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OK, I have to say this, though I'm guessing it will not make me XXer of the day or anything. (Ergh, that sounds like something John McCain would say, bragging for the 9 millionth time about not being named Miss Congeniality.) Anyway, though I happen to think the whole ‘Bama pals with terrorists' line is toxic as well as so misshapen as to qualify as an outright lie, I would not characterize what Michelle Bachmann said on "Hardball' as a rant; in all fairness, Chris Matthews saw his opening and maneuvered her into it. He took what she did say - "Most Americans, Chris, are wild about America'' - I think she means you, Dana - "and they're very concerned to have a president who doesn't share those values.'' And then, he successfully pushed her to take that to its logical conclusion, that being critical of anything America does ever is the same as having anti-American views. That is an argument I disagree with, and one side of a conversation that's been going on at least since Vietnam. But it is still a mischaracterization to react as though she went on screaming that the FBI should forget Bin Laden and look into Nancy Pelosi. (What bothered me more was her assertion that, "It was Michelle Obama who said she's only recently proud of her country.'' No, she didn't.)
If negative campaigning really had finally found its floor, in any case, that would be the best thing since Caller ID. And whatever her motivations, I'm glad Sarah Palin has apologized for her comments dividing us into the "real America'' of small towns like the ones she and I grew up in and...not so real America, like New York and Washington, where lots of us small town natives wind up. As Jon Stewart said the other night, Bin Laden must feel like a real *&F@# after having realized he bombed the wrong America. Not to mention those from-the-wrong America firefighters who ran into the Twin Towers; gosh are they embarrassed.
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While we're on the topic of race, I happened onto something quite difficult to watch on MSNBC this morning, something my husband saw as "a wake-up call for white guys everywhere.'' Right there in front of God and all of America, Chris Matthews was trying to get down with Ellen DeGeneres. At least, I think that was the drill ... (After watching several times, I think I can state with confidence that he did not, as it first appeared, inadvertently grab her boob. Though, in the wrong kind of shoes, she would surely have fallen to the floor.)
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So, Chris Matthews apologized—at length—for his Hillary comments (which XX Factor discussed here and here). Here’s the video. I’m sure that now a chorus of laments will ring out in the world at large about how PC nags forced him into this. But let’s remember that his statements took place in a larger context of ongoing negativity toward Hillary (check out this Media Matters article). And listen to what he says about halfway through: that he wasn’t speaking “blunt truth,” in this case, because the real truth is a lot larger than he made it sound. That sounds about right to me. If he had said sympathy was a factor in getting Hillary where she is today, fine, big whoop. But he implied it was the only factor. That’s not a “tough truth” sensitive women don’t want to hear; it’s just a predictable, small-minded jab.
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