Post | 04/24/2008 3:33 pm
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ShareOlbermann and Matthews Take It on the Chin from Hillary!
It was fun to watch Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann preside over MSNBC’s coverage of the Pennsylvania primary the other night. One suspects these two significant cable yakkers don’t much like each other, though they behave as if affably inclined.
They seem united, however, in their distaste for Senator Clinton. To see them have to concede her victory over Barack Obama, who is MSNBC’s pin-up boy, was great television.
Matthews at least tends to give Hillary a kind of half-admiring thumbs-up for stick-to-it-ness. But he was so anxious to offer that the results “were too close to call” that he misread the clock at 7:30 PM, saying it was 8 PM. (As the results came in with Hillary leading, I received a call from a pal who joked, “Chris Matthews has lost the power of speech!” Fascinating and likable as he can be, sometimes when Chris is interviewing dignified and mature spokespersons, you can see the pain on their faces as he repeatedly interrupts them and they are too decent to shout back.)
Chris Matthews © AP
Olbermann for his part looked kind of grim and tight-lipped. He behaved better than he usually does but one feels he was itching to scream, “Why won’t she go away?” (Once she does, things will turn very dull for all these mediacasters, so I don’t see why they are so anxious for that result. They’ll be sorry if they don’t have Hillary to kick around anymore.)
Senator Clinton has it slightly easier at MSNBC now that Tucker Carlson has bitten the dust. But it’s still a frat house over there and the “tingle down the leg” that Hillary generates is one of fear and frustration. (That was Chris Matthews’s famous reaction to Obama’s oratory abilities, if you’ll recall.)
Only the network’s brilliant numbers-cruncher analyst Chuck Todd keeps a cool, on-the-ball detachment.
Keith Olbermann © AP
Mr. Olbermann is the somewhat (but not always) liberal doppelganger of his arch enemy, conservative pundit, Bill O’Reilly. They really should meet in person, perhaps in the ring. And Olbermann is extremely tiresome when he tries to imitate O’Reilly’s voice. There is this ideological chasm between the two, but they share a sense of towering ego, self-righteousness and seem to be twin entities. Maybe they cancel one another out. (O’Reilly won’t utter Olbermann’s name and has attacked NBC relentlessly hoping to drive Keith out. But the latter has made big mileage from directly attacking O’Reilly, who is Roger Ailes’s great star at Fox News.)
Sometimes I think the young idiots at MTV’s “The Real World,” now in its 20th terrible year, behave more maturely than some of the big guys who are positioned to give us what is laughingly called “hard news” and what is mostly egotistical analysis.
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122 Reader Comments (so far…)
I watch hours of MSNBC every day—like poking a sore tooth, I cannot stop myself. I am powerless over MSNBC. But I hardly ever watch Keith, anymore. One evening, months ago, he started into one of his “Special Comments” against Hillary (not even in office) and I thought, “Why am I listening to some sportscaster berate this woman?” Turn off! Now, I watch the Food Channel or sitcom reruns. Seriously. I could not take it anymore! Chris? Well, he is sort of comic relief—with his slobbering and movie references. Good old Tweety!
star
thanks so much for your comment i too have a problem turning off msnbc. and i cannot stop watching poor chris the old sod.
keith surprised me once with the comments about g. ferraro and i sat in my comfy chair with my mouth wide open. honestly, i thought keith might be an okay guy as far as women were concerned. boy was i wrong.
so now the msnbc line up is all self centered males. i think the programing at msnbc is geared to a specific audience of those very young and waiting to grow up men. so here i am watching the msnbc man show. oh, i have cut back watching and i am struggling with this small annoyance of the tv being too often on msnbc!
I wish the whole shooting match was over, and we actually had a person living at 1600 Pennsylvania who really gave two cents about the real problems facing this country. Too many to list, but suffice it to say that we need to inside instead of out in order to heal the gut wrenching wounds in this Republic. I’m convinced that it will be status quo no matter who gets elected… all those branches to bring together is a nearly impossible task.
