Chris Matthews got a little confused last night as to the difference between an e-mail and an instant message (IM). Spruiell covers this in detail on NRO today, but here’s the skinny:
MATTHEWS: Now, wait a minute, there’s a fact problem here, Congresswoman. Hastert told NBC that the first he knew about any e-mails was Friday. And now we hear Tom Reynolds saying…
CONGRESSWOMAN BLACKBURN: The instant messages. The first he knew of the instant messages…
MATTHEWS: Any e-mails.
BLACKBURN: …was on Friday.
MATTHEWS: The first he heard of any emails, was on Friday.
BLACKBURN: I think he knew about an inappropriate contact.
MATTHEWS: Why are you dodging this? Did he know about the emails or not? The emails are in question here.
Tip to Matthews: Next time you try to lambast someone on your show, try to get the facts right first.
Also, some people have been calling Foley’s communiqués “text messages” when they really were instant messages. Text messages are cellphone-to-cellphone communication. This may not seem like a big deal, but the term “text messages” is technically incorrect, and would imply that Foley actually had the cellphone numbers of these pages.
Video here.