Arianna Huffington has been taking a lot of heat from right wing circles for an entry in her latest book, The Right Is Wrong, where she says John McCain made a point of saying at a Hollywood party that he didn’t vote for George Bush. Now honestly, considering what the Bush campaign did to him in 2000, I don’t blame him. The problem is that he denies it now and says he did vote for Bush. That makes him a liar. He either lied to Arianna (and actors Richard Schiff and Bradley Whitford back up Arianna’s version) back then or he’s lying now. Considering the trouncing Hillary Clinton rightfully got for her Bosnia story, I see no reason why this shouldn’t speak to McCain’s character and credibility as well.
Apparently loosey-goosey on a Friday afternoon and ready to start the weekend, Chris Matthews brings on radio talk show hosts Michael Smerconish and Ed Schultz to discuss the issue, but it’s very clear that Matthews doesn’t really think it is an issue and thinks that Arianna was in the wrong for revealing this:
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Matthews: All three of them (Richard Schiff, Bradley Whitford and Arianna Huffington) claim, say that they heard John McCain, back at a party at Candice Bergen’s house, back I guess around the time of it or a little later, that he did not vote for President Bush in 2000. He now says that he did, but he isn’t quite denying about what he said to those people. That may be a distinction without a difference, but what do you make of all this? Was he cozying up to the Hollywood crowd? [..]
Smerconish: [..] Let me ask you something: isn’t this a violation of the “dinner code”? Isn’t this like a hooker who gives up a john? Isn’t there some impropriety here?
Matthews: I used to love…I used to love that rule that where you’re out having fun with each other, you weren’t sitting there with radios, you weren’t quoting them, you weren’t going to screw them in the morning. I mean, that’s the world I like to live in, but I have learned everything you say can be used against you.
Wow. Just wow. So it’s inappropriate to point out hypocrisy on the part of a man running for the highest office in the country, but it’s perfectly fine to liken a woman to a hooker “giving up a john”? Nope, I can’t imagine why people think you’re the biggest misogynist on TV, Chris. But it gets better. Conservative Smerconish needs to spin this “I won’t vote for you, but I’ll embrace you and I’ll carry your policies on into my presidency” stance into something that simultaneously reinforces the “Maverick” persona (gag) and distances him from the least popular and effective president in the history of the country. When lefty Ed Schultz doesn’t play along, Matthews takes him to task.
Smerconish: Hey Chris, I would think no less of him if he didn’t vote for Bush, given what the Bush folks put him through in the year 2000. If John McCain said, “Hell no, I didn’t vote for him,” I don’t think any worse of the man. In fact, I think he’s more of the maverick that I hope that he is.
Matthews: So you think this might be brilliant positioning. John McCain did not vote for George Bush. Headline.
Smerconish: Could be.
Matthews: [unclear]Put it on a bumpersticker. This will make him a better …it’s not four more years, it’s a break with the past. This is the change you’ve been waiting for. His name is John McCain.
Schultz: He’s still going to do Iraq the same way Bush did. He’s still going to do Iraq the same way Bush did, so there’s no change. That’s what the American people are going to look at.
Matthews: God. Damn it. Damn it, Ed Schultz. Here it is, Friday afternoon, and I’m trying to have some fun and every time you talk like you’re on National Public Radio. I don’t want another somber, serious thought out of you in the next 3 seconds, okay? My God, I’m talking about the most inconsequential story in the world and you’re turning it into something like “This is Washington, the nation’s capitol”. Look, let me get back to someone who knows what a sense of humor is. Michael Smerconish, isn’t it funny that John McCain at the very moment he’s trying to prove his lovey dovey connections to George Bush gets outed as the guy who was bragging about voting against him? I think it’s pretty funny.
Smerconish: I think it’s hysterical and the net effect is that it helps John McCain and I think those who are spinning it are thinking it bodes poorly for him. It doesn’t. And if two people go out and have a cocktail and talk politics, it’s off limits. That’s the way it ought to be.
The most inconsequential story in the world? But Farrakhan, Wright and Ayers, those were serious issues of character. An affair with an of age intern, that was enough to take down a presidency. The tone of one’s laugh and the irrational fear of castration is enough to cause people not to vote a candidate. But holding tight to the policies of a president that you could not bring yourself to vote for, that’s nothing. Ah….the McCain Media Man Love strikes again.
Filed Under: Election 08, Hardball/Chris Matthews, McCain’s Media
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LIEBERMAN WANTS TO BE MCCAINS VP
That’s what my money is on…
If Arianna is a hooker she can have my whole paycheck. She is a smokin hot older broad.
