Moments ago, I saw a promo for Chris Matthews, in which the announcer asked, “Is the Right sucking the wind out of the GOP?”
Matthews contemplated running for Senate as a Democrat. He worked for Tip O’Neill. It’s not like the host has an interest in the future success of the Republican party. So why is he so obsessed with the health of the party he disagrees with?
With 39 seats in the Senate and only 178 seats in the House of Representatives, Republicans have little to no say over what happens on Capitol Hill. They are almost irrelevant to the passage of legislation, and Al Franken will make them effectively irrelevant. The only Republicans who administer parts of the federal bureaucracy are Obama appointees Ray LaHood and arguably Robert Gates.
But it’s worth noting that the relentless theme of the Gang of Four on MSNBC — Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz, Keith Olbermann, and Rachel Maddow — is inevitably, “Look at what those Republicans are doing now.” The network established their identities as anti-Bush, and they see no reason to change their tone, style, and dominant theme, never mind that Washington has fewer and fewer Republicans to outrage them.
My point isn’t that MSNBC’s biggest names are uninterested in scutinizing the actions of Democrats, it’s that their identity is much less pro-Democrat than it is vehemently, unendingly, furiously anti-Republican. When Republicans are not in office, they will find new “public enemies” to denounce — Rush Limbaugh, Miss California, Jim Cramer, Ann Coulter, Bill O’Reilly . . .
Sarah Palin’s barely said “boo” from up in Alaska, yet she’s constantly discussed on these programs. Matthews, moments ago: “Sarah Palin is, don’t laugh, writing a book. Not reading a book, writing a book.”
The man who asked who William F. Buckley voted for in the November election is mocking Palin for alleged stupidity.
UPDATE: Allahpundit puts it well: These segments are regular bouts of Two Minutes Hate, from Orwell’s 1984.