Matthews Slimes GOP as Racist for Going After Holder: An 'Ethnic' 'Stop-and-Frisk'

NewsBuster.org ^ | June 20, 2012 | Scott Whitlock

[Kaslin]

Liberal MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews on Tuesday slimed the House GOP investigating Attorney General Eric Holder as racist, insisting that the possible contempt charges over Fast and Furious had an "ethnic" feel. Using charged, racial imagery, Matthews demonized, "Is this sort of stop-and-frisk at the highest level? Go after the attorney general, get him to empty his pockets, stand in the spotlight."

The Hardball host, who had previously been ignoring the Fast and Furious scandal, changed course and portrayed the whole thing as a bigoted witch hunt. Talking to former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, Matthews speculated: "I don't want to start too much forest fire here, but it is my instinct: Is this ethnic, Mr. Mayor?" [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

The left-wing journalist weirdly speculated as to Congressman Darell Issa's motives: "If he can humiliate this guy, if he can get to him, he'll be a big star in the Republican caucus. He'll be Dick Nixon."

Congressman Richard Nixon became a "star" in 1948 by exposing communist spy Alger Hiss. Hiss, of course, was very guilty. So, perhaps this is not the best metaphor for Matthews to use.

Showing just how little he had covered Fast and Furious, Matthews asked Wade Henderson of the Leadership Council, "Explain Fast and Furious." His viewers could be forgiven for not knowing anything about it.

A transcript of the June 19 segment can be found below:

Liberal MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews on Tuesday slimed the House GOP investigating Attorney General Eric Holder as racist, insisting that the possible contempt charges over Fast and Furious had an "ethnic" feel. Using charged, racial imagery, Matthews demonized, "Is this sort of stop-and-frisk at the highest level? Go after the attorney general, get him to empty his pockets, stand in the spotlight."

5:42

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Up next, when Republicans won control of the House of Representatives, their real prize, of course, was the subpoena power. They have got it and they are using it to go after the attorney general. Is this sort of stop-and-frisk at the highest level? Go after the attorney general, get him to empty his pockets, stand in the spotlight as long as they can and see if anything happens? That's ahead.       

5:46

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Up next, when Republicans won control of the House of Representatives, their real prize, of course, was the subpoena power. They have got it and they are using it to go after the attorney general. Is this sort of stop-and-frisk at the highest level? Go after the attorney general, get him to empty his pockets, stand in the spotlight as long as they can and see if anything happens? That's ahead.

5:46

MATTHEWS: That was the House Oversight Committee chair, Darrell Issa, behaving in his usual way, two weeks ago hammering Attorney General Eric Holder for not turning over documents related to the so-called Fast and Furious campaign, the flawed gun tracking operation carried out by the ATF. Shortly after that, Issa set a vote to hold Holder in contempt of court, or contempt of Congress rather, for tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Holder and Issa just wrapped up a meeting, by the way, a few moments ago, after which Issa says he's still waiting for the documents he wants and hopes to get them tonight, or wants to get them tonight. Willie Brown is a former mayor of San Francisco, former speaker of the California House, and Wade Henderson is the president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Let me go to Wade first because I want to understand is there any reason why we should put any trust in the good intentions of Darrell Issa here?

WADE HENDERSON (Leadership Council): None at all, Chris. Chairman Issa is pursuing a politically motivated witch hunt that's designed to discredit the Justice Department and to force Attorney General Holder to resign. He's using Fast and Furious as the vehicle to pursue that witch hunt. But the truth is, nothing could be further from the factual bases for him making the assertion about Holder's lack of cooperation.

MATTHEWS: You know, when I look at this, Willie Brown, Mayor Brown, I just look at it- and I don't mean to use this term too much- but it's almost like a stop-and-frisk. Here's a chance to humiliate a distinguished member of the United States government, the attorney general- and everybody knows- close friend of the president's. It's a surrogate operation. If he can humiliate this guy, if he can get to him, he'll be a big star in the Republican caucus. He'll be Dick Nixon.

nd Furious.

HENDERSON: Fast and Furious was a gun-walking program where guns were purchased in the United States, taken across the border back to Mexico, and distributed by individuals who had no license or right to purchase --

MATTHEWS: And the idea was to track them.

