"Why the Chris Matthews smear matters" by Glenn Greenwald

[kpete]

Why the Chris Matthews smear matters
--posted by Glenn Greenwald


The anger over Chris Matthews’ comment that Osama bin Laden in his new video sounds like Michael Moore, and the resulting campaign demanding that Matthews apologize, arises from much more than a single comment, and has little to do with Moore himself. The Matthews smear illustrates the fact that it has become routine in our national political dialogue, and among our nation's journalists, to equate opposition to George Bush with subversiveness, treason, and support for Al Qaeda.

The national media has truly adopted this dissent-quashing dichotomy created by the Bush White House: one is either a follower of George Bush who praises his war and terrorism policies, or one is an enemy of the United States who is on the side of Al Qaeda. That is not hyperbole. This is the manipulative and decidedly un-American view that is re-enforced again and again

. In the lead-up to the 2004 Presidential elections, it became the conventional wisdom of prominent "journalists" like Matthews that the bin Laden was rooting for Kerry to win. The bin Laden video which emerged in the days before the election was described by these journalists as proof that bin Laden was endorsing, and even campaigning for, John Kerry. Every cable news show, including Matthews', featured commentary equating bin Laden’s video with the Democratic Party’s foreign policy views.

This is all part of a broad, ongoing and potent campaign to equate opposition to George Bush with being pro-terrorist, and the origin of this campaign is the Administration itself. Bush himself thus uses the language of treason -- treason -- to instruct us that we are permitted to criticize his policies only on the narrowest grounds and with the utmost respect, otherwise we are guilty of aiding the enemy:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/stories/2006/01/21/whyTheChrisMatthewsSmearMatters.html

[OKNancy]

1. Excellet article

Thoughtful and well-reasoned.

[Linette]

48. What Bin Laden is up to...

James Kroeger, author of The Republican Nemesis, explains what Bin Laden is up to in his blog today. Once again, the Bush administration is clueless.

[babylonsister]

2. Excellent; shows just how dangerously manipulative this admin is. nt

[Pirate Smile]

3. more:

(quoting Bush) "Yet we must remember there is a difference between responsible and irresponsible debate -- and it's even more important to conduct this debate responsibly when American troops are risking their lives overseas. . . . When our soldiers hear politicians in Washington question the mission they are risking their lives to accomplish, it hurts their morale. In a time of war, we have a responsibility to show that whatever our political differences at home, our nation is united and determined to prevail. . . . So I ask all Americans to hold their elected leaders to account, and demand a debate that brings credit to our democracy -- not comfort to our adversaries."

From the NSA scandal to the war in Iraq, the President and his followers repeatedly accuse those who oppose the President of aiding the terrorists and being on the side of Al Qaeda. And it is this smear – that anyone who opposes Bush is not just weak on national security but literally a supporter of the terrorists – that is the only “argument” which Bush followers have and it’s the only one they’ve needed. They have won two straight national elections wielding this McCarthyite filth and with the 2006 elections approaching, they are bidding for a trifecta:

Karl Rove, the president's chief political adviser, gave nervous Republicans here a preview on Friday of the party's strategy to maintain its dominance in the fall elections . . . And he left little doubt that in 2006 - as in both nationwide elections since the Sept. 11 attacks - he was intent on making national security the pre-eminent issue.

Mr. Rove called for civility in politics in his speech to the Republican National Committee, and then for 26 minutes offered a lacerating attack on Democrats . . . "The United States faces a ruthless enemy," Mr. Rove said, "and we need a commander in chief and a Congress who understand the nature of the threat and the gravity of the moment America finds itself in. President Bush and the Republican Party do. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for many Democrats."

Rove's strategy has repeatedly worked because our national media “stars” -- even the ones like Chris Matthews who are held out as objective journalists -- propagate the repugnant smear that opposition to George Bush’s terrorism and war policies puts one on the side of Al Qaeda. That's why it's so vital to aggressively protest such comments when they come from "journalists" like Chris Matthews.

[DeepModem Mom]

4. K&R

[Pirate Smile]

5. This is why we can't just "turn it off".

We have to fight back.

[ewagner]

6. Anybody have a list of

Tweety's sponsors?

I think they need to hear from us....boycotting MSNBC is an idea, but then, their viewership is so small nobody would actually notice.

[Catrina]

11. No, I've been looking for one also ~

I hope Karl Rove falls back on his old 'terror' tactic. It's getting pretty jaded for one thing, but most of all, HOW IS HE GOING TO EXPLAIN HURRICAN KATRINA, where, with DAYS of warning, this president failed, worse than that, totally neglected the safety and security of the American people ~ (sorry, Karl, but poor black NO residents ARE the American people!

