Pulling a Matthews
I read Chris Matthews book Kennedy and Nixon: The Rivalry That Shaped Postwar America a few years ago and found it to be a fascinating read. The reader may or may not like Matthews performance on news television, but the guy is no idiot. An event flying across the airwaves and blogs (now here) is Chris's fabulous unmasking of the ignorance and bankruptcy lying just under the surface of Eggplant and his associates.
The above video should be mandatory viewing for the country. It exposes the path ahead and beautifully points to strategies and tactics all campaigns should distinguish in their upcoming elections. Kevin James bellows nonsense and asserts Barack Obama would do just what British Prime Minister Chamberlain did in 1938 when confronted with Nazi Germany. Matthews asks, "What did Chamberlain do?"
Watch.
A bit of a semantics guy, I have already written how those behind the vegetable-in-chief have become masters at shaping the rhetoric and dialog into vague catch phrases and exchanges intentionally designed to obfuscate reality and manipulate the duller minds in the electorate.
Semantics is the study of meaning. One of my favorites on the subject, Stuart Chase's The Tyranny of Words investigated the clever use of semantics in the speeches of Adolf Hitler. Remember Hitler took power in 1933 and WAS ELECTED. The people loved him for years. Nazi Germany crafted the art masterfully. Historiographer John Lukas's work The Hitler of History presents a compelling investigation into how history still hasn't figured out how to process the person. Remember, Hitler was a for real human being. We STILL cannot discuss the individual with academic rigor.
Consider the factual reality contained in the following phrases or words:
-We're making progress
-Experience
-Soft on Terror
-Appeasement
-Cut and Run
-Homeland Security
-The American People
-Some are saying the government should decide your health care
-Patriotism
-Some like to think we live in a world where America doesn't have any enemies
The answer? None.
Such language is completely empty if one requires rigorous discourse in reality. A conversation grounded in reality cites facts. As already noted here and elsewhere, 2008 is going to be the butt ugliest primeval political equivalent of a bloodbath, especially at the federal level, and the race for president will go nucular.
I'd like to see the whole country rise to a level where it "pulls a Matthews."
It's time to "pull a Matthews" on these gasbags and ask them WTF they are talking about. What facts support the assertion that Democrats "appease" or Obama is not "patriotic"? Where's the data that supports the assertion that electing Democrats raises the odds of another terrorist attack?
The above video should be mandatory viewing for the country. It exposes the path ahead and beautifully points to strategies and tactics all campaigns should distinguish in their upcoming elections. Kevin James bellows nonsense and asserts Barack Obama would do just what British Prime Minister Chamberlain did in 1938 when confronted with Nazi Germany. Matthews asks, "What did Chamberlain do?"
Watch.
A bit of a semantics guy, I have already written how those behind the vegetable-in-chief have become masters at shaping the rhetoric and dialog into vague catch phrases and exchanges intentionally designed to obfuscate reality and manipulate the duller minds in the electorate.
Semantics is the study of meaning. One of my favorites on the subject, Stuart Chase's The Tyranny of Words investigated the clever use of semantics in the speeches of Adolf Hitler. Remember Hitler took power in 1933 and WAS ELECTED. The people loved him for years. Nazi Germany crafted the art masterfully. Historiographer John Lukas's work The Hitler of History presents a compelling investigation into how history still hasn't figured out how to process the person. Remember, Hitler was a for real human being. We STILL cannot discuss the individual with academic rigor.
Consider the factual reality contained in the following phrases or words:
-We're making progress
-Experience
-Soft on Terror
-Appeasement
-Cut and Run
-Homeland Security
-The American People
-Some are saying the government should decide your health care
-Patriotism
-Some like to think we live in a world where America doesn't have any enemies
The answer? None.
Such language is completely empty if one requires rigorous discourse in reality. A conversation grounded in reality cites facts. As already noted here and elsewhere, 2008 is going to be the butt ugliest primeval political equivalent of a bloodbath, especially at the federal level, and the race for president will go nucular.
I'd like to see the whole country rise to a level where it "pulls a Matthews."
It's time to "pull a Matthews" on these gasbags and ask them WTF they are talking about. What facts support the assertion that Democrats "appease" or Obama is not "patriotic"? Where's the data that supports the assertion that electing Democrats raises the odds of another terrorist attack?
posted by x4mr at 12:01 AM
5 Comments:
Matthews is great in this video.
This Kevin James character really illuminates the problem with the dittoheads. They listen to clowns like KJ on wing nut talk radio and parrot what they say, fully believing they have their own thoughtful opinions.
They are clearly trying to attach the buzz word "appeasement" to Obama's ideas on foreign policy. You have to have a buzz word so that all the dittoheads can get on the same page.
This reminds me of the "immigration" issue and the buzz word "assimilation" as in, "Mexican and Latin American immigrants do not assimilate into American society." The first time a wing nut said that to me, I actually told him about my own family experience because my mother's parents were born in eastern Europe. There is always a first time. Then you realize that the statement means nothing, it is just a mantra being repeated by dittoheads. They may as well be saying, "Polly want a cracker, Polly want a cracker" and it would be just as meaningful.
However, if Chris Matthews and the talking heads get the message that people like this sort of thing, identifying idiots, we might see more of it.
Hey, this is a terrific blog.
I've been reading back into it for awhile. Very creative and interesting.
Like navigator, I can see how you work with context and sub-text. Your insight is quite sharp and deep. It makes perfect sense for you to get a PhD.
Keep up the good work.
I love Tweety! My only gripe with this video is: what took you so long?
Since the beginning of your program, Chris, you have done the exact opposite of the title; you threw soft ball questions!
Still, I was delighted to see you excoriate this baffoon!
First off, I don't know who Kevin James is and I hope that I never meet him in a bar somewhere. This video just makes me want to punch him for being a loud, rude, nimrod blowhard. I don't mind ignorance of the facts so much as the repetition of words as a substitute for actual debate.
I laughed OUT LOUD when James was burned, not just by Chris Matthews, but by the other guest. "When you're in a hole, stop digging". hee. You could almost smell the scorching of his hair gel. He is a pretty boy talking head of the first water -- or as my dad used to say, all hat and no cattle.
You could almost see the puppeteer's hand up his butt -- or the cracker in the cage. He cannot fathom diplomacy, obviously, because he cannot first wrap his tiny brain around the concept of polite discourse when he is asked a very specific question that requires a specific knowledge of fact.
And the yelling ? What ? He's a four-year old ? "Energize & Legitimize" ? Really ? It's like he's trying to sell The Magic Mop on an infomercial.
I dread the upcoming ugliness.
I really love this blog, both the stories x4mr creates and the comments that show up. In a twisted, sick way I can even enjoy reading Diana's ludicrous perspective.
The video is just priceless. It captures so much.
As much as I praise this blog, however, Mr. Sustainable, and no offense to x4mr, I just don't think your message to Chris Matthews got delivered by posting it here.
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