Matthews: Obama "can't walk into a dinette with five or six guys there, white guys, in some cases ... He can't just shake hands and hang out"
SUMMARY: Echoing a familiar Chris Matthews refrain, the Hardball host said of Sen. Barack Obama: "He can't walk into a dinette [sic] with five or six guys there, white guys, in some cases." Matthews continued: "He can't just shake hands and hang out. He doesn't seem to, 'Hey, you know, how are the Eagles doing?' Or 'How are the Phils doing?' " Pat Buchanan responded by claiming that Obama "is very much Columbia and Harvard Law and all the rest of it."
On the April 16 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, during a discussion of the upcoming April 22 Pennsylvania Democratic primary, host Chris Matthews asserted that Sen. Barack Obama has "got another problem. ... He can't walk into a dinette [sic] with five or six guys there, white guys, in some cases." Matthews continued: "He can't just shake hands and hang out. He doesn't seem to, 'Hey, you know, how are the Eagles doing?' Or 'How are the Phils doing?' " MSNBC contributor Pat Buchanan added: "And there are black leaders up there that can do that. But he is very much Columbia and Harvard Law and all the rest of it."
As Media Matters for America documented, on the April 10 edition of Hardball, Matthews similarly asserted that Obama is "not that good at that -- handshaking in a diner," adding: "Barack doesn't seem to know how to do that right." MSNBC correspondent David Shuster agreed, stating: "He doesn't do that well." Matthews then asserted: "What's so hard about doing a diner? I don't get it. Why doesn't he go in there and say, 'Did you see the papers today? What do you think about that team? How did we do last night?' Just some regular connection?" During that same segment, Matthews and Shuster also critiqued Obama's reported request for orange juice after being offered coffee at an Indiana diner. Shuster described Obama's behavior as "weird," and moments later, Matthews began an interview with Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), an Obama supporter, by asking: "Isn't that interesting, Senator Casey, that Barack Obama, your candidate, can walk before 15,000 people with complete calm and assurance, but he seems a little out of place in A) a bowling alley and B) a diner? What is the problem with your guy?"
Media Matters has documented numerous other examples of Matthews and other MSNBC personalities and guests purporting to identify actions by or characteristics of Obama that they have suggested demonstrate that he is not a "regular guy."
From the April 16 edition of MSNBC's Hardball:
MATTHEWS: He's got another problem. He's got another problem, Barack. And he's inspired me, I have made it clear on this program and elsewhere. But there's something he can't do, which I don't understand why he can't do it. He can't walk into a dinette with five or six guys there, white guys, in some cases. He can't just shake hands and hang out. He doesn't seem to, "Hey, you know, how are the Eagles doing?" Or "How are the Phils doing?"
[crosstalk]
MATTHEWS: He doesn't seem to know how to do that.
BUCHANAN: Charlie Rangel could do that.
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
BUCHANAN: And there are black leaders up there that can do that. But he is very much Columbia and Harvard Law and all the rest of it.
Chris Mathews Everybody. . .
wow
Chris Matthews.......
Your name isn't Bill O'Reilly....... is it MF'er??
Get me some more iced tea and learn to use a fork.....will ya!
perfect jj: when one of Burns' patients dies, "It's either God's will or somebody else's fault." Other Frank Burnisms:
"Nobody double dares me and gets away with it!"
We all know it's brutal up there at the front, especially those of us at the rear."
And Bill O'Reilly is the Frank Burns of news.
Should we start calling him "Ferret Face"???
This is garbage. Does ANYBODY really believe that Obama is not capable of walking into a bar and shooting the breeze about the price of Arugula?
I'd like to see Bush show up at a truck stop and yuk it up with a few truckers about how diesel is over four bucks a gallon now.....
Sounds a bit elitist to me.
And he claims Obama is out of touch?
Dinette?
Sounds a bit elitist to me.
And he claims Obama is out of touch?
Perhaps Tweety makes a habit out of walking into furniture, but I'm pretty sure Barack doesn't..... :-)
Ha! Wiz now that was clever!
Matthews used to be a boozer so I'm sure he's walked into furniture, walls & tripped over his own feet a time or two.
Just why does he think Obama can't walk into a diner & hang out with the regs & chat? I'm not a Obama supporter, but this guy looks pretty comfortable wherever he goes.
