Matthews: Obama Speech Caused ‘Thrill Going Up My Leg’
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…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.”
Sometimes I wonder what it is about getting one’s face a regular gig in front of a camera that turns so many otherwise lucid individuals into blithering idiots. Take Chris Matthews, por ejemplo (please….). I’m not at all certain what his qualifications are, but he’s managed to get himself a well-paying gig as a talking head on MSNBC. That Matthews spends more time trying to remove his Cole Haans from his mouth than actually discussing issues only makes his position even more difficult to understand. His latest paean to his excitement over Barack Obama really only makes him looks as if he’s questioning his sexual orientation.
It would be nice to think that a pundit could host a show and actually turn it a reasoned discussion of the issues this country faces. Of course, then it would be The MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour, it would be on public television, and exactly no one would watch it. No, what attracts viewers is bombast, intolerance, insults, and bloviation. No one really wants to be forced to think about anything; what they apparently want is to watch and listen to a host who rips apart his or her ideological doppelgangers for the sheer sport of it. What we get are insults, specious accusations, rampant ignorance, and an abiding hatred and distrust of anyone who wants to have a reasoned, dispassionate discussion. What we end up with are troglodytes like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Michael Savage, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. These are people who add nothing to the public dialogue but attract huge audiences for their ability to bloviate, toss insulting bon mots, shout their guests down, and pander to Americans who wouldn’t recognize the concept of critical thinking if it snuck and bit them on the ass. And you wonder why I refer to this country’s electorate as the American sheeple?? It’s because, rather than thinking for themselves, most Americans are content to rely on Fox News Channel and Right-wing hate radio to tell them what to think. Chris Matthews may not be as odious as Rush Limbaugh and his ilk, but it’s not as if he’s an improvement.
The reality is that most Americans don’t vote as much as they react. This is why negative advertising is so effective. Until Americans learn to think for themselves, this will continue to be the case.
Yeah, I know; don’t hold your breath on that one….
