I Hate Chris Matthews

I never watch his channel, but it gets in the way between a couple channels I do watch, and while flipping I lingered just long enough to hear words to this effect:

Do you think the Pope intentionally chose to display his symptoms of Alzheimer's ... I mean Parkinson's to raise awareness?

Like it's a choice. "Shit for brains" is a phrase developed specifically for this idiot.

I remember a statement he made about the movie the Passion and Million Dollar Baby and he remarked that only one of the movies was about love - million dollar baby.

And he does it badly.

IMO.

"He's in Rome and just said:

"Fair to say John Paul II cannot be called a neo-con. He doesn't believe in going into other countries and TAKING THEM OVER AND KILLING PEOPLE TO CHANGE THEIR WAY OF GOVERNMENT."



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1701141

That's just wild! Like someone said.."chris is a real mind fuck to say the least."!

and not lapsed like many of us. I find it impossible to evaluate such a comment outside the context of its discussion. Could Matthews have been suggesting that the Pope did not feel a need to hide his illness, because as human beings and children of God none of us are perfect and many become ill at some point in our lives? I have no idea what he was saying, but based on your OP, it doesn't seem like you know either.

The Pope wanted to use his disability to teach that we all have worth no matter what our condition. It would certainly not have been possible to hide his Parkinsons but he certainly never appeared to run from it either.

belief....nuns would say ..offer your suffering for Jesus cuz He suffered for you..

I loved when bushco visited the Pope in 04 and pope allegedly lectured the fraud about his war mongering..
would have been great copy if the pope had whacked jr. on his knuckles for his nasty attitude...

And, what's up with all the secrecy of the Vatican...they are just like the busco administration.

You have no idea what he was saying. Neither do I. That is, in fact, the point.

Chris Matthews, a journalist, a talking-head journalist who is supposedly among the best for that matter, a person who should speak clearly and with some degree of sense behind his remarks, asked if the Pope "chose" to display his symptoms, at first mentioning Alzheimer's, then Parkinson's.

He's a bad journalist and says stupid things. One does not "choose" to display symptoms of Parkinson's, least of all someone in the position of the Pope. The Pope was a courageous man who never hid from anything. The question was out of place, poorly phrased, and, imo, idiotic.

*Of course* The Pope wanted to raise awareness, of many things, including the immorality of the war in Iraq. That was his job. It is, apparently, Tweety's job to avoid anything that might be the slightest bit controversial, ask silly questions, screw them up in the process, and irritate people like me.

He is a TV talking head. I find myself continually struck at how few people know the difference. Secondly, given the fact that you conceded that you flipped through the channels quickly, without listening to the entire conversation, I find this particular criticism unfounded.

Some people do choose to display their symptoms, in that they choose to appear publicly in spite of illness. Others hide them. Pope John Paul II did the former. We live in a world where only perfection and strength is allowed. Assuming Matthews has a point here, the Pope knows that humans are not perfect and God does not expect perfection from us. Human life is not the Hollywood plastic existence that we in this country are accustomed to seeing on our television sets and movie screens.

... a journalist that is, or was before joining the cable networks, but I won't quibble. (I do, in fact, now the difference, thanks.)

As for my flipping, I lingered at the beginning of the exchange and watched it up through that point, so it wasn't like I heard a couple words out of nowhere. The response, which I don't recall in all its detail, was pretty much along the lines of what I said in my last comment -- Of course he wanted to raise awareness.

The point I was initially trying to make is that the Pope pushed a number of difficult issues into the public eye, said numerous things with the intent of raising awareness, acted in many ways with the hope of encouraging people to, in short, take note of the world around them and work for peace and justice. He actively worked at those things. Tweety, sloppily, focused on a matter that, if the Pope was to do his job at all, he could not help but display. No one chooses to show symptoms of Parkinson's. A figure like the Pope, particularly this Pope in this modern era, cannot simply vanish from the public eye to try to hide, nor would it be in his character to do so.

I believe the question was amateurish and poorly placed. You apparently disagree. That's fine.

but to harbor hatred over it strikes me as unfortunate for you.

Ted Koppel did a thoughtful analysis of this very issue on last night's Nightline. I happened to tape it on TIVO and only just watched it. Koppel is a reporter and journalist, and a good one at that.

I don't think most of these characters who pollute cable news television qualify as journalists. Few of them, Matthews included, have any reporting experience. Shouting on television is not journalism. That is why I watch them as seldom as possible. Given the range of that ilk, Hannity, O'Reilly, and Buchanan, Matthews rarely gets a rise out of me.

Do not pity me. I am comfortable with my hate.

Now, having said that, you might learn to recognize hyperbole when you see it. I'm not suggesting the man is evil and deserving of a good stoning. Within the context of my original remarks, that should have been apparent. Put another way, don't be so literal.

OnEdit: Forgot to mention ...

The reason Tweety gets a rise out of me is because some see him as not so bad, in comparison, which is what you suggest above. If O'Reily and his ilk are the standard, if our expectations are so low that Matthews and those on his level come across as acceptable, then we have some serious issues of our own. I don't need to criticize O'Reily, et al. You either dislike them or you don't, depending on your side of the ideological fence. As I said elsewhere, Matthews tries to play both sides of that fence. He does it badly. He and those like him are, in my view, a bigger problem than those from whom you expect the worst.

Lighten up a little.

Sheesh...this is what I get for actually allowing myself to watch a few moments of cable news. I shall now re-invoke my vow to avoid these channels like the plague. I'll live longer, I'm sure.

...disease on 'Hardball.' Not arguing with your comment, but in the spirit of fairness, he may have been thinking of his own father's condition.
Lori

He said it twice. Idiot

He's a real fucking idiot.

I'd venture to say that the people who agree with him most of the time are usually the people who hate him the most. :)

He peed in his pants in a chopper over Yassar ARAFAT's headquarters, trying to look like Geraldo in sunglasess. He's a physical coward, who sticks to the studio.

There are always those who credit him with some sincerity---that he was anti-war "because he has draft-age sons" or now "he's a practicing Catholic." He checked his sincerity at the cash register.

I just laugh. There's always a "I Hate Chris Matthews" thread a couple of times a week on DU...Do what I do...STOP watching television news completely.

I'm now much saner, many times more informed than I was, and a lot less frustrated!!!

It's been over two years now.

After John Kerry gave a most wonderful, moving, dead-on acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, and the pundits were raving about it (even Scarborough), Tweety interrupted someone's comments to ask, "Do you think America is ready to accept a first lady with an accent?"

Huh?

I don't hate him, but have absolutely no respect for him either.

he could have just gone into seclusion in the vatican for years and years- instead he chose not to let it interfere with his schedule as much as possible.

Repeat after me, "I love Chris Matthews."