Chris Matthews v. Chris Matthews on "tribalism" (He may be slamming Limbaugh, BUT...)

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Chris Matthews v. Chris Matthews on "tribalism"

http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200810200012

MSNBC's Chris Matthews, responding to Rush Limbaugh's claims that Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama was all "about race":

"I don't know how you get into this tribalist talk. We could make all kinds of assumptions, but we have no knowledge of a person's inner beliefs. ... You know what drives me crazy? When somebody says "well, I know you're Catholic, so you must believe this.' Or 'I know you're jewish, you must believe this.' Or 'I know you're black, you must believe this.' Give us all a break, Rush. Let us think. Let us think. Let us decide."

That's quite a shift from April, when Matthews said:

What is the Catholic vote, Mike Barnicle? It isn't like a vote like, for example, if you're a Jewish voter probably you care about Israel, that's a safe bet. You have one key concern. I can't think of other groups that would make it that simple. But clearly, if you're African-American, you care about civil rights. You care about certain programs of the federal government. That's a generalization, but probably true. You're more progressive. But Catholics -- where would you put them? Is there a squirrel box or a rabbit hole you can put them in politically?

And from March, when he said of Obama: "this gets very ethnic, but the fact that he's good at basketball doesn't surprise anybody, but the fact that he's that terrible at bowling does make you wonder."

Despite his comments today, Matthews is among the most "tribalist" journalists in the country.

[JDPriestly]

1. Matthews is like a kite that sails in the wind.

I like Matthews in many ways, but he is passe. He is too easily swayed by trends, the twists and turns of popular thought of the moment. That was the style under the Republican authoritarians. Say what we want, not what you really think. That is changing and Matthews doesn't have what it takes to change with the times.

In this day and age of the internet, every willing American can check the facts and "remember" what a commentator said five years ago. Today, we want spokespeople who are forthright and honest about their points of view. We may not agree with the news commentators, but we want to know their own point of view. We don't want panderers any more. Sorry, Mr. Matthews.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

2. Every time he swings to the left, he gets props on DU for "changing"...

...which makes me shake my head in disbelief, because consistency and time are the two factors that show you a person's real "stripes."

You're absolutely right...he's a kite in the wind.

[monmouth]

3. I think his Obama supporting daughter is educating him. He'll come

along if he wants to run for Senate and be on the winning team...

[UTUSN]

4. He executed DONAHUE, saying "You Liberals are NEGATIVE about America"

I seem to remember he also said we HATE America, but my memory's going.