WE should not allow them to forget that tragedy. And we should DEMAND that they count the dead. This is one weapon that can be used against their ridiculous 'we'll protect you' garbage and lies.

Chris Matthews is a traitorous propagandist. I will not tune in again ever, to any network that carries him. Let their audience dwindle until they get the message ~ there are MORE OF US than are of them! And they need us more than we need them. We can find the truth without them. Without enough of us, they will not have a job.

[ewagner]

14. I am livid with anger

I just saw the Tucker Carlson and Rachael Madow exchange on Crooks and Liars.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/01/21.html#a6801

You just can't convince me that this isn't an organized attempt to destroy the Democratic Party once and for all. Even if the Osama tape was done strictly by OBL without coordination in the US...the Repubs most certainly captialized on it by getting their talking points out in the "mighty Republican Wirlitzer!

We are in great danger my friends....great indeed.

[rg302200]

25. Yes...your right

Everything Bush and Co. has done has been geared toward destroying the democratic party, it's base and those that support it.

Outsourcing labor jobs (effects unions) bankruptcy bill (breaks middle america) cutting back education for schools (less teachers/dumber voters) capping malpractice lawsuits (trial lawyers) changing Social Security (older americans).

Bush and his oil buddies will not be happy until the oldest political party is wiped off the face of the earth. They haven't been able to get over how the New Deal Democrat's cleaned their clocks for over a decade.

If we only knew then what we know now we would have destroyed them....

[eyepaddle]

38. Isn't that something?

I kept wanting Rachel to say something along the lines of F**k you Tucker, you can't weasel out of this you evil turd! And then storm out.

I know strategically that move would be bad for Rachel (and all of us) but Tucker really did need a punch in the mouth on that.

[robbedvoter]

19. 3000 people died of Katrina - MORE than 911

Somehow, this is always overlooked.

[Servotron]

35. Not so much overlooked as deliberately obscured

With some 6,000 people from Katrina still missing, the final death toll will be considerably higher. And the reason we never got an "official body count" from the Chimpministration, is because they KNEW going into this mess (6 days late) that they would have a higher casualty rate than 9-11-01.

And when their stupidity takes more lives than a supposed foreign terrorist attack, then 9-11-01 loses all value as propaganda.

And since 9-11 propaganda is ALL this gang of criminals ever had to work with, they aren't about to let that happen. Don't expect the government to ever acknowledge an official Katrina body count.

[Broken Top]

58. Anybody have a list of

They do need to hear from us and we need to begin a boycott at once. Where can we get a list of sponsors without having to suffer through the programs to create a list. Then let's put our comment time into commenting to the sponsors and organizing the boycott. The only thing corporate America understands is money. Force the fool off the air by removing his sponsors!

[Vincardog]

7. Open NOTE TO aWoL: Criticizing YOU is not the same as Criticizing the USA

You pantie wasted commander Bunny pants leader want to be. WE are going to Frog March you off to a gulag of your own construction before this is over.

Read it and weep America will survive you and you are the reason for the death of the Radical Right.

[channa18]

8. Excellent article....

well worth the read.

[Scout1071]

9. K&R.

[Steve A Play]

10. Deborah Howell of the WaPo Gestapo found out the hard way

We're mad as hell and we're not gonna take it any more! :)

[Imagevision]

39. Please NOTE: Mathews doesn't say anything his Network doesn't support

In other words Chrissy will jump as high as his Boses say and when to jump...! regarding Moore comparison to UBL.

[otohara]

12. Thank You C&L For Saying This

excellent piece - BRAVO :yourock: :applause: :applause:

[yowzayowzayowza]

13. When I'z a lil tike deep...

down in Dixie, the socially acceptable bigotry was racial; taday itz political. Same az it ever wuz... Same az it ever wuz... Same az it ever wuz...

[MissMarple]

16. You make an interesting point.

Instead of racial epithets the GOP use the "L" word.

The problem for me is that since the Constitution is a liberal document written by liberals the demonizing of liberals makes the GOP quite unpatriotic, perhaps even treasonous.

[Randypiper]

15. They are killing America

Each and every day.

[in_cog_ni_to]

24. That's already been done. America is gone. The Democratic Republic,

is no more. They have total and complete control. Once they got their stranglehold on the media (radio and TV)and newspapers, the country was gone.

The ONLY thing they don't control is "WE THE PEOPLE", the DEMOCRATIC people, that is.

The ONLY "media" we have now is AAR and the internet(s). They are now working on getting control of the internet(s) with this bullshit search engine/porn issue. THAT will get their first foot in the door and then they will do what they can to control it. They don't stop with this one issue (porn). That's just their excuse to get in the door.