The real story is that McCain voted against Lincoln!
why is this even a story?
after the way mcoldman was treated during the 2000 campaign, it would be logical for him to not vote for bush
wasnt isnt logical is his turnaround embracing everything that bush stands for
and what dinner etiquette??? what the fuck was that about?
Does anybody have the time anymore to listen to the nonsense spewed by these blowhards, does anyone even care what they say?
So this is the progressive MSNBC?
I was gonna call Chris Matthews an asshole, but assholes actually serve a purpose and are important to a healthy life.
uncle joe hussein mccarthy @ 4:
It’s an Old School Social Rule. Never talk about money, religion, or politics and everybody gets along just fine.
Everyone knows Arianna is a Ho. She used to openly sleep with Al Franken on national TV. I saw them so it has to be true. I wish somebody would wash that Smerc of off Mathews face. Is that how Chris got the white hair? There’s something about Mathews.
flamethrower @ 9:
Calculating opportunist would be a better description. But thats how you get fame and wealth in this country.
Wishing doesn’t make it so.
Tweety misses hanging out in the steam room and smoking “cigars”…
He obviously doesn’t view himself as a journalist since he blatantly admits he is not interested in news.
I wish everyone who was interviewed by all of these clowns had a response similar to Ed’s. Something like this…
“You do know that our country is at war? Actually, fighting two wars. And our economy is collapsing. Why, given all that, would you waste all of our time and the PUBLIC airwaves on this topic?”
Huh? How is this not a major blow to Matthews’ credibility? I hear “journalists” like Matthews say this sort of thing with some regularity– that when they’re just socializing with these politicians, it’s off the record.
Media people should not be golfing with these politicians, or drinking with them, or seeing sports games with them. They should not be pals, and they most certainly should not be allowed to put their chummy relationships with public figures ahead of their coverage. But here, Matthews not only admits to doing that, but says it’s some sort of waning *ideal*.
Ugh.
And Arianna’s positions haven’t changed, other than maybe her shaken faith in the private sector…
it’s all her former pals who blindly followed W so far to the right that they make Reagan and Nixon look like dirty hippies.
[Deleted. ALL CAPS-Sitemonitor]
Who cares? Smirkonish is nothing but Glenn Beck lite.
That Smiegel-guy is a real dipshit.
Arianna likes to work all angles. I’m not so sure how credible she is anymore.
CatAtomic @ 12:
I used to watch tweety a bit because he was against the war. He is, however, the real whore. Simply watch the way he sucks up to the guests, particularly the “important” right wingers. Spewing faux complements and transparent sycophancy so the flattered will come back on his program. A self-serving prostitute turning a tick or two to keep his ratings alive. He is vile. I have ceased watching the spitting asshole. I count the minutes until Keith.
Arianna has gotten so tied up in her own celebrity status, she has no credibility any more. Unless you want the latest Hollyweird Gossip, her site is nothing but crap. It was once a good site, but now resembles the National Enquirer and reads like Faux News created it.
I’ve been told this is a place that pays attention to what is said on TV.
I accept that.
But I see a disconnect here.
Bill Clinton’s…spillage got saved to used against him and right-wingers were fine with that. After all, he shouldn’t have been…you know. Crazy old John McCain shoots off his crazy-ass hot-tempered mouth but Arianna’s the bad guy for repeating what he said? Bizarro world. Turn off cable news. Use your own common sense to determine what’s right or wrong. Smerconish says nothing worth listening to.
ConcernedCanuck @ 18:
I know. Stuff like “How A Big Booty Boosts Your Health” isn’t exactly what I call progressive thinking.
sooth Hussein sayer @ 14:
yep that’s why he seems to be the go to fill in host for him on his crappy HLN show.
If Arianna were a male, they’d be calling her latte-sipping-pansy today. Is it really necessary to say she’s a hooker? How about just disagreeing?
ConcernedCanuck @ 18:
In this instance, what she said about McSame was repeated by two other people. How is it her credibility is being questioned? And she’s being called a prostitute by these sexist buffoons, who call themselves journalists on the national news?
Matthews is just getting warmed up. After the conventions, if he has any hope of satisfying the demands of his corporate masters, putting McCain in the White House, and keeping his job, he’s going to have to whore like he’s never whored before.
Regardless of the impropriety of the comparison, what the hell does it mean, exactly? As we all know, hookers should not give up their johns? Only the hookers belong in jail? What a bizarre analogy.
Smerconish:
Heh, yes. This is always their answer when their guy is caught in a scandal. I don’t know whether it reflects desperate spin, or a sincere belief that the public itself holds the Democrats and Republicans to different standards.
L.A. Confidential @ 21:
I agree totally LA. Arianna is all about Arianna, nothing more.
oh, the hooker who exposes the John huh?
hey about paying attention to the Madam who was suicided for her list that outed Vitter.
wheres the headline about that?