Matthews used to be a boozer so I'm sure he's walked into furniture, walls & tripped over his own feet a time or two.
Do you mean Tweety's job performance is being hampered by his prior substance abuse? Just like George W. Bush (Pretzelboy)?
Who cares if the president know the difference between a shiite and a sunni, as long as he knows how the Phillies are doing this season thats whats important.
Who cares if the president know the difference between a shiite and a sunni, as long as he knows how the Phillies are doing this season thats whats important.
John McCain can't tell Shiite from Shinola. :-)
But WZ that doesn't matter because I'm sure he'll be able to walk into a kitchen furniture set and hold a long conversation about how deep the AZ Cardinals bullpen is this season.
Unfortunately, John will spend most of that conversation talking to the chairs....
I think he's more interested in the Suns.
With his history of melanomas, McBush needs to avoid the sun as much as possible.
Oh - you were talking about the team.....
"John McCain can't tell Shiite from Shinola."
Dinettes? Shinola?
What is this, everybody been reading William Saroyan stories lately or something?
Chris is expecting big things from Mike Schmidt this year.
He's also expecting big things dinette-wise from IKEA. :-)
Yeah, and if he has time, he'll stop by their luncheonette for meatballs and discuss the Swedish American vote.
But then he'd get confused and start talking about Franco-American Spaghetti-Os...... :-)
I thought that they weren't dissecting the crimes of the Bush Administration because of partisanship, but it may simply be that they don't have enough smart people to talk about it.
"info-tainment" at it's finest.
Profit replaces accuracy and truth as primary goal in MSM
This is called the Taco Bell analogy. Taco Bell is division of PepsiCo, a giant multi-national corporation that also owns, Frito-Lay, Pizza Hut and other fine products. So, in the Taco-Bell management structure, one of the upper managers, let’s say the executive VP for the SW USA (they often have very impressive titles, the better to bandy about at reunions and weddings and so forth) comes up with an idea to eke out a little more profit by some improvement to the wholesale ordering system. This happens all the time as computers allow ever more automation. In fact, this ever increasing productivity is a good thing; it is a major driver of economic growth. Ok, so at the next management retreat in Scottsdale, this VP gets some nice award like a new BMW and few 100k of stock options. No problem. Take note though, that the quality of the product was not improved. The tacos and chulupas at taco bell are still the same. However, the other VP’s, say the Mid West VP for Frito-Lay is now under pressure to find some way to increase his division’s bottom line.
Now, take this whole scenario to a news gathering organization that is part of a mass media conglomerate. The VP of game shows is able to increase his profitability by buying a hit game show from Britain that features lot’s of extraordinarily attractive women, each with a suitcase that maybe has a million dollars in it. I guess it is debatable whether this is an improvement in the quality of game show programming. Personally, the only new game show that intrigued me was who wants to be a millionaire because it had Regis and there was lot’s of strategy as to when to use the various help options. Regardless, the game show VP is showered with praise, adulation and money. The point is that the VP of games did not improve the quality of any existing program, he just had the good luck to buy the US rights to a program that was doing well in another market.
But, the VP of the news division says to himself, “Hmm, I too would like an all expense trip to Bali and a new Cadillac STS, what can I do in my division to create more profits? “ So you see, the corporate conglomerate mentality that leads to ever increasing productivity when applied to mass media results in poorer quality, because quality really does not matter. All that matters is “what can we sell that will make a profit”? The whole Couric as anchor person is a perfect example. Rather than spend tens of millions of dollars on new foreign bureaus, more reporters, more investigators, more producers etc. In other words invest in the quality of the news gathering, CBS management decided to invest tens of millions of dollars in getting Couric. Did hiring Couric improve the quality of the news? Are the stories more accurate and better researched than when Schaefer was the anchor? Apparently not, they are losing viewers in droves.
There is no solution other than what we see here with the increasing reliance on digital online news, new sources of news that live or die by the quality of their product. By quality I mean accuracy, you know, truthiness.
What were we talking about? :o)
"It's my pet peeve. Bernie Sanders was on the Tom Hartmann show this morning, and I think he put his finger on the problem."
Another caller also referred to it all as 'yellow journalism' which is a great old perjorative term that we should bring back ASAP.
Progressives need to start using labels to brand these people. They worked in the 60's, they'll work now.
