Matthews: "[I]t's a hard thing for someone like Barack Obama" to express a "gut sense of Americanism"

This is insane...

Love America, hate Matthews.

All bow down to the mystic qualities and definition of true Americanus Idjit.

I'm relieved, are you relieved?

Tweety - read Obama's book.  THEN try to say that with a straight face.

That's not patriotism Chris, that's a desperate search for meaning and hope when reality is doing all it can to rob those things from you.  That's not a bad thing, but it sure isn't good for anything more than to keep one trying.  It's a religion in disguise.

I believe in the symbolic America despite what any group of politicians running the government may be doing to screw up the reality of this country, it's one of the reasons why I even bother with crap like this.   But "Freedom's just another word for nuthin' left to lose," is not so much a happy sentiment as it is a cry of defiant hope for a better tomorrow, no matter what one has to do to get there.

I don't agree with Matthews, and I believe he is underestimating Obama, but he certainly is entitled to his opinion, and I am sure many around the country share it.  To put it up here like it's some misinformation or out of bounds agenda furthering is misplaced. 

So, disagree with Matthews, many do. 

Ranking this crap by Matthews...among his many idiotic musings...I'll put this one right at the top of the lunacy scale.

 

 -- People that don't have anything, including beautiful families and Ivy League degrees, know what they got. -- Matthews

For god's sake...can anyone make sense of that? 

Tweety really seems to be losing it... big time.

Is this what we've become?

Every four years we'll have a pissing contest to see who's the most patriotic candidate, full of Americanism?

If that's the case, then maybe we don't deserve to think of ourselves as the greatest country on earth?

I just sent Tweety an e-mail...

I tried to be nice, but I lost it a little at the end.

The posters above seem to have missed that even though what matthews said was his opinion, it is still a lie. Obama grew up in the midwest, to a middle class upbringing. Just because someone managed to go to an Ivy League School, doesn't mean that they grew up going to country clubs. My son will start college soon and I'm trying to get him into the best school I can afford. Some of the better private schools have programs so people like me can have their kids attend. And the republic party is always asking us to be thankful for the freedoms and oppurtunitys (sp) this country affords us (I am). So thanking your country is something they demand we do all the time. Tweety is way out there on this one.

Oh Blather was 30 years old today.

They took away all of his toys.

His mother sent newspaper clippings to him.

About his old friends who'd stopped being boys,

 

Grace Slick and friends, near the end of the Airplane's time.

My interpretation of this clip:

 

SCARBOROUGH: So, does all of that follow him into the fall or does he figure out a way to pick up these Hillary Democrats?

MATTHEWS: I think he's got a huge challenge and I don't know if he can meet it. John Kerry couldn't do it. Paul Tsongas couldn't do it. Al Gore couldn't do it.

I think Mathews is disingenuously establishing that he is not thinking of Obama as being Black to insulate himself from charges of being non-PC.  He’s establishing the predicate for his subsequent remarks by bringing up that non-Black Democratic Party Presidential nominees have lost a number of times lately.

 

SCARBOROUGH: How does he do it?

MATTHEWS: It's the connection with the regular person.

SCARBOROUGH: How does he do it? What does he need to do?

MATTHEWS: It is Ronald Reagan -- probably didn't hang out with regular people for 40, 50 years once he got to Hollywood, but he knew how to connect with the regular person. Nixon, in his own way, could connect with the resentments of the regular person.

Both of these successfully elected Presidents were of the party of the real American, albeit in its’ early stages.  It’s a false comparison—apples and oranges.

 

SCARBOROUGH: They did. So, how --

MATTHEWS: Sometimes, elite liberal Democrats have a problem connecting with the regular soddy buster guy who's got to work his butt off just to pay the bills.

SCARBOROUGH: They do.

MATTHEWS: They leap from poor to rich and skip 80 percent of the country.

SCARBOROUGH: The two guys that --

MATTHEWS: And by the way, his background doesn't include that struggling middle-class experience: tuition bills –

These two factual errors make obvious Mathews’ willingness to say what he doesn’t mean.  He didn’t explicitly name Obama but he is referring to him from the context here.  Obama is not of the elite, especially relative to other elected officials in the United Satates Congress, governers, etc. as he came from a single parent family of modest means and only recently came into some money.  Also as I understand it, he had to take out loans to pay for his education.

 

SCARBOROUGH: The two guys --

PAT BUCHANAN (MSNBC analyst): Jack Kennedy and FDR -- both were patricians. Jack Kennedy rolled through West Virginia.

MATTHEWS: And he knew how to do it.

If I remember right, JFK was greatly assisted in the WV primary by his father having the right contacts spread to spread his money around there.

