Free Republic

Here is video of Michael Wolff talking with Chris Matthews about Fox News. Michael Wolff said "the truth is Fox is not very popular in this country, it may have great ratings but still we're talking under two million people, it's a really marginal somewhat extreme presence in the United States." (Video)

A petulant Chris Matthews wouldn’t talk about MSNBC’s recent ratings dip during an interview flogging his fawning essay on the late Sen. Edward Kennedy that’s in the November issue of Boston magazine. “Let’s just drop all the conversation about my network,” the “Hardball” host huffed the other day. “I’m not a media critic.” It could be that Matthews got a little hot under the collar because his left-leaning network has been losing viewers. During the recent third-quarter ratings period, Fox News averaged about 2.26 million total viewers in prime time and was up 2 percent from the same time last...

Day after day he condemns the Tea Party Protesters and recently Joe Wilson, now DNC news activist Chris Matthews thinks Alan Grayson is funny, not one word of condemnation of him...I'm doing my best not to cuss here...(Video)

VIDEO: Legal problems aside, former Congressman James Traficant is always a stimulating and hilarious interview. The brash Traficant appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews and once again suggested he might run for Congress again after serving time in prison. His platform would be to repeal the income tax and abolish the IRS. Said Traficant: "I want to get the IRS. Kick them in the crotch real good."

Average American citizen Katy Abram's impassioned plea against socialized health care, at Senator Arlen Specter's town hall meeting on Tuesday, got her noticed by the "Hardball" producers as her clip was featured on Tuesday's show and she even received an invitation to appear tonight -- complete with the requisite scolding from the program's liberal host. Subbing for Chris Matthews, MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell incorrectly challenged Abram's fear that Barack Obama wanted to move to a single-payer plan.After Abram recalled that, "I heard him say on a quote, on television, that...we will move to a single-payer" plan, O'Donnell rebuked "He never said...

Leave it to Chris Matthews, a former speechwriter to Jimmy Carter, to actually commemorate the 30th anniversary of the former president's infamous "malaise" speech. On Wednesday's "Hardball," Matthews invited on his former bosses from the Carter White House, former speechwriter and now New Yorker senior editor Hendrick Hertzberg and former aide Gerald Rafshoon to mark the event and claim that Carter was vindicated by history as Matthews proudly asserted Carter was "Dead on," about "putting on a sweater, lowering the thermostat," to solve the energy crisis. And Hertzberg did Matthews one better by proclaiming Carter a "prophet." CHRIS MATTHEWS: Rick...

Thirty years after Jimmy Carter's malaise speech, we return to the days of rising joblessness, an unresponsive economy, deference to dictators, gutting the military and an energy policy tilting at windmills... As history repeats itself on the anniversary of the speech MSNBC's Chris Matthews wrote, we wonder if the "Hardball" host, who has worked for four Democratic politicians, is still getting tingles up his legs. The Democratic Party apparently has learned nothing in the past three decades. Will we see a return of the misery index? The only thing that's different is the sweater.

Vanity Fair's Todd Purdum joined Chuck Todd, filling in for Chris Matthews on Hardball, to discuss his recent article on Sarah Palin.

David Shuster, substitute hosting for Chris Matthews on Tuesday's "Hardball," absurdly asserted that Dick Cheney "didn't know" about al-Qaeda before 9/11. After playing a clip of the former Vice President on "Face the Nation" stating that "On the morning of 9/12...there was a great deal we didn't know about al-Qaeda," Shuster ignored the "great deal," qualifier and insisted to his guests that somehow Cheney was clueless about the threat of the terrorist organization prior to 9/11. Shuster's guest, former Cheney aide Ron Christie, corrected Shuster, pointing out "that's one snippet taken out of context...Of course we knew about al-Qaeda," but...

"Don't think we're not keeping score, brother." That's what President Barack Obama said to Rep. Peter DeFazio in a closed-door meeting of the House Democratic Caucus last week, according to the Associated Press. A few weeks ago, Mr. DeFazio voted against the administration's stimulus bill. The comment from Mr. Obama was a presidential rebuke and part of a new, hard-nosed push by the White House to pressure Congress to adopt the president's budget. He has mobilized outside groups and enlisted forces still in place from the Obama campaign. Senior presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett and her chief of staff, Michael Strautmanis,...