I have been told that it's impossible to take over the internet(s), but I'm not so sure. I'm sure they have some new software/technology to do what they want to do.:(

[ginnyinWI]

17. I, for one, am ready to boycott MSNBC

Any network that can endorse propaganda like on Hardball, Tucker and Scarborough deserves it. In a way they are worse than FOX, because every one knows that FOX is biased toward the Right. MSNBC pretends to be objective--ha!

[PegDAC]

47. Their only socially redeeming quality

is Keith Olbermann! :loveya:

[ginnyinWI]

51. I've gone back and forth about watching KO

I don't have anything against him, except that the percentage of real news content is pretty low, if that's why a person watches.
His first section, #5 on the Countdown, has all the big news--so that's maybe an average of 15 minutes. Part of that is usually film clips with stand-up reporters, which are the same ones, often, that they use on that night's NBC Nightly News. The other thing he has are guest comments, which are nice but not so essential. So overall I'd rather spend the TV time with something more information-dense. But that's just me. This may be partly a generational preference; I can see the appeal to younger viewers.

[democrank]

18. Smear does matter.

Just ask the Swiftboat Liars.

[ronnie624]

20. Joseph Goebbels

would have stood trial if he had not killed himself. So too should the Amercan propagandists be punished for the crimes they have helped to perpetuate. I hope I live to see that day.

[slay]

21. Chris Matthews is a Republican propaganda mouthpiece

How many defenders of the "liberal" cause do we see on TV? Keith Olberman maybe and that's it. While "their" side has filth like Chris Matthews, Rita Crosby, Tucker Carlson, etc all promoting a Republican agenda in exchange for big $$$$$$. People are starting to realize that the filtered crap on TV that passes for "news" these days is not to be trusted. F Chris Matthews - class A scumbag! :mad:

[Southsideirish]

26. So true. Sometimes he used to throw us a bone during the Dean

campaign to tease that he just MIGHT be on our side, but as soon as we got our hopes us, he would kick us in the chops with one of his smart ass, nasty boy anti-Howard comments.

[Poiuyt]

22. Have you ever wondered how Chris Matthews got to be a speechwriter

for Jimmiy Carter?

[Southsideirish]

27. Wasn't he once a security guard for Tip O'Neil?

[Child_Of_Isis]

23. Mr. Rove called for civility in politics

Oh. My. God.

[CHORONZON]

28. As a recent editorial at buzzflash pointed out

Osama bin-Laden has a habit of coming out and repeating democratic talking points at times when Bush desperately needs a boost. Do most americans really think that the man behind 9/11 is stupid enough to believe that his endorsement is anything other than a kiss of death? This is basic reverse psychology.

here is the piece I was referencing: "Wag the Osama"
http://www.buzzflash.com/analysis/06/01/ana06005.html

[Bluzmann57]

29. Truthful and good article

But whatever happened to people thinking for themselves? Matthews and other "journalists" have minds, one must assume. After all, they are college graduates and presumably, at least for a time in their lives had thoughts of being an independent "voice of reason" or something like that. No, I see that they are no longer independent and have either sold out or are scared or, as Moore pointed out in his movie, "Fahrenheit 911", just plain lazy. So bush and his alleged administration most likely are responsible, because throughout history, the rebels have taken over the media, just as they did here, but it seems to me that these alleged journalists should probably have minds of their own. If they choose to be republican, or Democrat for that matter, then just come right out and say it, and we can all make up our own minds.

[Cheviteau]

30. Chris Matthews smears

In all of my 66 years here on this earth, I've never seen a group of people labor so hard digging their own graves as the rightwing media. Do they believe for a moment that once opposition is crushed that they will be in the catbird's seat? If history tells us anything, it is that facists turn their guns against those who helped them gain power. They do this because those who helped know "where the bodies are buried". Stalin, Castro, Mao, to name only three. Today's pundits will be replaced with a new breed whose only known truth, from the day they're born, is the propaganda furnished by what we today call the rightwing.

[Binka]

62. Nice Post! Keep Going You Have A Nice Mind!

:hi: Welcome to DU. BTW I see you have been here awhile I am glad you are posting.

[malaise]

31. Great article

n/t

[0007]

32. Excellent! Osame bin Laden appears right after Karl Rove's think

tank Republican program. This stinks all the way.

There are few things more important than combating this notion, so prevalent among the Chris Matthews of the world, that opposing George Bush is tantamount to supporting Al Qaeda, or relatedly, that it's perfectly acceptable to equate Bush opponents with bin Laden but it is terribly crass - even treasonous - to aggressively criticize the President.