And Kennedy was not of the Democratic Party of today.  Although JFK’s Democratic Party was the party of many non real Americans (including himself) it also had the Solid South.  There was no ‘real American party’ or ‘non real American party’ at that time.  

 

BUCHANAN: FDR of course --

MATTHEWS: He knew how to do it.

BUCHANAN: -- was a Hudson Valley patroon or whatever you want to call it, and he did it.

SCARBOROUGH: Well, Pat, Hillary's worth $100 million --

BUCHANAN: And Hillary's done it.. 

SCARBOROUGH: -- but she knows how to do it.

BUCHANAN: Hillary is one person that did it.

Hillary Clinton did not “do it”, that is show she could win the hearts, minds and votes of the real American in the general election.  She was in competition with a fellow member of the non real American party and a non real American to boot, unlike herself. 

 

SCARBOROUGH: So, the question is: How does he do it? Bill Clinton did it. Jimmy Carter --

MATTHEWS: OK, one thing you don't do is you don't do what he does. You don't thank America for giving you what you got, like, I got all these degrees, I got all these advantages, so I thank America. Love of country is not because you got certain things from it. It's not a transaction. You don't thank people for giving you stuff. It's like loving your parents. You don't thank them for giving you a nice school and education. You thank them because they're your parents. They're your parents. You love your country -- it's called patriotism. It's love of fatherland, of country.

The implication of what Mathew’s is saying here is that Obama is very unlikely to win because he can’t meet the criterion Mathews gives.  Black people in America are generally not going to have a commensurate love of country with non-Blacks due their past mistreatment and the residual effects of it---IMO.  And so if non-Blacks generally have this criterion also (a big question), Obama will not get their vote as they won’t believe him even if he really does have a similar love of country.

 

I will tell this story I told last night. When I was a Capitol policeman -- my first job on the Hill. It was a patronage job. I hung out with this guy from West Virginia, Leroy Taylor, a real country guy. He had been an MP. He was double-dipper. He was working as a Capitol cop. And he called me aside one time. We would sit around and smoke together, talk about everything together. He said, "You know, Chris," because he figured out I was a college kid, he was right. He said, "Chris, you know why the little guy" -- he meant like himself, the little guy, the guy with not a lot going for him -- "you know why he loves this country? Because it's all he's got." That is so deep. When the guy is broke, and he's hanging around, he loses his wife, his family, everything is going wrong in his life, everything -- not his fault, some things are. And he's got one thing when he gets up in the morning: He's got his country.

BUCHANAN: All right, Chris --

MATTHEWS: And that gut sense of Americanism is deeper than the values we share. It's deeper than democracy. It's deeper than opportunity or freedom. It gets down to your sense of connection. And I think --

SCARBOROUGH: Connects him with the country.

MATTHEWS: -- it's a hard thing for someone like Barack Obama, as sophisticated as he is --

BUCHANAN: You're exactly right.

SCARBOROUGH: I think you're right.

MATTHEWS: -- to express that.

SCARBOROUGH: I think you're right.

BUCHANAN: It goes beyond ideology and philosophy and all that stuff.

MATTHEWS: Right. It's gut.

They’re talking about tribalism.  But tribalism by definition exludes others.  If there are no outsiders there can be no insiders.

 

 
BUCHANAN: But does Barack Obama, and do Michele and Barack have it?

MATTHEWS: If they have it, they better show it. And I'm not talking about whether he's a good American, because I'm sure he fights for his country, do all the right things. It's this sort of gut thing, that the average guy in Northeast Philly gets, a woman gets -- in Scranton they get it. People that don't have anything, including beautiful families and Ivy League degrees, know what they got. They're Americans.

In other words Mathews is saying that no matter what this non real American does; he will not win the Presidency.

"Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion." "Say, Mad Dog, whadda think of this rash on my arm?" "Looks like AIDS to me, pal." "But, you're not a doctor. How can you say that?" "Well, ya asked me, an' thas my opinion."

Next day:

"Didja hear ol' Ralph's got AIDS?"

"Who said dat?"

"Mad Dog"

"He ain't no doctor. How can he say dat?"

"Hell, he's got a right to his opinion, ain't he?"

"But Mad Dog's got no right to say that ol' Ralph's got AIDS."

"Why not? It's a free country, ain't it?"

Several weeks later:

"Didja hear ol' Ralph's wife left him?"

"Why, that's terrible! Why's she leave him?"

"Heard he had AIDS."

Sometimes, elite liberal Democrats have a problem connecting with the regular soddy buster guy who's got to work his butt off just to pay the bills.

Hey Tweety, how the f#%k do you know what or where Obama may or may not have experienced the middle class experience? ....do you recall that this man conducted community organizing ventures related to the quote-unquote inequities of the lower to middle class???