Chris Matthews, along with Lois Romano of the Washington Post and David Corn of Mother Jones, devoted 10 minutes of last night’s “Hardball” to lamenting the religiosity of Republicans. “Why does everything sound like the 700 Club?” Matthews flippantly probed his like-minded panelists. The criticism came in response to recent sound bites from Sarah Palin and Michael Steele — two very popular go-to targets of the left. [snip] “Suspicious” is a good characterization of the liberal attitude toward Christianity. The media was “suspicious” of Palin throughout the campaign, accusing her of speaking in tongues, and admonishing her for her pro-life...

On Wednesday night's "Hardball," Chris Matthews used several different animal references to depict the battle between Barack Obama and Rush Limbaugh as he likened the fight to wrestling with "a walrus," and getting into "a peeing match with a skunk," and claimed Limbaugh thinks he is Charlie Brown's dog: "He's Snoopy! He thinks he's taking on the Red Baron." Matthews devoted several segments to the Democratic strategy of attacking Limbaugh and opened the show with the following monologue/diatribe: CHRIS MATTHEWS: Leading off tonight. Pomposity on parade! Not since Snoopy challenged the Red Baron in the Peanuts cartoon have we...

[video of Chris Matthews dancing for Obama] Chris Matthews revealed a little too much about himself on Wednesday night’s Hardball. “The Conservative Political Action Conference begins its three day meeting tomorrow in Washington,” Matthews stammered, “and take a look at some of the panels being offered. ‘Al Franken and ACORN: How Liberals Are Destroying the American Election System. ‘Will Congress Take Your Guns?’ ‘The True Cost of Global Warming Hysteria.’ If you like Star Trek conventions, you’ll love this baby.” Sounds to us like Chris may have attended a Star Trek convention or two in his time. Probably in costume....

Chris Matthews MUST GO!!! Bigotry has no place on MSNBC.

Is the bloom on the rose starting to fade? Here is video of a Hardball Panel led by none other than Chris Matthews himself actually being critical of the leadership of Barack Obama thus far on the economy! They have typically been as partisan for Obama as possible, but Matthews, along with Howard Fineman and Euguene Robinson, are more than a little critical of the Stimulus Plan and Obama's ability thus far to really convince the nation that he knows what he is doing. NOTE: Matthews calls Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner "Barney Fife" during the discussion, and Eugene Robinson calls...

JOHNSTOWN - Television news anchor Chris Matthews is a Boy Scout for life, or rather a Life Boy Scout, and he can prove it. “I was Life, I'll be glad to show you my documentation,” he said, holding up a number of merit badges during the press conference for the 39th Annual Greater Johnstown Partners for Scouting Harry E. Mangle Memorial Dinner. Matthews, widely known as the host of “Hardball with Chris Matthews” on MSNBC, was in Johnstown Thursday as the dinner's keynote speaker. The fundraising event also honored Concurrent Technologies Corp. President and CEO Edward Sheehan Jr. as the...

Chris Matthews is foaming at the mouth again, driven to a wild-eyed frenzy by Rush Limbaugh. Matthews barraged a recent Republican Hardball guest with these questions about the conservative talk titan: “Would you live in a country where he wrote the Constitution?” “Would you live in a country where he wrote our rights? Listed our rights? Where he listed our rights. Would you live, would you live in that country?” “Is he a sacred cow?” “Say something, say something wrong, say something nasty about Rush Limbaugh!” The Center for Disease Control is expected to issue the following statement: Future Hardball...

I know he probably can't stop the two hens and the old coot from giving cover to the Porkulus.

(see source article for video of Matthews saying we should do a "witch hunt" against Bush for war crimes) You could fill one of those big, heavy 3-ring binders with a list of nutty comments made by Chris Matthews, host of CNBC’s “Hardball.” But his latest comment may just earn him a ticket straight to the Wacko Wing in the Broadcasting Hall of Fame. Matthews was discussing a call by Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) for a war crimes trial for Bush administration officials and terrorist detainee interrogators. “Why,” Matthews asked, “would a show trial or witch hunt be bad?” To...

On Thursday night's "Hardball," Chris Matthews played several clips from documentarian John Zeigler's interview with Sarah Palin, in which the former GOP VP candidate criticized Katie Couric and the press as a whole for bias against her but his guest, Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter, dismissed Palin's charges as "So lame," and called her "a Nixonian Nanook of the North." The following exchanges were aired on the January 8, edition of "Hardball": First up, after Matthews aired a clip of Palin criticizing the McCain campaign for forcing her to conduct continuing interviews with Couric, Alter called the Alaskan governor: "So lame."...

