I have little but contempt for Chris Matthews, and he
has deserved little else for years. That's why what he
said in this speech at Brown University is remarkable.
He had some worthwhile shows in the ramp up to the
Iraq adventure, but the damage he has done and the
distortion he has perpetrated for years far
outweighted the merit of those few shows, but this
speech is extraordinary. Perhaps it is personal, maybe
Tip O'Neil finally surfaced in his psyche, or perhaps
his remarks indicate a sea change much deeper than
just Matthews himself (i.e. within NotBeSeen itself)
World Net Daily: In a speech to university students, MSNBC host Chris Matthews characterized President Bush as a shallow-thinking, unlearned man who when confronted by aides with the decision about going to war with Iraq was given something to think about for the first time in his life.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35378
Chris Matthews: Simpleton Bush not chief
Staff gave him 'something to think about for the 1st time in his life'
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Posted: November 1, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
In a speech to university students, MSNBC host Chris
Matthews characterized President Bush as a
shallow-thinking, unlearned man who when confronted by
aides with the decision about going to war with Iraq
was given something to think about for the first time
in his life.
Chris Matthews
The Bush administration's rationale for the Iraq war
was "nonsense" and totally dishonest, Matthews told a
gathering of 200 students at Brown University this
week, according to the Woonsocket Call newspaper in
Rhode Island.
Vice President Richard Cheney was "behind it all,"
contended Matthews, who served as an aide to the late
House Speaker Tip O'Neill of Massachusetts and wrote
speeches for former President Jimmy Carter.
"The whole neo-conservative power vortex, it all goes
through his office," Matthews said, referring to
Cheney, according to the paper. "He has become the
chief executive. He's not the chief operating officer,
he's running the place. It's scary."
The vice president, he asserted, is the man "who put
his thumb on the scale" to affect the balance between
Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
"The ideologues started circling around the
president," Matthews said, according to The Call.
"They saw a man who never read any books, who didn't
think too deeply and they gave him something to think
about for the first time in his life. This thing
called pre-emption, the Bush Doctrine. They put it in
his head and said 'Iraq, Iraq, Iraq.'"
Sources tell WND that management at MSNBC are becoming
increasingly perturbed at Matthews for his outspoken
criticism of Bush.
The commentator acknowledged the president has some
"clear strengths" and is the favorite in next year's
election.
Bush had a "King Arthur moment," he said, in the
aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks when he stood
on the rubble of the World Trade Center and declared
into a bullhorn "'the people who knocked these
buildings down are going to hear from all of us.' He
pulled the sword out of the stone."
Matthews disclosed he favors former Vermont governor
Howard Dean for president in 2004, according to the
Rhode Island daily.
"He came out of Vermont, a small state, with no
foreign policy experience and with sheer guts he
believed in one big idea and that big idea was: 'It
was wrong to go around to the other side of the world
to fight a war.'" Matthews said.
Matthews said, however, Dean's problem is the American
people have to decide, "do you put a lefty in at a
time of crisis?"