From last evening’s “Hardball w/ Chris Matthews” comes this bizarre bit: Shortly after New York Times columnist Bob Herbert condemned the US for forcing democracy on Iraqis “at the point of a gun,” Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen had this to say: “There’s another word for ‘insurgents’ in Iraq, and that’s ‘residents.’”
Not to be outdone, Matthews himself (channeling Brian Williams) then added: “‘Insurgents’ are what the British called us in the Revolutionary War. It’s true”—an observation which, if I didn’t know better, might lead me to conclude Chris was trying to draw some sort of parallel or something.
Anyway, fifteen minutes into the show—with Matthews and company on the verge of surrendering to Zarqawi before beheading one another in a show of anti-Bush solidarity—I switched back to FOX.
And no, there’s still no sign of Natalee.
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update: be sure to visit Cole’s comment section for a spirited defense of the “Hardball” exchange. Seems everything said last night was “factual”—which, I suppose it is, once you’ve purposely misrepresented the intent of Herbert’s statement, or grown comfortable with the lumping of Iraqi Ba’athist holdovers fighting alongside foreign fighters with the vast majority of Iraqis who those ousted Ba’athists are helping Zarqawi’s al Qaeda outfit to target and blow up.
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update 2: Political Teen has the video here.
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update 3: Polipundit’s Lorie Byrd watched the same segment. Lots of reaction in the comments.
Of all the things that drove me from the “liberal” camp and into the neo-con, the lack of moral compass, perspective, and proportion, as exhibited by these folks, were preeminent.
Chris Matthews—Nutball—only 3 degrees of separation from Ward Churchill.
More journalistic integrity : Helen Thomas promises to kill herself if Dick Cheney runs for president.
http://www.drudgereport.com/flash1.htm
Cheney, widely known for his sense of humor, has provided Ms. Thomas a full vial of rat poison, for his presss conference announcing his intention to run, scheduled for next week.
Developing.
Helen Thomas? Oh sweet misery! What the world would be without a beauty like her in it; alas!
She looks like a hungover Walter Matthau in drag.
‘Service’, as in “Helen, do us all a little community service and wear a brown paper bag from now on.”
matthews just did a show where he had three army officers on talking how well the Iraqis are doing with freedom about how evil the enemy in Iraq was (one told of a two year old daughter of an Iraqi policeman badly burned when insurgents threw a toy stuffed with explosives into her yard)
and now he calls them equivalent of the founding fathers?
He is beneath contempt
Does Matthews want us to surrender retroactively to the British? Or, no, I guess we’d have to surrender to the EU, wouldn’t we?
I thought she was already dead.
Sometimes the left wonders why America doesn’t trust them on national defense. I wrote this ditty to help them understand.
How many wars must a Democrat support,
Before they will call him a man?
Yes ‘n’ how many medals must a Senator sport
Before the nation trusts his command?
Yes ‘n’ how many soldiers must she add to our forts,
Before voters trust Hillary’s war stance?
The answer my friend,
Is in Sandy Berger’s pants.
The answer is in Sandy Berger’s pants.
Oh, how many times can Chris Matthews retort,
That insurgents are the same as the Founders of this land?
Yes ‘n’ how many times will they re-run Abu Ghraib reports
Before the media brass say that they can’t?
Yes ‘n’ how much abuse must our soldiers take from Kos’ cohort
Before the moderators ban all their rants?
The answer my friend,
Is in Sandy Berger’s pants.
The answer is in Sandy Berger’s pants.
I resent that, Shank! Even dead I’m three times prettier than that mound of congealed stupidity.
I know, the meter is terrible. What do you want for 5 minutes work in a comment?
I thought she was already dead. Just so. The current Ms. Thomas is the shocking result of amateur taxidermy gone awry.
Hahahaha, classic ! If only all the liberal msm could show such anti-bush solidarity.
Ugh. Matthews is starting to sound like M. Shahid Alam, who notoriously morally equated the 9-11 hijackers to Revolutionary War soldiers.
Stop questioning MSNBC’s patriotism, you rightwing zionist deathcultist!