While most people will agree that being “politically correct” has gone too far -- Sen. Arlen Specter R-PA reminds us why political correction began in the first place: tasteless ethnic jokes. At the swanky once-a-year Pennsylvania Society (where all politico’s large & small from the Keystone State trek up to NYC to converge on Park Avenue for luxurious power- broking) Specter thought it appropriate to tell “Polish Jokes”. One insider said before Specter gave his speech at the Commonwealth Club he asked the audience if anyone there was Polish. Since only ten or so out of a few hundred raised...

Last night Bill Ayers appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews. One can hardly wait for Matthews to leave MSNBC and run for the Senate. Or, he should at least change the name of his program to “Softball with Chris Matthews.” Because, as the video of his program shows, Matthews allowed Ayers to get away with everything, and to use Ayers’ 10 minutes of air time to repeat his standard litany of lies over and over. Matthews obviously has not done his homework...

Looks like Chris Matthews is actually disappointed in Barack Obama, but only in the sense that he's worried Obama isn't moving to the left fast enough. Throughout Monday night's "Hardball," after reciting recent appointments like Robert Gates, Jim Jones and yes even Hillary Clinton, Matthews repeatedly asked his guests questions like: "What happened to the victory of change, and I hate to use the phrase, the Left? Who won this election?" and "Why do we have no lefties in this cabinet?" Matthews even invited on two "lefties," Tim Carpenter of Progressive Democrats of America and David Corn of The Nation,...

The chair of the Allegheny County Dems, Jim Burn, has confirmed that “Hardballer” Chris Matthews has kept in touch with him about where things stand in "the west” since the weeks leading up to the Pennsylvania primary. “Chris was very inquisitive about the dynamic here in the west,” said Burn, “but equally as coy regarding whether or not he would actually run for the U.S. Senate.” Burn said before this year's primary that he and Matthews mostly discussed the presidential race between Senators Clinton and Obama. “In fact,

President and Mrs. Bush couldn't be handling the transition more graciously. But rather than celebrating the peaceful transfer of power that is the hallmark of our democracy, Hardball has announced a new feature, "Final Daze," intended to mock W as we count down his last weeks in office. Mike Barnicle, sitting in for Chris Matthews, announced the new segment on this evening's show. MIKE BARNICLE: And that brings us to a new, regular item we're starting tonight called "Final Daze." President Bush has 57 days left in office, and many are asking "where's Dubya?" With the economy tanking and the...

Hillary plays hardball The first sign of friction in the Obama camp as Mrs Clinton demands - and gets - a purge of her critics before accepting Secretary of State role By Leonard Doyle in Washington Sunday, 23 November 2008 Before Hillary Clinton has been formally offered the job as Secretary of State, a purge of Barack Obama's top foreign policy team has begun. The advisers who helped trash the former First Lady's foreign policy credentials on the campaign trail are being brutally shunted aside, as the price of her accepting the job of being the public face of America...

11.13.08 MSNBC Hardball Video - Will the GOP Back Palin? (11:33 minutes) - - Is Palin the future of the Republican Party, or does the somewhat chilly reception she's received from her fellow governors at the Republican Governors Association Conference in Miami suggest tougher times ahead for her? Discussion by moderator Chris Matthews, Pat Buchanan, and Republican strategist Mike Paul. They also discuss what GOP changes are necessary. The conversation becomes heated between Buchanan and Paul. Watch how RGA Chairman Gov. Rick Perry of Texas jumps in and rudely cutoffs off press questions to Gov. Palin. Transcript

CHRIS MATTHEWS: We begin with the Republican Governors Association meeting in Miami today. And with us now, a guest we like to have on the show, Mississippi governor Haley Barbour. Governor Barbour, let me ask you about the South and the Republican Party. You helped build the South as a bastion of Republican strength all these years, but if you look at the map that was put out by "The New York Times" - and I think it's an accurate map - it shows that the only places in the country, the only counties where the Republicans picked up strength...

After airing an interview clip of Sarah Palin telling Fox News' Greta Van Susteren that she was looking for guidance from God about running for national office again, an appalled Chris Matthews called it "troubling," when he let loose this rant on Tuesday's "Hardball": Is, is this commentary about theocracy and going to God for approval? We've been through that with President Bush who said he, "didn't take advice from his father, he got it from another father." And we've been through this sort of Joan of Arc period. Are we gonna get another piece of this where God's leading...

In this election night interview with Chris Matthews, Tom speaks about Pete Olson beating Nick “SorosBoy” Lampson in his old House district (Texas CD-22). He also states that Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats will further destroy the economy with their increased seats and power in the U.S. House of Representatives. - FlA VIDEO - - 11.04.08-SFG: Will Pelosi "run circles" around Obama? - So says one expert on congressional power, former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas, a.k.a. "The Hammer." DeLay told MSNBC tonight that, with Democrats expected double-digit gains in the House, “Pelosi will be the most...