Remember the term 'The Establishment?' It was a great put-down that marked a member of the same as a nerd. Labels work. The Right uses them all the time.
Isn't this the Chris Matthews who makes $2,500 per hour?
Hey chris,I bet you couldn't walk into a "Dinnete" and yuk it up with say five or six black guys.
Nah - he'd be asking for "mo-fo iced tea".....
Republicans are great MIMES of whatever they are told to do but higher powers, no, not God, Limbaugh. He has been higher than God on many occasions.
So what have we learned from Matthews in the past few days?
That Barack Obama has discriminating taste when it comes to "dinettes":
Coffee and white people = bad
Orange juice and black people = good
Brilliant observations like this really help me decide who the best candidate is to solve the problems we face.
The amount of time these overpaid twerps are wasting on this is incredible. Meanwhile, Puddinhead George's brilliant strategy in Iraq seems to be unravelling. I guess they just can't find the time to talk about THAT.
Let me guess, they're out of work because of the policies of the clowns that have allowed Chrissy to sit on their laps while they told him stories for the last seven and a half years
What the hell would five or six white guys in Philadelphia be sitting around in a "dinette" in the middle of the day anyway?
Brick Layers Brunch?
Either that, or they'd be the white, elitist jerk#ffs who CM hangs out with when here, including his brother
Not unless he was wearing his flag pin!
Is George W. Bush good at talking to strangers about football?
If he is, that shows one can do that and still be a terrible president.
If he isn't, then why isn't Chris Matthews attacking George W. Bush over this?
Considering that Chris Matthews is rumored to be considering a run for the Senate perhaps what we are seeing is a preview of Matthews campaign style..."everyman" Chris.
Personally, I'd find it a bit patronizing if a politician running for office approached my table at the local "dinette" and asked me about the local sports team.
I know this is OT, but I have to show this to you all.
That's right, The Clinton campaign is paying people to post positive things about Hillary on various websites. Politico has tracked 40% of their comments positive of Hillary from IP addresses leased to 1 or 2 campaigning sites. In other words, they are not genuine commenters but people paid to spam the boards.
Anyone think it's happening here at all? (i'd venture to say no)
They think Huffpo may be dealing with the same problem.
Hello, this is a really interesting blog, I'm glad I stumbled upon it.I understand where you're coming from but I really think you should check out Hillary Clinton. She's got some good ideas.
NOW, GO GET ME MY MONEY, MOTHERF*CKER!
If you go to the end of that link, you'll see an update that says they had to call the program off - seems this was a grassroots organization and paying people to talk up Hillary would have violated the law.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Alert: Hold off on "Dollars for Comments"
Folks, we're going to have to hold off on the dollars for comments grassroots Hillary effort. We just got a call from our lawyer and he wants to review the FEC regulations before giving us the greenlight. However, nothing is stopping all of you from posting positive comments about Hillary on blogs, so I think we should resume that tactic - we just can't have money involved at this point.
We'll keep you updated.
But there's something even more interesting over on the right-hand side of the page - the last entry under "BLOG ARCHIVE":
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Vote for Hillary Online can no longer support Hillary Clinton
Folks, we realize this is going to break a lot of hearts out there, but we have learned some things about Hillary that have broken our hearts. We're not at liberty to say exactly what that is at this point, but let me just say this: Hillary is not what she portrays herself to be. She is a wolf in sheep's clothing. We've been struggling with this these past few days and there was a lot of debate as to whether or not we should publicly announce our dissent with Hillary, but we believe that it is best to be upfront with all of you that have supported us.
We have a lot of good people in this movement and most of you are good honest hardworking people. But we have been misled. Hillary is not the candidate to turn back America, she will keep us moving in the wrong direction that will most certainly turn to disaster.
We are not going to endorse a different candidate at this time, but we are calling off all support for Hillary Clinton. This was a very difficult decision and we hope you understand.
-VFHO
If you try to go to their main web site (www.voteforhillaryonline.com), all you see is a GoDaddy screen saying that the site is no longer active.
So it looks like this organization is no longer active, but their blog is still taking messages.
You mean I posted that crap up above for free?
Sigh.
DB,
Seriously, my guess is that this is a hoax.
MSNBC's Hands-Off policy...
