If you could ask Chris Matthews one question in person, what would it be?

This is a contest. Whoever comes up with the best question (in my opinion) will get to have it asked by me to Tweety himself when he appears at my university on Sunday. This is assuming there will be a question and answer period. There probably will be, and I want to ask him a question. The topic is "Hurricanes, Scandals and Insurgents: Is Republican Power Coming to an End".

Since I don't know that much about why he's such a jerk, and because GD is full of idiots, I defer to you good people. Fire away!

Ask him if he is still happy to have voted for Bush in 2000 (something he said in a commencement speech last year).

Did you get in trouble a lot in Catholic school for not letting other people talk? I bet you had red knuckles from getting hit by the Nuns for speaking up in class. ("Now Chris, let someone else talk, please.")

Ahm, why do you hate Democrats? Why do you have a disproportionate share of Republicans on all your panels? Does MSNBC have a policy where no more thatn 2 Democrats can appear on any one program, but an unlimited number of Republicans?

He IS. It has slipped out on occassion, and when it does, tweety turns into


Elmo!

registered Dem.

I could never figure it out.
Enlighten me!

How about:

Do you realize how many supporters Senator Kerry still has and how many of them want to ring your neck everytime you mouth off about Senator Kerry not connecting with people or not being personable?

Have you heard that your nickname in the blogosphere is Tweetie?

Have you ever windsurfed, Mr. Matthews?

"Are you aware that lies from mouths of politicians, even Presidents, should not be aired as if they are truth?" Or something relating to the fact that fairness doesn't mean repeating talking points just because they came from the President.

Journalism should be more about telling the truth and less about entertaining audiences and getting high ratings. To what degree do you feel responsible for turning voters away from John Kerry and toward George Bush in the last election, by twisting and skewing facts and events in order to poke fun at the Democratic challenger? Do you feel at all responsible for additional damage to America that has come about as a result of the incumbent attaining a second term?

And I hope you are recovering nicely.

Yo Matthews, last year, before the first debate, you predicted that your boy Shrub would put John Kerry away that night and then the news media could all go home cuz this thing was o-v-a, over. Did anyone ever make you eat those words on live TV? Did you ever admit you had underestimated John Kerry? Did you, at any time ever, admit that you had been drinking the right wing kool-aid?

Thanks, I'm doing very well, better than I thought after one week. But I am getting more TV and computer time right now--which is great because so much is happening in politics!

I need something appropriate and provable that I can ask in an academic setting. I think these are more along the lines of heckling. If I say "why do you have an inordinate number of Republicans on all your panels" he's just going to say he doesn't. I need something more concrete.

Also keep in mind that I'm in Canada and most of the students are going to be there to talk about politics. They probably don't know who he even is.

Mr. Matthews, you have stated that you believe that Mr. Bush can 'come back' from his current troubles. Recent polls suggest that 57% of the American people think the President is untrustworthy and has mislead the public. What does the President need to do to regain the trust of the American people?

Why do all the commentators in America state that the economy is going well, when polls clearly show that the American people don't feel this way? Are commentators and pundits out of touch with ordinary Americans and would this be why so many pundits think the economy is fine while so many working people feel it is not? Is there a class divide here that the rich commentators can't bridge?

The second one is perfect - for all their complaints that politicians who are wealthy are out of touch, they are really in the same boat. (I bet Matthews wouldn't have done as well at that NH event. First off I doubt he coud listen.)

You might want to touch on it with Tweety:

He said that the trouble with cable news today (as opposed to the real journalism that he's always tried to produce) is that they try to give the people just what they want to see. What they should do is look for all the stories, investigate and weigh them all, and then decide what the people need to see. In other words, the journalists should decide what needs to be seen, because they are out there seeing it all and know what's important to report, whether or not it's "entertaining".

How do you respond to the criticism that the American media is in the pocket of large corporations?

Do you think that talk shows like Hardball present an unbiased platform upon which to scrutinize current political events or is discussion skewed to the point of view of the moderator?

Do you think American media tries too hard to distance itself from accusations of "liberal media bias" at the expense of real journalism?

And I know you can't really ask this. ;)

Mr Matthews, when were you first diagnosed with political bipolar disorder, and is there any effective treatment for it?

"Mr. Matthews, how many consecutive wet dreams did you have upon viewing George W. Bush nancing about in his codpiece on the flight deck beneath the now-ironic "Mission Accomplished" banner?"

he was talking to Ann Coulter and while going on about the Chimp he tried to insult Kerry by saying something like "can you imagine what Kerry looks like in the uniform". and his tone was such that it was negative and joking towards Kerry.

even Coulter got a weird look when he said that and for once was smart enough to not respond to it.

He questioned that? OMG! How could anyone question that? Matthews is just blind. (Chris, for gawd sakes' he looked ahm, well, ahhhhh..... what was I talking about?)

there are plenty of pictures. If he meant what would he look like now, that's just crazy. Kerry would look as good as he does in the suits he has.

that his statement implied that KErry had never before worn the uniform.at least that is the way what he said came across. and that's why Coulter knew to shut up for once.

comments regarding Bush. Does Matthew's agree with his former boss that Bush is one of the worst President's in history? Or does Matthews consider himself better informed than Mr. Carter? You can phrase this more diplomatically. I have often wondered how Matthews squares his allegiance with Carter with some of his pro Bush comments!

That surprises me. Matthews isn't much of a humanitarian.

that could explain his need to whore for the right wing.

he was actually in the Peace Corps when he was a young man - in Africa, I believe.

I guess I'd ask him why he sold out, then :(

ok, you can't ask that .

but maybe some question which asks why he does what he does and doesn't do real reporting. and in a way where he really has to address the issue rather than blow it off with some short answer.

I saw an interview very early on where he was relentless at exposing the contradictions, lies, etc.

Tweety slapped down Michele Malkin when she said "Some people say John Kerry wounded himself on purpose"

Tweety slapped down the bush bots when they used out of context quotes from Hardball to produce a "JK is a Flip-Flopper" video.

Tweety challenged Zell on his john-kerry-would-give-our-soldiers-spitballs speech.

At that point Rove cut him off and would not give him any guests. Tweety commented on this on the daily show, that he had been cut off.

MSNBC had to hire that loathsome Ben Ginsburg to represent the bushbot position. During the debates, he was not allowed to talk directly to any of the bushbots in the spin room -- he had to introduce a reporter, then the reporter would interview the bushbot.

It was around this time that he went all rah rah President Bush.

So the real question is -- why did you over react when Karl Rove cut off access?

his being denied WH access! THAT answer should be interesting! And it is a bonafide question.

...to ask him if he knows what relief it is to have someone like David Gregory host the show.

Seriously, I find the Matthews style (bellowing, combative, slanted) simply not worthy of attention. I greatly prefer a host(ess) who can engage in give-and-take with the guest, and neither simpers nor snarls.

That's not what you were looking for, but at least it's the printable version of what I'd like to say to Matthews.

On edit: You can ask Matthews whether he agrees with James Fallows that the he said/she said, talking heads, "McLaughlin Group" style of TV journalism has done damage to journalism. Has it estranged journalists from straightforward reporting of the facts? Has this discouraged participation in the political process, or has it truly engaged the American people? What do you base those views on?

And questions in that vein.

Fallows, if I recall correctly, referred to John McLaughlin (former Jesuit, former Nixon White House staffer, current pundit on NBC) as a "titanic figure of evil" (strong words for the likes of Fallows) for his influence on TV punditry, what with the shouting matches and so forth that have grown up in the cable and broadcast networks.