Buchanan : "Suppose we had a clan bomber who had bombed black churches in the 1960s and was unrepentant and said I wish I has done more” ….. “ and if I had started one of my campaigns in his home Chris, it would be an issue" . Matthews: "Because one guy was anti-war and the other was anti-black, it's a difference in values there", Buchanan : " You would not let me get away with that without ramming it home saying what are you doing hanging around with trash like that."

Has Chris Matthews heard America the Beautiful lately? What could be a more broadly acceptable sentiment than to suggest that God has blessed America with many riches? But when Sarah Palin expressed that thought in a speech today, Chris Matthews mocked her. With Michelle Bernard and Joan Walsh in as guests, Matthews played a clip of Palin giving a speech on energy today in Ohio in which, discussing oil independence, Palin said: "God has so richly blessed our land with the supplies that we need." That set Matthews off. CHRIS MATTHEWS: Well there you have the evangelical and the energy...

Oct. 22) - A Minnesota congressional race has drawn national attention since incumbent Michele Bachmann called Barack Obama's patriotism into question on MSNBC's 'Hardball.' "I am very concerned that he might have anti-American views," Bachmann said, although she later expressed regret for the remark after initially denying making the comments. Her original comment galvanized Democrats who flooded her opponent with campaign donations. Accusations, denials and regrets have consumed the airwaves as Republicans question their rivals' patriotism in the waning days of the presidential campaign. On Friday, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., said of Barack Obama, "I am very concerned that he...

NRCC pulls their funding of Bachmann. This hands Matthews a huge win. I just called NRCC to confirm they were glib and nonplussed about the move. Tom Cole runs NRCC-- clearly they aren't interested in the preservation of Conservative seats. NRCC Main Number - (202) 479-7000 News Media Inquiries - (202) 479-7070 Information on Contributing - (202) 479-7000

This change between Chris "He gives me a chill up my leg" Mathews and Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann. She didn't give an inch and she wasn't at all rattled by Mathews.

From what I'm hearing, lib rats have raised close to $200K since the airing of yesterday's show with Chris RATthews. There's also a site to censure her. What is this post about? Republican Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (Minn.) accused Barack Obama Friday of holding “anti-American” sentiments. “I’m very concerned that he may have anti-American views,” Bachmann said on MSNBC’s Hardball. “That’s what the American people are concerned about. “In his book, Barack Obama had pointed to Jeremiah Wright as one of his mentors and also Father Pfleger as one of his mentors. Two of the three mentors are Father Pfleger and...

A new women’s organization is setting out to get Chris Matthews fired from his job at MSNBC, calling his treatment of women on his show sexist. The nonpartisan group, called The New Agenda, held its first meeting this week in New York and established as one of its goals the sacking of the host of "Hardball with Chris Matthews."..........snip.......... The 30-some women who attended New Agenda's inaugural meeting included representatives of other women’s (sp) groups from around the country, along with supporters of Hillary Clinton’s defunct presidential campaign, according to one of the founders........snip..........“The goal of the group is when...

You might say nothing could be more unsurprising than a panel of political pundits admitting the obvious: that Barack Obama is playing the race card when he accuses John McCain of saying Obama "doesn’t look like the other presidents on the currency." But what makes the punditry panel's unanimity notable is that no one would accuse them of being McCain backers, and what's more, that they turned up on Hardball. Surely Chris Matthews, were he not on vacation, would have found one diehard to deny reality. But with Mike Barnicle guest-hosting, a consensus of truth-telling broke out. View video here.

The screencap captures it nicely: Heather Wilson, smiling. Robert Wexler, mouth agape. On this afternoon's Hardball, the feisty, brilliant [bio: high honors Air Force Academy grad, Rhodes Scholar] GOP representative from New Mexico took on the duo of the combative congressman from Florida and host Chris Matthews, and walked away a winner. The subject was Obama's Berlin speech, and by extension his presidential qualifications. You'll find excerpts below, but they don't do begin to do justice to Wilson's brio and the coolness under verbal fire she displayed. That's why I'd strongly encourage readers to view the video. Wilson kicked off...

BUT WILL THEY RESPECT HIM IN THE MORNING?July 23, 2008 Back before the Republican Party was saddled with John McCain as its nominee, The New York Times called him "the only Republican who promises to end the George Bush style of governing from and on behalf of a small, angry fringe." The paper praised him for "working across the aisle to develop sound bipartisan legislation" and predicted that he would appeal to "a broader range of Americans than the rest of the Republican field." At the same time, the Times denounced "the real" Rudy Giuliani as "a narrow, obsessively secretive,...