It’s sort of like when Washington sawed off Tories’ heads at Valley Forge. Remember that? No? Don’t worry, it’ll be in next years NEA-approved textbooks. Because children are the future!
At times like those, here’s the solution: “Well, there’s always Spongebob.”
Hillary Rosen: “There’s another word for ‘insurgents’ in Iraq, and that’s ‘residents.’â€Â
The news that the great majority of Iraqi suicide bombers are Saudi, Yemeni, Jordanian, or from elsewhere in the Middle East apparently hasn’t reached MSNBC.
Of all the things that drove me from the “liberal†camp and into the neo-con, the lack of moral compass, perspective, and proportion, as exhibited by these folks, were preeminent.
That describes my situation as well—straight dem ticket up to and including 2002. Now, reading the spew from Matthews et al I am literally sickened.
Spamword “happened”, as in what the hell happened to the party of FDR, Truman and Kennedy.
Hillary Rosen: “There’s another word for <del>‘insurgents’</del> file sharers in <del>Iraq</del> America, and that’s <del>‘residents.’</del> criminalsâ€Â
How’s the new gig workin’ out for ya, Hil? Only the names have changed, it looks like…
SB: income
The news that the great majority of Iraqi suicide bombers are Saudi, Yemeni, Jordanian, or from elsewhere in the Middle East apparently hasn’t reached MSNBC.
The news reached them alright, but once it was fed through their “nuanceometer”, it was appopriately laundered for MSNBC consumption.
Let me try:
“Well, since we are all residents of the golbal village…..”
Rosen and Mathews are both liers. We have known since 03 that the “insurgents”were and are aliens. Most of them are from jAfrica but a large minority come from Syria and Iran. They are *not* Iraquis. Again the MSM/DNC lies to us Rathergate lives on.
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO NATALEE, IT WAS ALL KARL ROVE’S FAULT!!! BECAUSE OF THE TREASON!!!
Speaking of Helen Thomas. She’s looking more and more like Jabba the Hut with each passing year.
Oh, yeah, I forgot. “AND BECAUSE OF THE HYPOCRISY, TOO!!!” There, that’s better.
If the term “residents” seems to be upsetting some readers, how about an alternative? Since the term “undocumented workers” is so popular here, how about “undocumented explosives (or exploding) workers” in Iraq?
Yeah, thy are “residents” in the same way that MS-13 gan members in this country are “residents”. They are folks from a foreign country, living there illegally without the permission of the government, engaging in criminal acts
Considering he says this in public, in front of a camera, think about what he says in private.
First time I’ve bothered to watch Hardball at all in months, I turn on *this* segment.
It cemented for me Mr. Matthews more *hardline* than *hardball*.
Considering he says this in public, in front of a camera, think about what he says in private.
Oh, Helen, . . . Helen, who knew you were such a hot lebanese mama in the sack!
he Conservative case against the war in Iraq:
Most people are slowly beginning to realize that there really is no moderate component to the Islamic faith. Islam is a false religion that promotes hatred and bloodshed around the world. Many knew beforehand that Saddamm Hussein had no WMD’s because if he did have them, no president in his right mind would be willing to go in there and risk having those WMDs used against our soldiers. Iraq posed no legitimate threat to the world, and had less ties to Al Qaeda than Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. Ironically, Pakistan is the nation with the most conclusive ties to Al-Qaeda, and its head nuclear scientist was recently caught revealing nuclear secrets to North Korea and other terrorist groups. Surprisingly, Bush rewarded the Pakistani dictator General Musharraf with a fresh supply of F-16s. It makes no sense. The question remains: Why did we invade Iraq? The conservative argument: To defeat terrorism, we must promote freedom in a repressed Islamic world, and to promote freedom, we must overthrow dicators who thwart democratic reforms in their country. Although this conservative argument makes sense in general, it is pointless to use it in the Muslim world, since Islam and its adherents are so backward, no matter what we do to give them more freedoms, or promote democracy, Islam will always view the West (particularly the US) as the root cause of problems in the Islamic world. It also doesn’t help when religious clerics cast those who spread freedom as Infidels and whose presence pollutes their sacred land. Most intelligent people realized that a US occupation of Iraq would never be successful despite the fact that Iraqis despised Saddam because they understood that winning over people who follow a faith that promotes hatred is impossible. Why throw money at a problem when you know any attempts to solve it will only make matters worse. (See No Child Left Behind, Welfare, etc…)
At this rate, even though it pains me to say this as a small government conservative, I’d rather have the government spending federal taxypayer dollars on healthcare and public schools here, rather than spend it on ignorant Muslims who will never ever moderate to become respectable human beings.