Those are the smears which Karl Rove is relying on, as he just made clear, to scare Americans once again into supporting Republican control even while the most comprehensive scandals and disastrous polices engulf them. Sitting by and passively allowing these comments to go unchallenged is to allow them, yet again, to settle in as conventional wisdom, and that's exactly what Bush opponents can't afford to do.

[radar]

33. Wonder when the corporate heads will have their employees

Swear an oath of allegiance to dear leader?

...Immediately following the announcement of the new Führer law, the German Officer Corps and every individual soldier in the German Army was made to swear a brand new oath of allegiance:

"I swear by God this sacred oath: I will render unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the Führer of the German Reich and people, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and will be ready as a brave soldier to risk my life at any time for this oath."

The unprecedented oath was to Hitler personally, not the German state or constitution,...

The History Place Triumph of Hitler - Hitler Becomes Führer
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/triumph/tr-fuehrer.htm

[GrimReefa]

34. Forget Chris Matthews - what about Joe Biden???

Matthews is a toolbox, we know this, we've always known this. My problem is he said this right in front of Joe Biden, and Biden didn't say a damn thing!

How would Trent Lott or even John McCain react Matthews said a similar thing were said about a right-winger when they were talking about them? It would be a damn sight different than hoe Joe Biden reacted. We should be demanding an apology from HIM.

Coward.

[depakid]

45. EXACTLY

Biden's a simpering little prima donna that can't keep his mug off TV- and invariably makes the Dems look bad, while enbling Republican policies. With Biden (and Lieberman) out in front- no wonder people don't support Dem candidates in the rest of the country.

Until the Dems can control their DINO's and simperers, they'll never gain any power- or even any relevancy again.

[against all enemies]

46. Biden, another dickless Democrat. No wonder we lose.

[muntrv]

36. GOP Parrot Matthews

The Democrats response to Dubya's line (opposing him is supporting terrorists) should be:

"HEY GEORGE!! IF YOU ARE BETTER AT FIGHTING TERRORISTS, THEN WHY THE FUCK IS OSAMA BIN LADEN STILL AT LARGE 5 YEARS AFTER 9/11?"

One silver lining I find in these dark clouds is that many of the Iraqi war veterans who are running for office are running as Democrats.

[ClintonTyree]

37. When Ronnie Raygun axed the fairness doctrine.............

it gave tacit approval to the Corporate Media to begin their partisan objective. The CONservatives then spread the meme that the media was too "liberal", giving license to the media to take a new tack to the right. The saturation of the radio waves with CONservative talk radio began shortly after that and we all know where that led. Media mergers began, condensing hundreds of independent media concerns into a Corporate Media monopoly that is controlled by a handful of people. CONservative people.
None of this happened by accident. It's all part of the CONservative movement to control every aspect of what we see and hear, along with the total control of government. It took decades to complete, but the CONservative movement was disciplined and patient.
This is where point to which we have arrived today. This is the reason shrill, biased "journalists" like Matthews, Blitzer, Zahn and the entire lineup of FAUX news can inflict Corporate and private opinion into their "news" broadcasts.
It's going to take a very long time to undo the damage the CONservatives have done, if it can be reversed at all. They've destroyed our Democracy and turned it into a horrible mutation that the American public has been slowly been exposed to and now accept as the norm.

[Armstead]

40. It does Matter and we have to start hitting back at the lies of the media

We really do need to become more aggresive in letting nitwits like Matthews know that what he condescendingly refers to as "the hard left" is actually abkuot half of the country (at least).

It's easy to sismiss them and say "Just don;t watch." But the problem is that idiots like him are the ones who set the terms for the mainstresam debate and wider perceptions.

[savemefromdumbya]

41. The solution challenge the GOP (&Tweety) to get Osama's head on a plate

the only way to deal with is to call their bluff - let them produce Osama? People like Kerry, Dean etc should be consistently asking 'produce Osama' Saddam was not a substitute for Osama.

[Armstead]

42. I sent a copy to Hardball

We have to make these people uncerstand that we are not some "far left" minority and are not going to allow the media presstitutes to continue to do the GOP's work for them.

[high density]

43. The ultimate question is why do people respond to this lame shit?

Since "Mission Accomplished" day in 2003 it should be painfully clear as to what the Republicans and their corporate media allies are up to. Too many people are still giving Bush some screwed up benefit of the doubt or something. I still can't believe that MSNBC markets Tweety and Tucker Carlson as "journalists" when they are nothing more than shills for the Republican agenda.

[Peter Frank]

44. Nixon tried the same crap...

...but the press kept on covering the demonstrations.

