If only he’d been playing softball, instead of ‘Hardball’

May 16, 2008

In the unlikely event you haven’t seen it elsewhere, right-wing shock-jock Kevin James appeared on MSNBC’s “Hardball” yesterday afternoon, and Chris Matthews humiliated him. It was a bit like watch a car crash — you really don’t want to see the carnage, and yet, you find it hard to turn away.

For all of his many, many flaws, Chris Matthews is not a complete fool. He’s been around long enough to know when he has a dim-witted, clueless guest on his program, and yesterday, he felt compelled to say so.

I realize that not all right-wing voices are as dense and uninformed as Kevin James — he seems to be a uniquely embarrassing individual — but in some ways, Matthews was highlighting the flaw in the cliched conservative talking points . Any ol’ clown can pick up his talking points, and go on national television to shout “appeasement!” but if you just scratch the surface a little bit, you see that there’s nothing underneath. In James’ case, the poor schmuck didn’t even seem to know what “appeasement” means; he just wanted to use it over and over again without being questioned.

It’s a lengthy clip, but it’s surprisingly easy to summarize. James compared Obama to Neville Chamberlain because Obama is prepared to talk to our enemies, calling this “appeasement.” Matthews repeatedly asked James to explain what Chamberlain did to appease Hitler. The best James could come up with was, “He’s an appeaser!”

After telling this nut, “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Kevin,” Matthews explained, “What Chamberlain did wrong, most people would say, is not talking to Hitler, but giving him half of Czechoslovakia in 1938. That’s what he did wrong. Not talking to somebody. Appeasement is giving things away to the enemy.”

It wasn’t clear if James understood the history lesson. Indeed, it wasn’t clear if he could understand any history lesson that didn’t involve cartoons and monosyllabic words.

It was hard to take anything the poor guy said seriously, but there’s one talking point making the rounds in right-wing circles that came up, which should probably be addressed. From the show:

MATTHEWS: And you think it was a fair shot to go overseas and to take a shot politically against a fellow American?

JAMES: Let me tell you who should have been overseas. Barack Obama should have been overseas and talking to Israel in the Knesset! Barack Obama is the one whose Israel policies are very questionable. Barack Obama is the one who had Robert Malley, a Middle East foreign policy adviser, who just left the Obama campaign because it was discovered that he was secretly working in — you know, in confidence with Hamas!

Wow, Obama had an advisor who is “in confidence with Hamas”? I had no idea. What a shocking revelation.

Except this is total nonsense. Malley was part of the International Crisis Group (ICG), whose purpose is to facilitate the negotiated conflict-resolutions between international parties. Bush pushed for the elections that empowered Hamas, and then Malley and the ICG met with the winner of the administration-backed Palestinian elections. Of course Malley talked to Hamas. It was his job to talk to Hamas.

This does not mean, of course, that Malley was “in confidence with Hamas.” Either Kevin James doesn’t know what the ICG is, or doesn’t know what “in confidence” means.

Given yesterday’s performance on “Hardball,” I suppose it could be both.

That guy is so stupid he doesn’t know the definition of “do.” That whole clip was painful. I hate it when stupid people getup an blather at the top of their lungs – makes the rest of us human beings look bad.

What is it with Republican blow hards that they have to yell? I guess that these people frequently don’t know what they are talking about so they yell, don’t let anyone get a word in, and generally act the a**hole for fear a rational thought might intrude on the delusion or they are afraid that they will suffer by comparison when another guest looks sane/smart.

  • It was a thing of beauty. I was shocked at how vitriolic Matthews was with this fool.

  • I saw it live and laughed my ass off. It doesn’t make up for all Tweedys shit though.

  • My favorite part is when the wingnut guy says “watch Path to 9/11” as if it is a documentary and not a fictitious mockudrama.

    Where exactly is this guy a radio host?

  • The current state of wingnuttery is in serious trouble is the James guy is the best and the brightest.

    Of course this guy obviously ain’t the best and brightest and wingnuttery may still be in trouble.