Leslie [Hussein] @ 24:
Why is she on in the first place again? Because she’s made herself a celebrity. What has she done to prove herself an expert on anything? Oh ya, she married a rich person. And now has written a book. Witnesses or not, she is tiring to listen to and does not offer anything new to discussions. McCain lies and flip flops? Wow, there’s a shocker.
“The Dinner Code”? Like Republicans stand by that. I wonder if tapping your feet is covered? Or… torture?
ConcernedCanuck @ 29:
So what about Arianna!? This is about McSame, who’s running for president.
Karen @ 26:
Yeah. It was a way for them to insult Arianna, hahahaha. It made no sense other than that. They won’t hold McSame to the same standards they’d hold a Democrat. It’s fine if McSame lies. If he lies and someone hears it, then this is how they’ll treat the person who speaks up about it.
This is so revealing about what’s wrong with the relationship between the MSM and
political power.
Its all about the cocktail circuit. NO ONE will dare call Cheney out on the issue of torture
as this will make the next White House cocktail party uncomfortable for some.
Sad and pathetic.
And they also get to choose our candidates from primaries.
So long MSNBC. So long AIR AMERICA. So long HuffPost.
Smerconish: “And if two people go out and have a cocktail and talk politics, it’s off limits. That’s the way it ought to be.”
- Bullshit, not when you’re running for president. If we are going sit around and let our joke of a media all but crucify Obama for stuff his MINISTER said, and hold Hillary accountable for her husbands policies, then what a candidate actually says HIMSELF is ALWAYS perfectly fair game. Hell McStain hasn’t even won the election (and hopefully never will) and people are already pulling out “executive privileged” style excuses to cover things up. I don’t care if he’s saying it to his wife, his cat, or his best friend George W., it’s all fair game.
** And I’m with you #2 Drago - I’m 27 and think she’s mad hot. Maybe it’s time she meets a real maverick that isn’t 300 years old and looks like the “Crypt Keeper” and talks out his ass.
Ok well at least the first 2.
What a hoot, whith all the ethical violations that have occured in this administration, Smerconish calls a “dinner code” violation as if some great ethical principle had been broken. Then he ends by claiming the need for “executive priviledge” when talking politics over a drink.
For all the whoring people have done for this administration I think Bush should be remembered as the Pimp President.
What a schmuck. Matthews is reminded that McCain will continue the disastrous occupation that is helping to take down our country’s economy as we speak, the occupation/invasion that has taken hundreds of thousands of lives already AND HE WHINES BECAUSE THE TOPIC IS A DOWNER. Makes some sad ass joke about tries to be funny “I’m going to someone with a sense of humor.”
I don’t even know what to say. My finger quivers over the caps lock again. We are talking about refugees and destoryed towns and dead families and all
over
a
lie
and a delusion that we dont’ even have the courage to discuss or defend or condemn anymore.
And the Big Deal Press just sniffles and whines about someone killing their newsbuzz with all this talk of war.
“I’m trying to talk about the most trivial thing and you’re taking it all serious” is the gist of Dipshit Matthews’ complaint and how dare he be proud of the fact that he’s being paid seven figures a year to supposedly inform the public and instead hems haws and chuckles over inconsequential topics while genocide is committed in Our Dear Lord Petroleum’s name.
Sickening psychopathic clowns with cameras.
Leslie [Hussein] @ 32:
It’s amazing, isn’t it?
Seriously, if we carried this analogy out, Smerconish is saying, “Look, Arianna, when McCain says things to you, you have to remember that you are essentially his whore. And the relationship between a john and his whore is a sacred one. The whores are expected to keep the confidence of the johns who feel safe to confess things in their arms.”
I find it interesting that the fellow thinks the impropriety is in the telling and not in the act!!!! It says a lot about what kind of people these are and why so many of these people think Washington is their own Sodom and Gomorah. His response to Matthews question shows that he thinks it is perfectly okay to screw around, just not for the tool you’re screwing to tell anyone. Talk about being out of touch with the common, God fearing, bible thumping Christians they are trying to woo.
And isn’t that response an admission?
foolme1ns @ 38:
I wouldn’t be so sure. What makes you think that isn’t exactly the position of so much of their base?
;)
I guess what I find amusing about this is the strange assumption that hookers somehow have an ethical obligation not to out johns. The moral outrage that prostitute might actually publicly divulge the sexual kinks of otherwise upstanding pillars of the community is so… naive. And revealing.
Hey, Karen! Was looking for you the other day, could have used your legalistic viewpoint… How’s it going?
Karen @ 37:
Exactly. What a disgusting display on a “news” channel. So insulting to women, which makes it OK and funny. I can