On last night’s Hardball, Chris Matthews spent a good portion of the time talking about Dick Cheney’s hunting accident. To be expected, it was chock full of bad jokes, but it also contained some unbelievably stunning quotes. Here are some highlighted bits from the transcript:
SHRUM: They were all back at the ranch sitting around the table of this lobbyist who represents a company that has contracts in Iraq. This should have been put out right away. The reason …
MATTHEWS: [What’s the relevance of the] fact that this company, the Armstrongs, have a lobbying business that’s related to the war in Iraq?
SHRUM: Well, I think the other real story here is that Dick Cheney once again was off with his special interest friends, who he seems — well, I’m sorry, I know you may not like it. You can go oh, but that is the reality. But I think the story has legs for reasons that go beyond that. […]
MATTHEWS: Here’s Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton at the funeral for Coretta King.
[plays clip]
MATTHEWS: What do you make of that?
MAHER: He’s good.
MATTHEWS: HA!
MAHER: Oh come on, isn’t he?
MATTHEWS: Well, it’s good, and it’s good. It’s good, and it’s real to me. It’s both real and political and theatrical and everything and it’s human. I got a chill watching it.
[…]
MAHER: The truth is, that if Saddam Hussein, as bad as he is, was in power right now, he would be a bulwark against terrorism. […]
MATTHEWS: Do you think [Hillary Clinton] can win the presidency and govern without him around? […]
MAHER: Could she? Of course. George Bush is doing it, and how many lower IQ points than her is he?
I put together a video montage of the latter half of Hardball, where things got really out of hand:
We’ve seen some bad installments of Hardball in the past, but this one was just out of control. Chris Matthews has let his show become an hour of tasteless jokes, baseless assertions and wild conspiracy theories, and it just keeps getting worse.
Video here.
See also: Brent Baker and Expose the Left.