  • rick is spot-on, yes it was good and I am grateful it is all over the blogosphere.

    The question that needs to be asked is: Why doesn’t tweety give mcclame the same treatment?

    He knows even less than this right-wing talking point, is now spewing ignorant crap all over the campaign trail, and is much more than an obnoxious radio host – the thinks he should be POTUS.

    Instead, tweety conducts a lover-fest and catapults the propaganda by giving him a free pass on virtual everything – its just goo-goo eyes and kissy-kissy faces.

  • And just to keep the good media news coming, this morning CNN’s John Roberts essentially had his show stolen from him by Joe Biden, who couldn’t have kicked John McCain’s ass any harder if he’d been wearing steel-toed boots and taken a ten-foot run at it. It was a thing of beauty. Biden may end up being the best attack dog we’ve got in this campaign (ok, aside from the usual Biden traits of saying in 4 minutes what should have taken 40 seconds, and embellishing with his own greatness. but still. he waxed McCain.)

  • Tweety is still a major tool, but he certainly had a moment of greatness here.

    Apart from James’ world-class moronitude and bellicosity, I was struck once again by how these winger radio fools never get that they need to pull in their verbal elbows for cable news interviews. James was all about repeating the same simpleminded but loooooong sentences over and over in increasing volume. He did this not just because he’s d-u-m, but because that’s how you fill the hours on radio shows targeted to painfully dim bulbs.

  • I, too, think that was very painful to watch, a jerk who kept shouting and talking over Tweety, making the same meaningless statements over and over again, not listening, trying to bullshit his way through his own ignorance. I wanted to punch him in the nose. Who in the hell would listen to such a jackass?

  • Barack Obama is the one who had Robert Malley, a Middle East foreign policy adviser, who just left the Obama campaign because it was discovered that he was secretly working in — you know, in confidence with Hamas!

    Somebody needs to tell Debbie Schlussel, who wrote this:

    And, unlike the Barack Obama who clings to anti-Semites and terrorism supporters, John McCain did the right thing: He dumped Ali Jawad–an open Hezbollah supporter and key agent of the terrorist group in the Detroit area. Jawad is also a federal insurance fraud convict.

    And someone needs to tell that cock-strutting Bush (is that an oxymoron?) what appeasement means, too. By the way it was William Borah (R-ID) he was accusing of appeasing the Nazis in 1939.

  • My favorite part is when the wingnut guy says “watch Path to 9/11″ as if it is a documentary and not a fictitious mockudrama.

    Better yet, he even screwed up the reference, calling it “Pathway to 9/11.”

    Seriously, I could watch that all day.

  • And isn’t this delicious?

    McCain 2006 “They’re the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so . . . but it’s a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that.”

  • Actually found my self cheering for Mathews………… which is rare, but it was like a “Keith Olberman- special comment” kind of feeling

    VERY GREATFUL HE CALLED OUT THIS IGNORANT S.O.B AND GAVE HIM A GOOD HISTORY LESSON !!!!

    but i doubt he learned anything after all that screamimg

  • What the hell? Chris Matthews FINALLY plays Hardball? Well, then. He’s finally earned himself some points in journalistic credibility. He’s still in the hole, though. A few more thousand performances like this one oughta help.

  • Two years ago, in an interview with James Rubin for Sky News, Sen. John McCain expressed a willingness to negotiate with the terrorist group Hamas — the very group that McCain has been relentlessly using to smear Sen. Barack Obama over the last several weeks.

    Rubin has written an op-ed in Friday’s Washington Post about his exchange with McCain, and The Huffington Post has obtained exclusive video. Here’s the key excerpt:

    RUBIN: “Do you think that American diplomats should be operating the way they have in the past, working with the Palestinian government if Hamas is now in charge?”

    McCAIN: “They’re the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so . . . but it’s a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that.”

