Would LOVE to know what Chris Matthews is thinking.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

I know, 99% of DU hates him

But as an exception, I miss his deep historic references and world view

Can a news "newbie" provide that? Who?

Should know, but wondering about Brian Williams.

Just yearning for gravitas.

[milestogo]

1. Rachel has oodles of gravitas.

That said, sometimes I miss Peter Jennings. I watched him all day on 9/11 because he had the appropriate gravitas.

[betsuni]

41. My husband and I loved Peter Jennings. He sometimes had ink stains on his fingers

to show us he actually wrote his own material with a fountain pen, the old fashioned way. I read a long time ago that he had to listen to "A Prairie Home Companion" and would leave his own party to do so.

[milestogo]

52. On 9/11 he started smoking again

and that ultimately led to his death.

There's nobody else like him on mass media.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

62. Yes especially when she says " i'm not a lawyer" a zillion times :)

[milestogo]

63. She always asks her guests "Did I get that right?"

and they always say yes.

I bet she always does get it right, too.

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. I imagine Chris is chomping at the bit to get back in on the talking head circuit.

This is history being made and I'm sure he'd dearly love to have someone on TV ask him his opinion. Same with Brian.

Personally, I'd like to hear Chris's opinion of Clarence Thomas. Both Holy Cross grads who almost overlapped. As a HC grad during their peak social justice - 2 years behind Thomas, I'd find that most interesting.

[tavernier]

29. He's on now and then

Last week on Morning Joe, and you can bet he will be on a bunch more as the trial nears.

[NoRethugFriends]

3. Gravitas from Tweetie????

Pour another drink. 🙄

[Celerity]

17. lolol

[Sky Jewels]

56. Exactly.

[ornotna]

4. Yearning for gravitas you say

From him?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

9. Than who? Only gravitas I've seen is Wolfe...

[Bucky]

45. Gravitas is a hat trick

Gravitas is subjective. I think you should get used to an on air personality they will acquired this characteristic of gravity that you seek. Rachel Maddow has it, Chris Hayes has it. I think among msnbc Ari Melber, Katie Phang, & Joy Reid all carry knowledge & confidence.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

60. Yes very subjective. Can't imagine tho, making yourself

watch over and over until you like someone

[Fiendish Thingy]

5. Good god, never in a million years do I want to hear from him again

I’d rather watch FOX for an hour than listen to Matthews for a minute.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

10. Lol

[Celerity]

18. Yikes!!!!

[lapucelle]

6. I miss Brian Williams

There are lots of news "personalities" who are seizing the moment to promote their brand.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

11. I should know, but what happened to him?

[lapucelle]

13. I don't know, but it's definitely a loss. N/T

[progressoid]

30. retired.

Last year he turned down CBS News’ attempt to recruit him for the Evening News

[DET]

7. Me Too!

He could be annoying, but I really enjoyed listening to Chris Matthews. He brought a lot to the table. And that laugh made me laugh. IMHO, he should not have been fired. Chris may have occasionally tiptoed over the line, but he was basically harmless, especially compared to other men of his age.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

16. Exactly - good outweighed bad?

[spooky3]

22. He was horrible to Hillary Clinton and generally a sexist.

If someone were similarly racist, I don’t think we would see many DUers calling for his return.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna837481

[DET]

26. He Could Be Sexist

But so are most men over 50 - many without even realizing it. I don’t know if you were around back in the day, but the overt sexism and sexual harassment were a million times worse. I have to cut the old timers some slack as long as they aren’t deliberately obnoxious or predatory.

[emulatorloo]

36. As I say below, he didn't like Bill Clinton either. I don't remember him being sexist about Hillary

He just didn't like the Clintons for some reason.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

37. Here's an old but interesting article about Mathews and Clinton

https://www.politico.com/story/2011/02/after-the-wh-with-bill-clinton-049887

Never heard what he had said about Hillary before. But love him or hate him, to me it's refreshing to hear a Dem be allowed to express themselves outside the box. Maybe that's what I miss too - less dogmatic.

[emulatorloo]

35. He didn't like either the male OR female Clinton.

[betsuni]

42. I really like his bark-laugh.

[wishstar]

8. Chris Matthews was just on MSNBC yesterday morning

I think it was Mike Barnicle asking him questions about current events

[Laura PourMeADrink]

14. Ok, know Mike Barnicle ,,,,(sp?) has a LONG history., But I hate

that they have to seem to wake him up to have him say something good
We laugh about it all the time. What a coochy job he landed?

[Sympthsical]

28. I normally don't correct grammar

But it's "cushy" from cushion.

However, the 30 seconds I spent laughing at that was a welcome break from finals studying.

Please don't change it.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

38. Haha. You can catch me at the comedy club :)

[Just_Vote_Dem]

51. I was wondering why I haven't seen many posts from you

Good luck with your finals!

[Sympthsical]

55. Thank you!

Today's last day with a pharmacology final. Where I've learned never give people with asthma anything, but somehow albuterol fixes everything.

I think I have that right.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

15. Ok... MoJoe has him back. Like that, but he needs his show back!

[Ilsa]

71. I think it's Mika B. who has asked him back.

She used to always sing his praises and talk about how much she always watched his show.

[spooky3]

12. Beschloss and several legal guests provide that context for me. Nt

[Celerity]

19. Jon Meacham as well

[Laura PourMeADrink]

40. That reminds me, what happened to Doris Kearns Goodwin?

[Autumn]

20. If you are yearning for gravitas from Chris Matthews you have Tweety confused with

someone else. I don't know who but that is the wrong guy, "deep historic references and world view "

[Laura PourMeADrink]

39. You forgot the " to me" part :)

[Autumn]

47. Not just me. A lot of us on the Left can't stand that republican shill.

But whatever gives your leg the tingles is fine with me.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

53. Makes me think of the new favorite word I learned today

Doctrinaire

Way WaPo described what Kathleen Mathews (his wife) WAS NOT when the paper endorsed her over Jamie Raskin for Dem House seat.