HENDERSON: We were tracking those guns to find out where they went and hoped to buy the purchaser -- to get the purchaser as well as the recipient. It was started under the previous administration. General Mukasey actually had Operation Wide Receiver which was the precursor of Fast and Furious. It ended up with in the depth of officials who were involved with the U.S. government and ATF official, I believe, was killed. But this was a terrible operation. It should never have taken place. Much to his credit, Attorney General Holder ended the program, he disciplined ATF officials who were involved. He convened and -- inspector general to take a look at the issue. He testified over eight times with the Congress and he's provided thousands of documents-

MATTHEWS: And your theory is with this guy Darrell Issa, his goal is to push this further into rub the guy's face into it.

HENDERSON: Absolutely. And to force the attorney general to resign as a discredited official. Now, here's what's ironic -- there has never been an attorney general held in contempt of Congress. There's never been a vote by the House of Representatives on the contempt citation. To do it now against Eric Holder is to ignore all the facts of the case and to use a fiction to promote this kind of political agenda and I hope that both members of the Democratic Party as well as Republicans will see this for what it is.

MATTHEWS: I don't want to start too much forest fire here, but it is my instinct: Is this ethnic, Mr. Mayor?

BROWN: I think it has some ethnic flavor to it. It will be interrupted by some in that vein.

MATTHEWS: Yes.

BROWN: And you have to be careful you don't give the opportunity to make that case factually and what Darrell Issa is doing is -- has given some individuals the opportunity to make that case and to compare it to a stop and frisk.

MATTHEWS: Well, I just did it because -- it smells like it to me and I think there is a disdain on the part of some Republican, not all. Certainly not Boehner. But some of them down in the rank and file, red hot end of the team, that do talk down to the president and his friends absolutely.

[olezip]

Liberal MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews on Tuesday slimed the House GOP investigating Attorney General Eric Holder as racist, insisting that the possible contempt charges over Fast and Furious had an "ethnic" feel.

I thought that Chris Matthews had retired in disgrace. Are people still tuning him in? He says outrageous things to get some attention, I would surmise. He has been irrelevant for some time now.

[jersey117]

FU Matthews. This country belongs to us white folks too. Are we supposed to sit in the back of the bus and shut up because we have a half black president? He’s the one who divided the country pandering to the demographic du jour.

[livius]

The Mexican government cooperated in Wide Receiver, which was a classic sting operation and had forces from both the US and Mexico involved in monitoring and tracking the criminal gang networks that sold guns to the Mexican drug gangs.

Fast and Furious did not have the cooperation of the Mexican government because, in fact, it couldn’t have, since the Mexicans would have prevented these guns from reaching the drug gangs. The whole point of Fast and Furious and its covert nature was to ensure that the guns distributed by the ATF made it to the streets and were used in killing people (you know, those insignificant little tan people - Obama has nothing but contempt for Mexicans), whose deaths could then be used to provide support for Obama’s gun-control laws.

[submarinerswife]

I guess this Henderson moron didn't get the memo that Holder rescinded his accusations against Mukasey:

HENDERSON: It was started under the previous administration. General Mukasey actually had Operation Wide Receiver which was the precursor of Fast and Furious. It ended up with in the depth of officials who were involved with the U.S. government and ATF official, I believe, was killed. But this was a terrible operation. It should never have taken place. Much to his credit, Attorney General Holder ended the program, he disciplined ATF officials who were involved.

Unbelievable incompetence of Mathews and his "guests".

[uncbob]

Indisputable proof of Matthews’ intellectual poverty.

Or cowardice

Left wingers are afraid to face the truth so they lie to themselves mainly because they are COWARDS

[driftless2]

Because as everyone knows, all members of the Obama admin are above criticism, and any criticism of any member of the Obama admin is thereby racist in nature. If the Bush admin had administered this program with the same sorry results, Democrats would have refrained from criticizing the Bush admin just like they refrained from criticizing Bush about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. As we know all to well, Bush II was never called ChimpyBushHitler or any other pejorative during his terms in office. Vice-President Cheney was also treated with deep respect by his political opponents and never compared to Darth Vader.

[uncbob]

MSNBC is now officially the race-baiting channel. Its slogan is you are racist if you criticize/oppose the Obama administration.

And I am willing to bet the majority of their audience are masochistic GOP types

If they would quit watching they would have no viewers at all

Like my older brother who did nothing but bitch about the Philadelphia Inquirer but kept buying it

Couldn't talk sense to him

[Conservative Vermont Vet]

Its more than just a "tingle" up Chrissy's leg...

[Still Thinking]

Right, that was the point of my last sentence. He’s trying to do the stuff the normal people do, but he lacks the requisite abilities, and needs to go do something he’s capable of.

[YHAOS]

Intellectual poverty leads to cowardice . . . or vice versa.

It's a chicken or egg thing.