  • Most dangerous thing on earth – group-think idiots with the power of the vote! -Kevo

  • I was struck by the same thing “Novin” was … this idiot actually cited the ABC movie “Path to 9/11” to substantiate his position (and, of course, Tweety was so fixated on the fact that he knew what Neville Chamberlain had done and Kevin James obviously didn’t that he actually let a reference to a “docudrama” written by a right-wing zealot slide right on by). Now, anybody wanna bet that Matthews will invite this clown back and the idiot will actually accept the invitation? (Side bet … Matthews will actually be respectful to him.)

  • This is a classic and too often successful Republican tactic of taking a single word, in this case appeasement, distorting/changing its meaning and attaching it to their enemy so the brainless automatons that repeat the talking points have an easier time of it. The issue here is not that James didn’t have a clue who Neville Chamberlain was, but that he [and I dare say now every Republican] equates appeasement with diplomacy. In one easy maneuver, Bush has turned the diplomacy into an evil.

    “Appeasement” is a big word that the wingnuts will never bother to look up. Tweety did a good job of shedding some light on it. But more has to be done.

  • Day-um…I just want to look James in the face, and say: “Titanic—meet iceberg.” Someone must’ve snuck a dose of steroids in Tweety’s kool-aid ration, or maybe substituted a healthy shot of Bushmills. None of that cheap Crown Royal rubbish!

  • It is a pleasant fantasy to imagine John McCain undergoing such questioning:

    Matthews: “Senator McCain, you’ve talked about threats from Shiite extremists and al Qaeda terrorists, who are Sunni. Can you explain for our viewers the difference between the Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam?”

    McCain: “Um, well Shiite Muslims are the majority in Iran, and Iran has been a major supporter of the al Qaeda in Iraq, And the Sunni were the majority in Iraq until we overthrew Sadaam, but now they’re the minority and the Shiites rule Iraq. But the Shiites under Malaki have nothing to do with Iran.”

    Matthews: “Are you saying the Sunnis were the majority population in Iraq under Sadaam Hussein/”

    McCain: “Yes… No! The Sunnis ruled Iraq but there were still more Shiites.”

    Matthews: “Okay, but what’s the difference between the Shiites and the Sunni? They both follow Mohammed, but why are they fighting each other?”

    McCain: “The Sunni have always been more friendly to the west, like our friends in Saudi Arabia. The Shiites have been hostile to the west.”

    Matthews: “But al Queda is a Sunni Muslim organization.”

    McCain: “Yes, but they’re not really Muslims, they’re just terrorists and criminals.”

    Matthews: “So when did the Sunni and Shi’a split occur?”

    McCain: “Well, the Iranian revolution was when the Shiites first came to power….”

    Matthews: “But Senator, your strength is your extensive knowledge of foreign policy. Doesn’t the Sunni – Shi’a division go back further, like to Ali?”

    McCain: “Who?”

    Matthews: “Ali — the son-in-law of the prophet Mohammed, who the Shiites believe should have been named as Mohammed’s successor.”

    McCain: “You’re asking about historical trivia. I let the elitists worry about that. Americans want a president who will, who can fight the terrorists over there so they don’t attack us. The Iranians are Shiite and they want to attack us and to attack Israel so we have to protect America from them by keeping them from getting nuclear weapons.”

    Matthews: “But Osama bin Laden attacked us and he was a Sunni from Saudi Arabia.”

    McCain: (angrily) “Look, I don’t need to know the difference between two bunches of ragheads to know which ones to kill. Americans want a president who can keep the oil flowing . . . I mean, Americans want president who can keep them safe. And Barack Hussein Obama won’t fight the Muslims to keep us safe.”

    * * * *

    Unfortunately, McCain will never be subjected to such questioning. In truth, I’m not sure very many of the talking heads in the corporate-controlled media know the difference between Sunni and Shi’a.

    But it’s still a nice fantasy to take into the weekend.

  • [snark on] Kevin James bloviations – NO WONDER it’s so hot in LA! It’s too bad you can’t harness that stuff – it might help our energy problems. [/snark off]

  • even a blind pig finds a acorn now and then. nevertheless, good on ya, tweety.

  • IT’S NOT WHAT YOU SAY, IT’S HOW YOU SAY IT!!!!!!! KEVIN JAMES IS A GENIUS BECAUSE HE TALKS WITH THE CAP LOCK ON!!!!!!!!!

