Chris Matthews thinks Usama bin Laden sounds just like Michael Moore. And I have to admit, they do like to touch on some of the same themes. For example, they are both somewhat nonplussed by Bush’s reading of My Pet Goat during the destruction of Lower Manhattan. And neither of them were overly impressed with Bush’s silly appearance on the aircraft carrier. Certainly, they have engaged in significantly less swooning than Peggy Noonan over how manly Bush looked in his jumpsuit.
What Matthews and other conservative commentators fail to note, is that to any objective observer George W. Bush is a ridiculous, bumbling, fool. And a liar.
The media has done an admirable job of trying to pretend otherwise, but after five years the effort is no longer credible. Nobody tries harder than Chris Matthews who has spun out some real gems:
“sometimes it glimmers with this man, our president, that kind of sunny nobility.” [Hardball, 10/24/05]
“Everybody sort of likes the president, except for the real whack-jobs, maybe on the left.” [Hardball, 11/28/05]
If Usama bin Laden occassionally opines on some of the more obvious shortcomings of our President, that doesn’t make him like Michael Moore. It just means he isn’t a total fucking idiot, like Chris Matthews. While at least half of the country is seriously considering whether the President should be impeached, Matthews recently said:
If [Bush’s] gamble that he can create a democracy in the middle of the Arab world” is successful, “he belongs on Mount Rushmore.” [Hardball, 12/16/05]
Which leads me to question whom is the bigger whack-job? Usama Bin-Laden, who actually follows the news, or Chris Matthews who seems totally oblivious to the significance of events that are transpiring in front of his eyes?
And it isn’t just Tweetybird that is showing signs of psychosis; the effort to ignore the criminality of this administration is straining all mainstream pundits’ credibility.
After all, actually asking tough questions and demanding honest answers of Republicans leads to exchanges like this:
Helen Thomas: Why do you keep linking Iraq and 9/11 and so forth? Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, and you keep — we started the war in Iraq. We brought the terrorists in, so-called.
MR. McCLELLAN: I think that’s a misunderstanding of —
Helen Thomas: — and 20 to 50 people are dying every day in Iraq
MR. McCLELLAN: I think, one, that’s a misunderstanding of the global war on terrorism that we are engaged in
Helen Thomas: We invaded.
MR. McCLELLAN: Some people take a narrow view of the war on terrorism. The President recognizes —
Helen Thomas: Innocent Iraqis are paying the price.
MR. McCLELLAN: The President — well, first of all, the Iraqi people, we have heard from many of them who have expressed their appreciation for the removal of a brutal and oppressive regime —
Helen Thomas: Many are dead. Thousands are dead.
MR. McCLELLAN: Second of all, Zawahiri, bin Laden’s number two leader, has talked about how Iraq is the central front in the war on terrorism. We know that the terrorists want to create a safe haven from which they can plan and plot attacks. The stakes are high in Iraq. And that’s why it’s critical that we prevail in Iraq, because it will be a major blow to the ambitions of the terrorists. They don’t want us in the Middle East. The Middle East is a dangerous region of the world. It has been a breeding ground for terrorism, a breeding ground where people are —
Helen Thomas: They don’t want a foreigner in their country.
MR. McCLELLAN: — planes into buildings and attacked innocent civilians across the world. And that’s why it’s so critical that we prevail in Iraq, as well. And we will. And the Iraqi people no longer live under a brutal, oppressive regime, a regime that was responsible for the systematic torture and killing of people who simply spoke out against that regime
Helen Thomas: Scott, if I could follow
MR. McCLELLAN: I’ll try to come back if I can. I think — go ahead.
And no one wants to sound as ‘whacky’ as Helen Thomas. Right?