[Autumn]

64. If you are trying to imply that I am a doctrinaire. I can assure you I'm not. I well remember

spittle guy from the Clinton impeachment and the Bush years. I can't stand dead armadillos with yellow stripes and republican light talking heads.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

66. Great! But have no idea what last sentence means :)

[malaise]

21. He was on Morning JoeScum a few times recently

This is from a few weeks ago

[hardluck]

23. I wish Mark Russell was still alive

Would love to see him on his piano singing about this.

[Mr.Bill]

24. I wish Hunter S. Thompson

was still around. I can only imagine what he would have been writing for the last six years. In his own way, he brought sanity to the Nixon and Reagan years for me.

[OAITW r.2.0]

31. Me too!

He'd have been all over this mob boss.

[Maru Kitteh]

25. That's okay. You're not alone. I'd like it if he were on the panel

tonight too. He has a wealth of experiences and deep knowledge that makes him interesting even when he's a little infuriating.

[KentuckyWoman]

27. Didn't Matthew's tell us

Just the thought of Trump gave him tingly legs.... or... something?

[emulatorloo]

32. No. That was Bush on the aircraft carrier. He became highly critical of W afterwards. Thought

Trump was anti-Democratic and he was.

He absolutely despised Trump because of his birtherism.

When trump ran he made mincement of Trump surrogates in the post debate spin room and on his show.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

50. I get that too

but it's the damn sciatica

[electric_blue68]

33. Well, Chris Mathews wrote a deeply compelling book about Sen RFK...

Relates his history both personal, and political; a bunch I didn't know .

Most eye opening was how RFK was a gentle child. People like my mom who watched him as part of Joe McCarthy's HUAC hearings team - said to me in early 1968 of Bobby, "He's changed!"

His father Joe hated that about him So Bobby hid that part of himself.

After JFK's assassination slowly that part of him began to re-emerge. Now, I'd forgotten that RFK went into the Armed Forces. He met many different kinds of people there.

Couple those earlier experiences, with the reapperance of this part of himself through intense tragedy; he became the deeply compassionate polititian that captured many people's hearts.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

68. Yes! He did

[electric_blue68]

70. Did you read it? (Yay, for Library e-books!) I might see if there's a...

(probably) a trade paperback at some point when I get a some extra money.

[emulatorloo]

34. Agreed, very knowledgeable about history and politics. Glad to hear he is on Morning Joe sometimes.

[Earth-shine]

43. I always though Matthews was a great guest on other people's programs. He's knowledgeable and speaks

Last edited Fri Aug 4, 2023, 08:09 AM - Edit history (1)

with clarity.

But, as a host, he was awful. He would talk over his guests.

He once made this strange comment how this woman gave him tingles in his leg.

Then, there's these ...

[Autumn]

48. GW Bush was the one who gave his leg tingles.

[Earth-shine]

49. Yes! You're right. Now I remember.

Oh, cringe.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

54. And Obama speeches too ??

Last night during MSNBC's Potomac Primary coverage, Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann were discussing Barack Obama's speech. Matthews — who, in the past, has both cried over an Obama speech and compared him to Jesus — described exactly what happens to him when Obama speaks:

I have to tell you, you know, it's part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama's speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don't have that too often.

[Carlitos Brigante]

73. WTAF is wrong with that creepy little weirdo? Holy shit! That's some "gravitas" right there! nt

[Paladin]

44. I don't miss Matthews one bit.

By the end of his TV career, it seemed like he was spending equal time commenting on news events and pimping his latest books, of which there were far too many. Good riddance.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

46. Books !!! :)

[Sky Jewels]

57. Chris Matthews aka The Interrupter

He was an unwatchable, sexist jerk.

I hope to never hear anything more that comes out of his pie hole.

[MurrayDelph]

58. Don't miss him at all

In addition to the sexism, both-siderism, and endless promoting of his books (which he would bring up whether it was relevant or not), he was known for bigfooting his way into interviews others had arranged, and stealing other hosts' show prep.

I'll never forget his final day: he had been told it would be his last show, so he should leave some time at the end to say "good-bye." Instead of leaving professionally (and possibly making the executives question their decision), he walked on, said good-bye, and left with 57 minutes of show left.

Steve Kornacke was thrown in front of the camera, was uncomfortable with the surprise for a few minutes, but by the end of show he was vamping was more informative and professional than Tweety had been for years.

[senseandsensibility]

61. I remember this in real time too

It was beyond unprofessional and I can't help but think that if ANY woman had pulled that she would have never heard the end of it.

[Emile]

59. The only one I miss is Keith Olbermann.

[ZonkerHarris]

65. I miss his constantly interrupting every guest and never letting them speak

oh, no I don't

[Laura PourMeADrink]

67. I do. So many absolutely need interrupting :)

It's pants on fire, offer outside the box thinking time for sure. Droning on about what happened yesterday ( which we already know) and bland analysis is beyond the pale To me anyway ?

[ZonkerHarris]

72. at least he mostly talked over and rode roughshod on his women guests so there's a bright side

[Laura PourMeADrink]

74. Don't know if that's true..hope not! but I saw him swallow anyone

who was acting lightweight regardless of gender.

[Kennah]

69. Kronkite, Wallace, or Russert

Rather or Donaldson would be awesome