  • Just why is this wingnut even on Hardball? He’s not an “expert” in anything. He’s a DJ without records.

  • MATTHEWS: And you think it was a fair shot to go overseas and to take a shot politically against a fellow American?

    Let’s not pass this point by. Why was George bad-mouthing the presumptive Democratic nominee in a foreign country. That’s pretty much a no-no.

  • that’s how you fill the hours on radio shows targeted to painfully dim bulbs.

    True, but let’s not kid ourselves – this programing is on the major media markets regardless regardless of whether people actually want it. The saturation of media markets with the likes of rush limpballs has nothing to do with whether or not people agree with him.

    When 80+ % of Americans want to see change and the mainstream media (TV, radio, newspapers) continue to “catapult” the same old propaganda, one thing should be clear:

    The corporate owners of TV, radio, and newspapers have collectively decided that these assets are more “profitable” as vehicles to “catapult the propaganda” than as sources of real entertainment or information.

    Time Warner, Disney, Murdoch’s News Corporation, Bertelsmann of Germany, and Viacom (formerly CBS) — now control most of the media industry in the U.S. General Electric’s NBC is a close sixth.

    Please look at THIS CHART to see a timeline of how this has happened.

    The corpocracy knows that the real money to be made is in the military-industrial complex (of which Oil is a major component) and that undermining our democracy pays them bigger dividends.

    This should surprise now one – the media has largely existed to sell us crap and lies through commercials in the first place.

    When we are ready to accept and talk about this, then the next step is to find ways to get groups of people to stop giving these corporations (and their advertisers) the cash they need to continue the parade of propaganda.

  • Rush Limbaugh? — CAP LOCK’S ON!!!!!

    O’Reilly? — CAP LOCK ON!!!!!

    Kevin James? – CAP LOCK ON, BABY!!!!!!

    If Matthew’s is so damn sure of himself, WHY ISN’T HE TALKING LIKE THIS?????!!!!!!!

    EAT THIS, YOU LIMP-WRISTED, LOWER-CASE LOSERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • You know an army of “conservatives” burned up the internet yesterday looking up Neville Chamberlain on wikipedia. NOW they’ll all be experts.

    That is one of the most dangerous and disturbing thing about the right wing, the ignorance and lack of real knowledge of a huge number of the “faithfull.” They parrot (I hate to use that term because I have two macaws and both are much smarter than these people) whatever talking points they’re spoon fed and spout words and concepts they have no real understanding of.

  • SteveT, that was priceless! You did a brilliant job there. Thanks!

    I still dislike Tweety, but I do give him kudos for this. And I still think he sees the Olbermann writing (er, ratings) on the wall.

    I wish it was a matter of right and wrong, but I believe it’s nothing more than self preservation.

    Nonetheless, I liked it. 🙂 A lot!

  • One of the important things to remember about Chamberlain’s “appeasement” is that Britain believed that it did not have the means to confront the Nazi war machine in 1938. And they were probably right, since they barely survived 1940 after several years of preparation. Many people have argued that Chamberlain was arguably sacrificing Czechoslovakia to save Europe.

    This is a good summary of the situation in September of 1938, and may be relevant to our own crazy leader and his military:

    None of the powers in western Europe wanted war. They severely overestimated German dictator Adolf Hitler’s military ability at the time, and while Britain and France had superior forces to the Germans they felt they had fallen behind, and were undergoing massive military rearmament to catch up. Hitler, on the other hand, was in just the opposite position. He far exaggerated German power at the time and was desperately hoping for a war with the west which he thought he could easily win. He was pushed into holding the conference, however, by Italian leader Benito Mussolini who was unprepared for a Europe-wide conflict, and was also concerned about the growth of German power. The German military leadership also knew the state of their armed forces and did all they could to avoid war.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Agreement

    Bush wants war with Iran pretty bad right now, but Fallon was reportedly keeping him in check. Now that Fallon has been chucked and the idiot Petraeus has the wheel, we may get to find out how ill prepared we are for a conflict with Iran.