*Most intelligent people realized that a US occupation of Iraq would never be successful…”
Actually, alot of intelligent people, including those in the Bush administration, thought it was going to be successful.
I confess, I share some of the same concerns in regards to the Arab world- Islam, at its core, seems to be a very violent and very backward religion. The moderates in Islam (and I believe those folks do exist) I believe cherry pick the parts of their religion they’ll follow (hajibs are good, suicide bombings are bad) and they don’t speak out because of the harsh penalties Islam levies against lapsed Muslims and unbelievers.
At the same time, I see an entire generation of Muslims in Iraq, who will be spared a childhood of fear, living under Sadaam Hussein’s rule. I’m not an optimist by any stretch of the imagination but I’d like to think if we stay the course in Iraq, those kids are going to grow up with a different impression of Americans then their parents and grandparents.
Key word: evangelical
Proselytizers are all nuts, man…
A Touch of sarcasm?
The fact is that Matthews has been trying to sell this insulting nonsense for a long time now. Here is an example from mid-October when he had Jimmy carter on as his first guest.
(By the way Carter’s answer was idiotic—he began by claiming the Revolutionary War was one of our bloodiest wars, which everyone knows is absurd. Historian, indeed!)
Here is the link to the transcript:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6281085/
Rosen’s flatulence was BECAUSE OF THE BAKED BEANS!!!!
It seems that the mis-use of the term “insurgent” is becoming an epidemic over at MSNBC. Perhaps Matthews missed our post “Wordplay,” in which I argued against the use of the term “insurgent” to describe the motly group in Iraq:
“It is incorrect to label the terrorist murderers of civilians in Iraq “insurgents.” If these thugs confined themselves to attacking the representatives of “civil authority or an established government,” as per the actual definition of the term, they might have a claim to the term, but the killers of journalists and children have no rights to such status.”
This remains true today. To label them “insurgents” is to give them a false legitimacy. But on one point Matthews. Our Founding Fathers were indeed insurgents as they took up arms against an established government and military over issues of taxation and representation. Does Matthews think al Zarquawi cares about taxes or wants a seat in the Iraqi parliament? No, these are no insurgents.
Has Hillary Rosen ever been to Iraq? How would she know such information about Iraq to pronounce such an opinion? Guess she proves the contention regarding opinions and a**holes. Which must be why she appeared on Hardball–to learn from the “experts.”
In addition to having long stopped reading the NYTimes, I also stopped watching the evening talking head shows as it allows a more pleasant and productive use of my time. Try it, you might find you like it.
The funny thing is, I almost never watch Matthews. I was just flipping around, saw Herbert, and stayed for a few minutes to see what kind of racialist nuttery he was going to spew.
Not that this makes any difference, but my great-aunt was flipping through the channels too, stopped on MSNBC, took one look at Herbert and said “that guy’s drunk!” I went in the living room to see and, yes, he looked a few sheets to the wind or hung-over at minimum.
You, John Cole, the Political Teen, and Lorie Byrd ALL saw this Matthews segment? If that’s true, it means all four viewers of the show are bloggers!
Speaking of Helen Thomas (what a sweety-pie), it seems as if the Washington press corp has a compitition going for who can ask the most insulting, stupidest, and/or redundant questions. They are a bit obnoxious as well, Something they learned from the British press corp no doubt.
It is not just a lie to call insurgents “residents” is is a smear of America. The MSM/DNC never gives up. They will smear America until Rathergate is fojrgotten. Which will be a long time.