Jai, how did I get the impression you are a huge supporter of Barak? Or was it a huger hater of Hillary? And yet you think the status quo will remain unchanged with the Obama Army in charge? Might as well have Hillary in that case. That way you’ll have something more to hate her for.
Michael, Did you hear Rev. Wright say Obama is just a politician and because he is he has to say what he says?
Yes, OO — I’m looking forward to seeing the Rev on Bill Moyer’s Journal tonight. Frankly, if the judgment day were to come tomorrow, we all know that 90% of America would be headed for damnation. And of course our president and vice president would be at the head of the line.
“I wish the whole shooting match was over, and we actually had a person living at 1600 Pennsylvania who really gave two cents about the real problems facing this country.” Right on, right on. And I wish there was someway to move the New Hampshire primary to June and all of the primaries to follow and shorten this election cycle to six month or less! This extend campaign is as insane as it is painful. But the election industry in making a killing out of torturing the republic.
BRILLIANT writing Liz! In a few paragraphs you summed up an entire complex scene with a smile-inducing touch. Brava!!
“behave more maturely than some of the big guys who are positioned to give us what is laughingly called “hard news” and what is mostly egotistical analysis.”
i tend to disagree… this is not ‘hard’ news. matthews and russert, carlson, and maybe olberson[i see him more as a social conscience,] are political pundits. they are paid for their opinions NOT for reporting hard news but for interpreting it.
as for matthews behavior:
“Fascinating and likable as he can be, sometimes when Chris is interviewing dignified and mature spokespersons, you can see the pain on their faces as he repeatedly interrupts them and they are too decent to shout back.)”
i believe that he is classic ADHD, his mind races and polite discourse does not move quickly enough for him. this is not pc but he is typically irish-catholic. my father was a lot like chris.
about these guys. i believe that their hearts are in the right place.
remember that the new york times editorial page just called hillary out for her behavior.
Ariadne - it is more like coitus interruptis (sp?) He asks a great question, he has someone on the spot and we are waiting for the answer - and the guest is ready to let loose, oh - it is finally getting interesting, and then he shouts an interruption - uhhh - unsatisfied again.
i agree… sometimes it really aggravates me.
Add Star’s image, Frances: coitus interruptus … with slobbering. He’s not only frustrating, he’s slimy and disgusting.
It always seems to me that Matthews has too much saliva and cannot keep it in his mouth. Then I read in the NYT article that Matthews spews his chewed up peanuts while talking.
I used to enjoy watching Keith Olbermann until he decided it was hip to join the He-Man Hillary Haters Club and dip his toes into their testosterone wading pool.
As if I needed any further proof that Olbermann is no longer worthy of my time, last night he discussed with Howard Fineman the need for a superdelegate to “take [Clinton] into a room and only he comes out.” Okay, Keith, why don’t you just have the coronation now and get it over with? He’s probably afraid the voters won’t agree.
In case you missed it, on Tuesday David Shuster gave Tucker Carlson a novelty “Hillary laughing pen” — a pen shaped in the likeness of Hillary Clinton’s head with a mouth that moves as the pen makes a laughing noise.
In a press release, the pen’s “creator” said, “Some have said that Senator Clinton’s laugh is infectious, but they didn’t say whether it’s infectious in the good sense, or infectious in the CDC sense.”
How clever: singling out a woman’s voice as so unbearable that it’s used to dismiss her entirely and compare her to infectious disease.
No, ariadne, their hearts are not in the right place (unless you mean behind their zippers).
Corinne, While I really like Keith O and believe he is a social conscious kind of guy believing that he is defending our Constitutional government, even I as a fan think he can be self-righteous and over the top. But that is the reality of media today. I do not believe he is a misogynist but that he seriously disagrees with Hillary as I do (as a feminist progressive) and that he thinks she is tough and can take it. Maybe that’s naive, but I think it’s a kind of a back-handed compliment.
When faced with intelligent, informed people with whom I disagree can admire their brains if not their style. And I can listen with an open mind if they are informed. What turns me off is stupidity. As soon as someone presents as ill-informed, I tune-out. But even a ardent conservative like William F Buckley, Jr will keep me enthralled, if not with his views, at least with his brains.
Anyone agree?