  • APPEASEMENT! He’s an APPEASER! WTF is wrong with you people? He’s APPEASING. What part of APPEASEMENT don’t you get?

    -appease

  • Racer X, good points. I was at some of the same sites. At first I was horrified that my understanding of Munich was backasswords(ready to give up my right to vote). But Chamberlain etal didnt cede the Sudetenland to Germany. There was a deal already in place( a concession to reality by the Czechs, their country was another kluge created for the convenience of the west ala Iraq, Rwanda and the german speakers there were unhappy about being Czech). Chamberlain acknowledged a coming reality that he was in no position to change, hoping to avoid war. As to who gained more from the delay in hostilities, I’ve heard it both ways.

  • Although he exposed a blowhard’s lack of historical facts, Matthews let the larger issue go unanswered. I think Matthews should have asked him what “appeasement” means. I’m afraid the Republicans are conflating appeasement, which is a very bad word in America, not as bad as “pacifism” to be sure, but pretty awful, with diplomacy/negotiate/talk. In other words, real men don’t talk, they fight. This is how Republicans plan to win the national security issue, by painting Obama as a sissy, a wimp, a man who is afraid to use our military might to subdue our “enemies” through force.

    And in that respect, Matthews put on a sideshow yesterday. He didn’t get to the heart of the matter. And Racer X #35 touches on a very crucial point – that American military power, as formidable as it is, cannot bully the rest of the world into doing its bidding. Our limitations ought to be stunningly clear from the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan fiascos that there’s not much military might can accomplish against people who don’t particularly like our barging in on them and taking over.

    It should be painfully obvious that warring is not the solution to foreign policy problems, but the 1000 pound gorilla in the room – that our mighty army can’t even defeat a few disgruntled insurgents and homegrown terrorists after years and years of exhausting effort – goes unrecognized. Soviets in Afghanistan, anyone?

    I don’t think the Democrats have the guts to call attention to this fact. Instead, we’ll call for even more military prowess, make our military even bigger, waste more money, and rob the people of truly vital needs like health care, education, living wage jobs, clean energy etc etc.

    Oh what a waste. We could sure use Eisenhower now. For that matter, I think Jesus was wasted 2000 years ago in that dinky part of the world where he preached. But he’d never get anywhere today I’m afraid. Too wimpy. Peace, love, harmony, forgiveness, generosity – isn’t that appeasement?

  • MATTHEWS: And you think it was a fair shot to go overseas and to take a shot politically against a fellow American?

    Dale: “Let’s not pass this point by. Why was George bad-mouthing the presumptive Democratic nominee in a foreign country. That’s pretty much a no-no.”

    As is a presidential candidate saying she would “obliterate” a country during the campaign just to score “macho” points.

  • Shorter Kevin James: “It doesn’t matter what Chamberlain did or even what the word ‘appeasement’ means! All you need to know is that by the tone and volume of my voice, its bad and by association, Obama is bad!”

  • aristedes (#9) asked: Who in the hell would listen to such a jackass?

    If you have to ask that question, you obviously haven’t met Homer, the beer-bellied loser with a dead-end life and no career prospects at work, have you? The one spouting Limpdick’s bullshit at the water cooler?

    Guys like Kevin James are the ones Mencken was thinking of when he said “nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.” I am sure that Dim Boy is probably yelling at all the Homers about how they all got dissed by the “lib’rul media” when Tweety did that to him.

  • For all of his many, many flaws, Chris Matthews is not a complete fool.

    Nah, he knows how to check a weathervane.

  • hark (#38) said: It should be painfully obvious that warring is not the solution to foreign policy problems, but the 1000 pound gorilla in the room – that our mighty army can’t even defeat a few disgruntled insurgents and homegrown terrorists after years and years of exhausting effort – goes unrecognized. Soviets in Afghanistan, anyone?

