.
Chris "Hardball"
Matthews serves softballs to Hillary in exclusive Lovefest.
For a guy who claims to be excited by the movers and shakers
in history, and one who enjoys projecting a "tougher than nails"
approach to interviews, he certainly met his match when he interviewed Hillary Clinton
this past Tuesday on his Hardball show.
What a misnomer for a show name. Matthews was like a puppy dog licking the
boots of his master as he substituted softballs and cotton candy for anything
close to tough questions. It began
before she started when Matthews, like a star struck student in awe of his
professor, giddily told his audience this was going to be the best interview of
his career, or some such nonsensical words.
From that moment on, he seemed like his goal was to get a six-figure
grant from the Clinton Foundation to study the genetic mutations in Republicans,
not to report the news.
It made me think back to 2008 when Matthews headily took on
the Clinton
machine and got pulverized in the process.
Guess he learned his lesson. If
you cannot tell the truth then you should embrace the lies. Back then it seemed he was point man in the media
for the fledgling Obama campaign, a role he maintained until his hero kept double-crossing
the liberal base after promising them the world.
Here is an excerpt from a story in the quite liberal Huffington
Post written by Sam Stein and published on August 5, 2008.
Matthews Calls Clinton Press Shop
"Lousy," "Kneecappers"
Chris Matthews fired a salvo at
the Clinton
campaign this morning after both he and his MSNBC colleague were privately and
publicly rebuked for recent comments deemed misogynistic or inappropriate.
Appearing on MSNBC's Morning Joe,
the Hardball host went off on the Clinton
press shop, calling them "knee cappers" who were "lousy"
and delve in the business of "intimidation."
"What she has to do is get
rid of the kneecapers that work for her, these press people whose main job
seems to be punishing Obama or going after the press, to building a positive
case for her," said Matthews. "Her campaign slogan right now is don't
get your hopes up. That won't work in America. You can't diminish Obama
and hope that you will rise from the ashes."
Here we are, sixteen years
later, and Matthews is so incensed the American public could be so stupid as to
support Trump, that he now embraces his own enemy.
Where I come from that is selling out your principles and
mortgaging your independence.
Perhaps the low and high point of the interview came when he
tried to coach Hillary on how to handle the Trump questions about the infidelity
of her husband, Wild William Clinton.
Playing the part of Freud and psychologically evaluating her
situation, he told her she was the victim and what a tragedy she had to endure
as the never-ending tales of Bill's promiscuity kept popping up over the years.
In a courtroom, it is leading the witness. In the Hardball lovefest, it was more like
offering humble advice to the Goddess, although humility is hardly one of
Matthews' virtues.
However, for a time it was Romeo and Juliet all over again
as he continued. When he was done what
had we learned?
Did he ask about the influence of Goldman Sachs over her and
her husband?
Like who raised the money to pay off the millions of dollars
in legal fees for Bill's impeachment or the millions in settlements to his
former mistresses.
No questions about the $250,000 to $500,000 she and her
hubby get just for speaking to Goldman people?
No questions about the millions of dollars she and her
Clinton Foundation get from Wall Street banks, the same banks that paid nearly $200
billion, yes that is billion, in fines and settlements for their role in
destroying the economy in 2008-2009, yet not a single banker has been
punished.
In fact, under Obama, the crooks have flourished and the ten
biggest banks are down to six and bigger and richer than ever, even after the
billions in fines.
Sanders is proving to be a thorn in the side of Hillary who
claims to represent the people while advocating the cause on behalf of Wall
Street and taking millions from the financiers.
Her only opponent, Bernie Sanders, announced an economic
plan two days ago that pledged to break up the biggest banks and financial
institutions, whose size and complexity threaten the financial system as a
whole and the U.S.
economy.
Why is this more critical than ever before? Because the
massive banks that fueled the 2008 financial crisis are even bigger today.
Sanders points out: "Three out of the four largest
financial institutions (JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo) are
nearly 80 percent bigger than before we bailed them out. Incredibly, the six
largest banks in this country issue more than two-thirds of all credit cards
and more than 35 percent of all mortgages. They control more than 95 percent of
all financial derivatives and hold more than 40 percent of all bank deposits.
Their assets are equivalent to nearly 60 percent of our GDP. Enough is enough."
The Clinton legions immediately set out to trash the
Sanders plan.
No, Chris Matthews might consider naming his show "Powder
Puff" to better reflect the role he is playing in the presidential
sweepstakes.
See the next article for Part 3 of the series.
.