[True Bleu]

49. We're surrounded....

Anyone who watched Hardball at any point during the 2000 campaign cannot be AT ALL surprised
by what Matthews said re: Moore and Bin Laden. Too many of us are just like the spineless Dem leaders....
nothing personal here, but WHAT HAS TAKEN YOU ALL SO LONG TO SEE THAT MATTHEWS
is SOLIDLY REPUBLICAN? Too few seem to catch his condescending tone with MOST democratic
guests...he is nasty with Dean, ridiculed Gore constantly and his latest rant is "Plantation " and "Hilary".

CORPORATE MEDIA IS THE ENEMY!

[Peter Frank]

52. Welcome to the DU True Bleu...

:hi:

[NVMojo]

50. Matthews should stick to reporting the news instead of making it

[xkenx]

53. They should read the Bill of Rights from the Constitution

here is Amendment I of the Bill of Rights. Could anything be clearer?


Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

[Generator]

54. Yes, wake up

(very few Du'ers need the call) To be compared to an enemy is to make you an enemy, and is to make you deserve the same fate as said enemy. It's nice scapegoating. If I'm the same as Al Queda then I deserve to die. Being told I'm just like an enemy not only makes me enraged it makes me want to buy a gun. (I'm anti-gun) I never thought I would feel that way. It's personally threatening. Then what do we expect from a country and a media and a FCC that allows preachers to call for the deaths of foreign leaders and leaves them on TV to spew more of it?

I would never ever appear on Chris Matthews show again. And I would be sure to explain why. Just as I would never appear on the 700 club. Bigots, religious fanatics, and political hatred are not acceptable. This people need to be shamed out of a job. But that isn't the country I live in anymore.

[No Exit]

55. LET'S GIVE TWEETY THE DEBORAH HOWELL TREATMENT!

WE are not just "the silent majority"--we have been the GAGGED majority! We have been without a voice, because the repukes have systematically BOUGHT the various media outlets. They also have their very own "wingnut welfare" publishing, etc., companies, which churn out propaganda night and day, and pass it off as mere writing.

And we couldn't do anything about it. How often have you shouted at the TV, as you heard someone on it LYING--or thrown down a newspaper in disgust because it had printed things you knew were lies?

But NOW we have BLOGS. And blogs let us PARTICIPATE in the editorializing, and even in the actual newsgathering. We are no longer gagged. We can answer back.

We need to ANSWER BACK at Chris Matthews. He must not be allowed to get away with this propaganda and lies. Deborah Howell was not allowed to get away with it.

[True Bleu]

56. It has already worked somewhat.....

I heard JUST A HINT of Tweety kissing up to Moore this evening---Matthews cited Moore's early calls
of war profiteering on the part of Haliburton. A week ago, Moore was the "wing-nut" of the democrats.
This sudden turn-about is all thanks to our show of anger. KEEP IT UP!

[Crunchy Frog]

57. Tweety always wobbles back and forth like that.

This sort of behavior is typical Tweety. I've often seen people here get taken in by one of his little zig zags only to see their hopes get dashed. It's his modus operandi. It has nothing whatsoever to do with feedback from his audience.

[No Exit]

60. I suppose that's his idea of being "fair". But it's NOT fairness...

If he really wanted to be fair, he would simply make sure he had guest from all sides of an issue on his show, and give them equal time to make their points. Instead, Tweety's ego demands that HE dominate the discussion.

He talks talks talks talks talks--usually drowning out whatever his guests are trying to say, even though their time is strictly proscribed by the Almighty Dollar advertisements which must be deferred to. ("We're coming up on a hard break..." blah blah blah.) TWEETY WON'T SHUT UP! He is the WORST INTERVIEWER EVER. He repeatedly interviews himself. I wonder why he even bothers to have guests.

So since he is constantly talking, we get HIS opinions. That's where he goes wrong. He is called on his opinions, because his so-called opinions are mostly butt-kissing aimed lovingly at the powerful.

[No Exit]

59. Yeah, let's keep it up! Moore was RIGHT!

And wouldn't you know, long after Moore pointed out how craven Cheney's company Halliburton is, we find out just the other day that Halliburton provided contaminated water to OUR TROOPS for a YEAR and is now trying to cover that up. Did you see Sen. Dayton last night on cable news? He flat-out said that Halliburton did this, and that they are now lying about it to cover their behind. He didn't mince words.

[ProfessorGAC]

61. I Have A Simple Message For Matthews And His Ilk

If you are so afraid of terrorism, quit your job, move out of Washington, D.C., and move to Nebraska. You'll be safe there. Then, from there, without having to deal with your own irrational fear, you can view what's going on in the capital more objectively.
The Professor