    As Michael Klare points out in his excellent article on America the former superpower over at http://www.Tomdispatch.com (highly recommended), the American military is about to go broke on the issue of energy. We use 27 gallons of gas per day per soldier. And the Army is being charged the same price for a gallon of gas we all are. As the dollar continues its fall, we’re going to be confronted in a year with American soldiers begging on the streets of Baghdad for the gas to drive their tanks out of the country in the big retreat.

    No superpower that doesn’t control its own energy sources remains a superpower – or even a “great power” – for long.

  • Maybe tweety is rediscovering his brain. More likely he is just pandering to his view of the new and rapidly emerging political reality/majority/paying audience.
    Matthews has adjusted his politics with regularity over the years as is indicated by his associations with or preferences for Goldwater, McCarthy, Carter, and now chimpy. His series of Aqua Velva comments seem to suggest that these leanings are aroma based, but I find a career based pander to be more likely.
    Now the Tweet man tells us that he gets that twingle, or whatever he called it, up his leg whenever Obama speaks. Yuk. but the writing is on the wall. It is time for tweet to make a principled swing from the current loser Reds, back to the not-loser Dems.
    So here we have a courageous on-air bullying of the idiot James ( like killing mice in a box with a Kalashnikov ), …the apology to HRC, …the thing about BO up his leg, …. anyone else here see a pattern ???

    Pissing on libs is becoming a money loser.
    Exposing fascists & fools is experiencing a minor comeback; its futures are selling higher.

  • ***Steve T #23*** good one, but I doubt McCain even knows that much.
    Heard a Rush listener claim they only understand a boot in the back of their neck and holding them down like the British did before they pulled out.

    Face the fact that there will always be about 25% of the population that are led by sound bites, who lack the ability or inclination for critical thinking, who will always find something to throw racks at and destroy rather than build, whose only concern is for themselves…the republican neocons fall right in there as the group to manipulate them.

  • I’ve been wondering how come the jerk even knew the word (appease) and realised he learnt it from Bush. But then the question emerged as to where our literacy-challenged leader learnt it. And, I think, I finally have the answer. It goes back to the nursery:
    Appease porridge hot
    Appease porridge cold
    Appease porridge in the pot
    Nine days old

  • Just to underscore little bear’s point at #29 – no more proof of his argument about the motivation of the corporate media is necessary than the still deafening silence of that same media about the Pentagon propagandists exposed by the NYT a few weeks ago.

    When we get Obama and lots of other Democrats elected in November our work isn’t over – in fact it will be just beginning. Then we will have to get serious about re-regulating media ownership, copyright issues, FCC policy, and a host of other problems – and that’s just with media.

    We will also have to acknowledge that we have been the victims of relentless class warfare since the bad old Reagan days, and start fighting back in ways that reverse the redistribution of wealth that’s been implemented by Publicans and DLC DINOs since at least 1980.

  • Kevvie must have been absent from home school the day his mommy taught the lesson about the Sudeten Crisis. Had he been there, he might have learned that Chamberlain’s appeasement lay not in the mere act of sitting down with Hitler, but rather in his cession of the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany.

    But I suspect Kevvie’s mommy’s home school history book, “Jesusland: Greatest Country in The History of the Universe” just didn’t cover unimportant topics like Yurp.

  • Once we get the entire government replaced by Democrats in November we will really have a lot of work to do. Just restoring the Constitution and repairing the damage done to us by Bush is going to take a lot of hard work. Having Senator Edwards as Atty General would be a great first step.

  • Jimmy Carter Obama. You will bring the country to its knees, then try to blame someone else. Just wait for stagflation. For you dumbass lefties who are too yound to remember: Prime rate 21%, inflation 14%. Bring it on. I’m sure it will be someone else’s fault. Poor victims are you.

  • Hmmm, BDS is Kevin James with “JIMMY CARTER!!!!!!” replacing “APPEASEMENT!!!!!” as the Tourette’s-like blurt-out of choice.

  • No, BDS is absolutely right – more right than he knows! I mean, we don’t even have to wait for stagflation. Its awful and Dubya is bringing it to us right now! And he even noted that the victims will be the poor! Man, this BDS guy is brilliant!

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