Too bad Olbermann isn't given the freedom to include idiocies like Tweety's "dinette" comment in his Worst Persons segment.
This one from Mr. Spittle deserves at least a Silver.
Perhaps Tweety should take a sabbatical, grow a beard and spend a few months driving around, finding out what America is really like.
Or maybe just read comments at sites like this.
Try, psns.navy.mil Mary. There's usually a fair number of openings. They're in the running to do the disposal of the USS Enterprise and are in the process of setting up operations in Japan. The latter involves living in Japan for several years.
Currently Radcon (Code105) workload is a bit low,but its still hiring. 500hrs/yr of overtime is not uncommon when things are clicking along. On the whole if your able to get into it, it pays the bills and you can always find other less intense jobs down the road. Few in my old job discription retire from it.
On the other hand I've a nephew who's signed on as an electrical apprentice in Kentucky or Tennessee at $24/hr.
:)
To quote Tweety himself:
HAH!
Tough guy walks into a bar and says "I'll have what that douche bag overthere is having." Bartender sets the drink down "There you go sir, a vinegar and water."
Ba dum bump.
Also there's this "Take Action" thing on the side, what's this all about? Are people supposed to write in and complain to get Chris Matthews fired because he stated an opinion that liberal people disagree with? This would be beyond censorship, perhaps even fascist.
I'm a Ron Paul supporter who will probably vote for Obama (only because I despise him less than McCain), but this site kind of scares me.
elitist! If someone asked me, "Hey, how 'bout them Eagles?", I would walk away. First, "I HATE the Eagles, Man." (Jeff Lubowski). Oh, I forgot, you didn't see the movie. Is it that someone who is not a rabid sports fan is somehow "out of touch"? Again, DUH!
Personally, I don't want a "regular guy" for President. I want an "extraordinary guy"
for my leader. On the other hand, Yogi Berra looks good to me. He's a "regular guy".
Hey. I have quite often been a diner at my dinette near the wet bar.
Don't tell me I don't know the difference...
First, "I HATE the Eagles, Man."
Me, too. Don Henley is such a whiny pain in the ass.
MSM is only interested in knocking Dems. Why? Because they are deathly afraid of publically financed elections and they know that is more likely to happen under Dem leadership than Repub. Anybody with half a brain knows we need that. GET THE MONEY OUT OF POLITICS!
They ripped Hillary and now they are ripping Obama. Destroy, destroy Dems and leave poor doddering McCain alone. He's MSM's choice.
Gosh Chris, I don't think I'd walk into a bar or diner in Philly and ask how the Eagles are doing. I'd be hesitant to ask about the Phillies. I'd ask about the Flyers since they're in the playoffs.
Talk about posing. If you're going to pretend to be a "regular guy" at least Google the city's teams and see how they're doing.
MSNBC needs to instruct Mathews that character assassination is not part of his job.
Seems to be something he does not understand.
Chris Matthews was on Bill Maher and he was positively giddy with his new found talking points: Obama can't walk into a diner and talk to people. He goes on to say that the main question people ask is "is he like me? Does he look like me? Would he stop to help you change your tire?" And in Bush's case they must have asked "is he a stupid, ignorant, petulant spoiled rich kid like me?" I'd rather have Obama stop and help cause McCain would be like Darrin McGavin in "Christmas Story" and likely bean me with a tire iron. We can't get real questions, we can't get real news, and even hosts like Maher let BS fly by with nary a "wait just a cotton pickin' minute." Matthews needs to be slapped upside the head with a basketball.
Obama "can't walk into a dinette with five or six guys there, white guys, in some cases ... He can't just shake hands and hang out"
Just frickin amazing that Tweety is in some sort of generalized fog of some sort.....how can anyone just flat out ASSUME that Obama doesn't has the ability to enter any location--ANYWHERE---and sit down to talk to someone....as if he has no ability to hold a conversation with the public....
I can't imagine.....check that, you know what???....Obama is going to have to answer to this kind of inane spit forever in the day, now & in the White House(if the pundits allow him to win) which is sad....it's this subliminal attitude by media & skeptics that THIS BLACK MAN HAS NO political/communication/personality skills to be the president and represent the people of the U.S..
This will ultimately be 4 yrs. of passing grades for Obama & his administration when in actuality we've had mostly right wing idiots running this country under the guise of comprtance.
It's sickening