Does this compute in your frickin' ivory tower with your double mocha cream latte you pompous ass. 

NEWS BULLETIN:

 

Chris Matthews opens mouth, brains fall out. People were surprised to learn that Chris Matthews had any brains.

 

 

I guess Korean Americans, German Americans, Polish Americans and Russian Americans aren't regular Americans.  I guess any blue blooded Ivy Leaguer that comes from old money isn't a regular American.  I guess any one w=ho celebrates a culture other than their home country is not a regular American.  I guess the governor of California isn't a regular American.  The sad reality is there is no regular American.  This is supposed to be a melting pot of many cultures, and yet every four years we get to see what the media elites think of our country.  All they ever promote is division.  These are the same clowns who once asked if Barack Obama was black enough and then condemed him for any association to Farrakhan.  Guess he became too black.

Chris Matthews loves being a troublemaker.  He craves attention.  Whenever he can, he creates a fictitious problem and loves the attention he gets, whether positive or negative, as a result.  He is also sadistic.  Whether a guest on his show is right-wing or left-wing, as soon as that guest shows the slightest weakness, Matthews goes for the jugular.  Later, his bullying and merciless "beating" of the guest is shown on all the MSNBC cable shows as Matthews, off to the side, can be seen smirking with satisfaction and great pleasure.  I find him an exceedingly immature, needy, bullying nebish.  It's a good thing he is seated behind a table most of the time because I am convinced Kathleen is wearing his pants.

I guess Obama isn't send a thrill up his leg any longer.  Funny how got over that as soon as Hillary was out of the way.

Listening to the video, the terms "elite liberal democrats" is the objective terms here.

How much more partisan can a statement get?   Democrats are elite liberals, is what is really being said, therefore if you want someone to understand you and to understand your "regular" problems, then by god you better vote republican.  Else, you will get Obama, who is "just" an elite liberal democrat out to destroy your way of life.  Obama who has no clue to how "regular" Americans live, nor what their problems might be.

Of course now also, just saying thank you is elitism?  WTF?

In fact, Obama does relate well to Americans, how else would he get where he is with all the BS spouted out of pundits mouths.  I am pretty sure they will see the proof of the pudding come election day too, then they will be eating that pudding!

Oh, and......I don't remember who said this but it is so, so true.

The idea is for derogatory characterizations of Democrats to become "conventional wisdom", to be accepted without question as a valid premise, to be injected into political discussions as if a "truth" known and believed by all.

Lorelei that is exactly it.  Glenn Greenwald has some excellent articles on this on his website.  John McCain and his wife are worth how much??? Yet you hear Tweety and other Pundits depicting Repugnican canidates as tough cop, common people with family values no matter how far from the scripted picture their actual life is.  Tommy and Jeter know this and this is far more dangerous than just someone spouting an opinion.  The press hated Al Gore and called him an elitist, and liar and not the kind of guy you'd want to share a beer with????  The MSM and Repugnicans strive on these artificial characterizations like they have anything to do with governing.  I'am tired with this assault on reason,look what it has cost us already.  Don't let Tommy and Jeter derail the conversation as they follow each other from thread to thread giving each other hand jobs.

pewforum.org.

"What Brain Science Tells Us About Religious Belief"  and how those beliefs relate to politics and whether we are Democrats or Republicans.  How emotions lead one to be a "hater", how being liberal might be a good thing, lol.  

 People who had greater liberalism seemed to do better or were more sensitive to altering some habitual response pattern, implying that they were more open to change, more open to other ideas, more open to conflict, than people who scored lower on liberalism. Does that mean something about people who consider themselves to be liberals versus conservatives, Republicans versus Democrats?

How easy is it for us to be manipulated in terms of the beliefs we hold?  Apparently for some......VERY EASY.

Wow...if you get a chance go read it...explains a lot...especially how (to me) little chris can continue to say the things he does, lol!!!!

With all the talk of having an "opinion", i will risk a little pedantry. 

 

An "opinion"  is the end result of a person thoughtfully considering both sides of an issue and selecting the set of facts that make the most sense.  

 

An "attitude" requires no such dual (or more) considerations.  Chris Matthews appears to be all attitude.

Soooo... Ivy Leaguers with beautiful families are now unAmerican.

I'm a working class American, I have dirt under my nails. I don't about anybody else on this board but Obama stirs my gut sense of the greatness of our country.

Shoot, man. What else does the guy have to do? He just today gave the boot to lobbyists and PACS. He worked hard and became a learned man, he lived all that is great about our coountry and now he wants to make sure we all have greater oppotunity to rise up.

Screw Matthews, flippin' idiot.