. Hitler made Germany feel good for many years.
Erik
...my comment after the "give me a name" comment. Didn't come out the way I wanted. LOL!
How do you feel about Obama's speech in regards to growth in government, thereby creating a growth in taxes. Frankly, I was appalled at what he was preaching and I grew concerned.
I've thought long and hard about government growth and growth in taxes. I think that IF you can provide a service and/or system that can truly benefit the masses, government growth and tax hikes isn't a bad thing. Provided that you can provide that benefit. I don't want my taxes raised either. BUT if so, I want to see and feel the benefit. I think tax hikes get in trouble when the masses can't see or feel it. Senator Obama, IMHO, seems like the type of guy that can get the sides together to create a tangible service/system we can see and feel. I feel he really believes that in the role as POTUS.
Hitler made Germany feel good for many years.
He sure did but we're no Germany and Senator Obama's no Hitler. The diverse makeup of this country doesn't all Hitler-types to gain traction. You start talking about master races and cleansing, Americans break their foot off in your behind.
Just to give you a little insight into my voting habits, I have voted third party as protest to the Big 2 ever since I could vote. So this is the first time I've seriously considered voting for a Democrat or Republican (I'm in my mid-thirties).
You've seen how our government functions or doesn't function. There have been a few good programs created by the people and managed by the government - national defense, roads projects, and now I begin to run out of good ideas. See, the problem as I see it is that federal government does not run things efficiently or well. Lack of oversight by politicians versus having a CEO of a company is one portion of this problem. Creation of a bureaucracy that is there simply to survive and receive the tax-handout is another. Look at the number of poorly managed programs - every couple of days a news article comes out with their failures. Why would I ever want to support an increase in government if a continuation of this will be what I get - more programs that cost more and provide less than they are worth.
Many of the programs Obama appears to support would be better handled at a state or local level. However, he supports them at a federal level - more taxes without the real local representation. I feel the best government is the one I can reach out and touch - the one that is in my neck of the woods. D.C. is a long way off and I want even less of my money going that way.
Maybe that is the CHANGE message McCain needs to be speaking about. The CHANGE should be back to a smaller government that doesn't try to do everything for everyone and then fail miserably.
Erik
you've been nice, respectful, and honest so I will respond in kind.
In politics, abortion and radars are sensible arguments. In life issues, regardless their merits on a political scale, being ok with letting half dead babies die a slow death after an intentional attempted murder failed just says something about a person. The man has children of his own...how could he calculate political brownie points on the deathbeds of these innocents?
If the level of appreciation and value one places on the sanctity of life is based on political calculation, how will such a man lead an entire country of over 300 million people? He stands for no war, basically EVER, yet he's ok with his vote on that issue. It "says" something about him...but, that's just me.
Iustum et tenacem propositi virum non civium ardor prava iubentium, non vultus instantis tyranni mente quatit solida.
-Quintus Horatius Flaccus
In politics, abortion and radars are sensible arguments. In life issues, regardless their merits on a political scale, being ok with letting half dead babies die a slow death after an intentional attempted murder failed just says something about a person. The man has children of his own...how could he calculate political brownie points on the deathbeds of these innocents?
Can't lie. You did make me think hard. But I don't have the same reaction as you and I have children myself. You know, I think Senator Obama's larger message of uniting the country and working together has struck me hard since I've always voted against Dems and Repubs. It's a higher ideal that I think America needs to embrace. Ronald Reagan called America the "shining city on the hill". I think Senator Obama's message embraces that. I don't think just listing issues are going to cut it these days.
Obama's speaking may be somewhat similar to Reagan in being excellent oratory. However, obviously, the policy and directions are entirely different. And, as I know the logic that he espouses doesn't hold water, it is disengenuous and so he appears to be a gifted car salesman to me. So, he strikes me immediately as a fraud, even though I can step in others' shoes and try to get a glimmer of what they are feeling.
If listing issues doesn't cut it, and where we stand and are going using logical arguments to show why and how, the country is truly drainbed. If we want to just listen to soaring oratory I suggest people pick up some self-help CD's.
The constant reference to an ill defined change has become a cliche. His supporters have responded mostly to style, delivery, catch words. His approach is understandable if unwelcome, the vaguer he is the harder to pin down, the easier to appeal to a broad based electorate.
In a word, it's disingenuous, not unique in politicians but carried to an art form in his case.
I will stand corrected on the charge of total emptiness, but less the debates where there is no choice but to engage, he has done his utmost to minimize those things called ideas, also known as political positions, in favor of verbal sops.
As stated in my first post you might notice the difference between McCains comments and attitude on America Vs the typical liberals. In the meantime, and apropos of ideas, maybe sometime soon Barack will speak out and proudly expand on his FISA vote.
In any case, everyone must be brought up short once in a while and I'm no different. Thanks for the catch and your comments.
"a man's admiration for absolute government is proportinate to the contempt he feels for those around him". Tocqueville
I've lived in Illinois for over 25 years, and Obama was a nothing, a back bencher, in the Illinois state senate. There was no substance there, he tended to vote "present" on many of the tough issues. The only thing noteworthy that he did while there was get into bed with Tony Resko.
He's a big zip on his couple of years in the US Senate, except he has managed to rack up the most liberal voting record of any member. Eventually, his votes on issues like abortion and more significantly, the FISA extention, will catch up with him.
McCain may be 71, but he is an honorable man, with lots of substance. He is going to tear the hide off Obama in the general election, who is not very good when put into a debating environment where he has to discuss substantive issues. And I can't wait to hear exactly what he wants to change.

You know it's getting ridiculous out there when Hillary Clinton of all people suggest that Fox is more fair than MSDNC. Now, most of us have known that for a long time, but for Hillary Rodham Clinton to admit that, you know the agenda journalism and bias over at MSNBC has reached Moyers/Rather levels.
Chris Matthews has spittle running down his chin when he talks about Obama. He has referred to Obama as "the New Testament".
Olbermann used to be a Hillary lackey, however he caught flak from the DailyKos minions over it because their preferred candidate is Obama, and Keith instantly bowed to the Kossacks and swiftly changed his tune.
I genuinely am sad to see MSNBC in the state that it is in now. Back when Jerry Nachman was running the place, it was a very good network. I actually liked it better than Fox at one point. Scarborough's show during primetime a few years ago was the best conservative chat show on tv, IMO. It has now devolved into an Obama propaganda outlet.
“.....women and minorities hardest hit”