It's too little too late, Chris Matthews

Samantha

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Mon Nov-07-05 09:27 PM
Original message

It's too little too late, Chris Matthews

I am still not going to respect you in the morning. These facts you reported tonight are not new. You sense a change of direction in the political winds, and you hasten to gather your posterior on the politically correct side. This is the oldest game in town, and you are a pro at sniffing out the winning team and joining its chorus of cheerleaders.

Just as you knew Al Gore was not a liar during election 2000, you knew Bush* was a liar during the run-up to the war on Iraq. In both instances, you misled the public by either distorting the truth or omitting it all together. So why let the truth out now?

Obviously, this report to be continued this week would have to have been approved by Tim Russert. He ostensibly threw the reporting football on this to you since he was subpoenaed by Fitzgerald to testify before the Plame grand jury. Tim Russert attempting to grab the glory and report the deceptive "marketing of the war" at this time would be awkward at least, legally risky at best. Yet he has the authority to harness your fast-talking dialog -- but this he did not do. And why not? Are you both concerned the tanking poll numbers now besieging Bush and Cheney might adversely impact your ratings should you not now LEAP to the side of the truth?

During the run-up to the war, one of your competitors, Judith Miller, rolled over and became a spokeswoman for the war, repeating the mischaracterizations spoon-fed to her by Scooter Libby. You have been around Washington long enough to know the lay of the political land, and you knew much of Miller's reports did not pass the smell test. Yet you insist the WHIG played the press like a pinball machine, and in so saying, you attempt to play the public with the notion you were had. The irony of this remark is that it follows on the heels of a condemnation of the Dems, many of whom are now claiming they were fooled by the Bush* administration. Your position seems to be it's forgivable if You were fooled but unforgivable if They were .... I fail to perceive your distinction in differentiating among The Fools.

Your criticism of the Dems in general is devoid of the fact that not all Dems supported this war.

"Where is the debate?" cried Senator Byrd.

Al Gore passionately spoke out against the war. "Saddam is not the one shooting at us," Gore said. To support this war would detract resources from our efforts in Afghanistan that would be re-deployed to Iraq.

Jimmy Carter wrote an op-ed piece in The New York Times. Although he has made several television appearances this week, I have yet to hear one interviewer remind the public of Carter's op-ed.

A poll taken before the start of the U.S. invasion on Iraq reflected the objection of most of the Democratic base.

The coverage of the protests against this war on NBC was then and remains today MIA.

So your report, Mr. Matthews, is just too little too late. Perhaps it is in the political best interests of NBC and specifically, your credibility as a political commentator, to join the growing chorus in Washington of those condemning the neoconservatives for misleading the American public into an invasion of a sovereign nation, but it is 2000 American deaths too late, and 125,000 Iraqi civilian deaths too late for me to listen to your report.

I still won't respect you in the morning, Mr. Matthews, but I will ask the members on this website if they will ....