Not that she is, but if Michelle Obama were in fact a Black Panther, what's the big deal? So seems to think Michelle Bernard. Anyone who thinks that Bernard adds conservative balance to the MSNBC panels on which she regularly appears should think again. Yes, Bernard is head of the Independent Women's Forum, an organization with strong conservative roots. And true, Bernard served on the 2000 Bush-Cheney Presidential Inaugural Committee. But as the Daily Howler has documented [see about 1/3 down page], her pronouncements on Hardball have been very supportive of Barack Obama. More evidence of that was on display...

Chris Matthews may be an appeaser when it comes to confronting radical Islam; but he is tough as nails, apparently, when it comes to standing up to his own American TV news network. New York media industry insiders say the liberal MSNBC anchor and talk show host of Hardball and the Sunday morning program named for him has threatened to resign if the network is the first to air a rumored video recording of Michelle Obama ranting about "Whitey." In fact, the sources add, Matthews, who clearly supports Barack Obama, has threatened to resign if the network aggressively pursues the...

What did Chamberlain do? What is appeasement? And what happened to John McCain's arms? One of the little election year mini-dramas making the Internet rounds is of MSNBC's Chris Matthews' insistent questioning of talk show host Kevin James over the issue of appeasement. "What did Chamberlain do?" Matthews asks his Hardball guest repeatedly. Mr. James was unable to answer with historical specifics. As it happens, I've met Mr. Matthews, spending an afternoon with him several years ago at his MSNBC office in the company of a friend who was interviewing him for a profile in the Financial Times. The article...

WATCH CHRISSY MATTHEWS PROFESS HIS LOVE (OR LUST) FOR OBAMA "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." MIDI - PEACEFUL EASY FEELING (No. 140)

He calls it Hardball but Chris Matthews showed again tonight he's a softy when it comes to Barack Obama. Poor Chris was palpably crestfallen when NBC News political director Chuck Todd laid out the case, chapter and verse, that political payback, even revenge, explained Sen. Bob Casey's endorsement of Obama as much or more than the "spiritual" reasons Chris so wanted to believe in. CHRIS MATTHEWS: I didnÂ’t expect this guy. HeÂ’s a very cautious U.S senator in his first year, his first term, and what did he do? Almost a spiritual announcement he made today: IÂ’ve got to be...

Chris Matthews has spent the primary cycle alternately opining and apologizing for his remarks about Hillary Clinton. It looks like he may have either tired of the cycle, or wants another round of YouTubed capitulation to make the blogospheric rounds. Sam Stein at the Huffington Post notes that Matthews erupted on Joe Scarborough's morning show at MS-NBC, calling Hillary's media-response team "knee-cappers": Chris Matthews fired a salvo at the Clinton campaign this morning after both he and his MSNBC colleague were privately rebuked for recent comments deemed misogynistic or inappropriate. Appearing on MSNBC's Morning Joe, the Hardball host went off...

The "Hardball" host wanted to know how a feminist like me could support someone other than Hillary Clinton. Well, here's how. By Kate Michelman Feb. 8, 2008 | As the red light atop the camera went dark on Monday night, there was still much more I wanted to say to Chris Matthews, much more that I needed to say. So for the moment, my time on "Hardball" continues here. Knowing that I had just announced my support for Barack Obama for president after having earlier supported my old friend John Edwards, Matthews had me on his show Monday. His first...

On Hardball With Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz responds to a series of attacks Bill Clinton has leveled at Barack Obama.

Media Matters, which describes itself on its web site as a, "progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media," has taken aim at MSNBC's Chris Matthews for what it says is a trend of "sexist displays." Media Matters has started a "take action" campaign, urging readers to contact MSNBC and express their disapproval of Matthews current attacks on Sen. Hillary Clinton and past comments. Karl Frisch, Media Matters spokesperson, tells TVNewser, "We encourage people to take action for a variety of reasons — being able to point to a clear...

Moral relativism alert: a professor appearing on this evening's Hardball has declared that a US attack to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons would be handing Iran "their very own 9-11." Jo-Anne Hart, of Lesley College and Brown University, was a guest on this evening's Hardball. Host Chris Matthews set us up the bomb with a leading question. CHRIS MATTHEWS: What do you think were the lessons, the WMD lessons of Iraq? Going to war over WMD to a large extent. What did we learn? View video here.