Write to Chris Matthews

While it's true that Chris Matthews may have swung back and forth from Bush shill to Democrat several times in the past year, lately he seems like he's had enough with the Swiftboat Veterans for Bush. He made O'Neill look like a complete lying sleazeball, Michelle Malkin like an idiot, and Larry Thurlow a conspiracy nut. Admittedly, he was only pointing out the obvious. But who else in the mainstream media is doing this?

They say you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. I believe both approaches have their place. With all the well-deserved outrage at the media, we tend to write letters of only one sort. However, it's important to remember that while angry letters may help stop outrageously slanted stories, letters of praise when they're doing good work are important too. You have a stick in one hand and a carrot in the other.

Write to hardball@msnbc.com. Thank them for exposing the Swiftboat Liars and giving them the kind of coverage they deserve.

Those disgusting right-wing nuts and SwiftVet liars are a disgrace to every soldier who fought for his country in Vietnam.

My most recent was after his most recent show where all he asked that idiot from Fox was to give him a YES or a NO. She wouldn't! I think he did a great job, and I told him so.

Send him a note. Even if it's very short saying something like "Good job Chris. Stay with the "Hardball" tactics."

He'll know what you mean.

I'm still hoping his rating will soar to prove to the network that the FOX's of the industry aren't doing the right thing!

I think Hardball got a ratings bump now that the fireworks have started.

I hope that Matthews becomes to Swiftboat Liars what Lou Dobbs is to outsourcing.

Thanks for writing!

but I just can't do it. Mathews is part of the problem. Yes, he did the right thing last week but it won't last long. With the Rep. convention nipping at his heels, he'll soon be back on that side.

I hope for our sakes, I will be wrong.

on both sides.

I think the problem with the media is that we have Democrats who are sometimes ill-prepared to play Hardball. If they know they will be on Hardball or on any other TV show, they should prepare themselves better for tough questions and fight back as soon as something comes up. It seems that the GOP is playing the game a bit better with their talking points and their apparent coaching of anyone who appears on TV.

But...with the right kind of encouragement, he might stay on the side of light.

Maybe he's only a "Democrat" with respect to the Swifties. But it's an issue we could use his help on. And the real cost to you is just a few minutes of your time. I hope you'll consider writing. It certainly couldn't hurt.

I understand your point. However I would feel I was being dishonest to at least myself if I would send him an "attaboy" email now. I will do this though: I won't send any negatives till after next week.

My distaste for Mathews runs deep I'm afraid. I think he is viscous when things don't go exactly his way. IMO, that is dangerous.

:hi:

I did mine Friday i believe. I really do not have allot of education, but i tried to make it as intelligible as i could.

Body of e-mail>

"
Nice work guys,

Just a note of support over the Malkin interview last night. I think Mr. Matthews was very correct in his pursuit of her vague and leading statements. Accusations like this should be handled in such a way, as they are vague, yet dishonest at the core and intend to distort. She had 12 opportunities to give a strait answer, yet she insisted on giving vague, and leading non-answers.

Thank you again, and I hope to see much more of the same in the future.


In support>Dan"

Not brilliant, but it works for me.

Keep it up and

:toast: Welcome to DU!

Keep it up, Chris.

I needed a good laff, and OMG, that picture did it...going to copy and print it and hang it on my computer - thanks for that!

conservatives, won't he start to think that he's being a bit too liberal?

Maybe we should just continue to lambasting these guys for being too soft. It's worked for the right for a long time.

he sees the distortions and equivocations these guys are putting out. It hits home for him, since O'Neill basically said Matthew's brother didn't serve in Vietnam because he was too far away. Now it's personal. I don't forsee him ever supporting the Swifties.

If I were him, I would wear Limbaugh's scorn as a badge of honor. But since I'm not him, who knows how he'll handle it? :shrug:

Do whatever you're comfortable with. Some people are better at writing eviscerating letters. For me, I like to have two different weapons in my arsenal...and yes, I consider this a weapon, because we can use it to win the war of ideas.

We've already got the truth on our side; all we need is a prominent media voice. And if we have to get it one issue at a time, so be it.

gain the support of the network, but if his ratings soar, that's the kind of shows he'll do!

Al Franken just mentioned this article on his show and I thought I'd post it here.

http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/29252.htm


On a side note- This is my first post. I've been reading the forums for a couple of months now so I felt that maybe I should start posting and also go ahead and donate. You are all great and these forums have been a godsend to me over the past couple of months. Thanks to everyone involved on DU.


Jeremy

If you think they'll give up all that free air time, you're kidding yourself.

Good to have you here.

welcome to DU :hi:


Matthew did the right thing. To cut his interview with Kerry in a way to completely change the meaning of what Kerry said and then use it for a negative ad is outrageous. If we would do that with Bush, they would be all over us. Neither side should to that.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

I've always liked him. He's tough on everyone - regardless of party. I like that kind of holding the feet to the fire. In his heart though, he has always been a Democrat as long as I have known of him. Ran for congress years ago as a Democrat, worked as Chief of Staff for Tip O'Neill, wrote consistently anti-GOP columns for the San Francisco Examiner for years. I've always thought he went overboard in the other direction at times only to prove his neutrality because of his background. I think that's pretty much pushed aside now with this swiftboat crap. Also, as an aside, I think I remember reading somewhere that his son worked in the Howard Dean campaign. Anyone know about that? His wife is known as a progressive woman in DC broadcasting working with a lot of gender issues. I like Chris Matthews.