The Churchillian Side of Chris Matthews: wins award for lifetime achievement in journalism

[Karmadillo]

http://www.slate.com/id/2176191/nav/fix/

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The Reves Award goes to the member of the TV commentariat who flings the best on-air spittle, which poses the question of why Matthews didn't win the prize a decade ago and have it retired in his honor. Just joshin'. Actually, the award honors "excellence in writing or speaking about Churchill's life and times, or for applying his precepts and values to contemporary issues among the English-Speaking Peoples," according to the affair's invitation.

How has Matthews applied Churchill's precepts and values to contemporary issues among English-Speaking Peoples? Churchill Centre President Laurence Geller paints Matthews' accomplishment in these bright colors in a press release. "Mr. Matthew's passion for a free and open press and the public debate that it sparks is legendary. … He is an enthusiastic supporter of democracy and has been a learned member of the news reporting fraternity throughout his distinguished and prolific career."

Legendary. Supporter of democracy. Learned reporter. Distinguished. Prolific. All of these words may capture Matthews' character, but not as well as do flighty, braying, shameless, and opportunistic. It's a shame that nobody gives a Sammy Glick Award. Matthews would be a cinch.

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If the Churchill Centre has yet to corral a presenter for Matthews, allow me to suggest Vanity Fair's James Wolcott, who appreciates the man's talents. In his 2004 book, Attack Poodles and Other Media Mutants, Wolcott writes:

Matthews manages to outrace his contradictory statements by blustering so many excitable things so fast and so often that pinning down the discrepancies is like trying to grab a gust of wind by the tail. He isn't a cynical dissembler. He seems to suffer from some pundit variant of short-term memory loss. Each day on earth erases the days before. He says what he believes and believes what he says, and has the liberating advantage of always working from a blank sheet.

Just like Churchill.

more...

[Felinity]

1. HUH?

I read recently that the subject awardee felt something like shame or guilt after his last hour with Ann Coulter.

Now I understand that he is doing another full hour with Ms. Shameless herself; it was announced during the same show with a segment (not an hour) with Valerie Plame, wherein he took up most of the time asking questions, posturing, and generally interrupting and spoiling and real answers and actual discussion.

Well, now I now what Churchill was like; I not being an historian on the subject, welcome this elucidation.

[Skarbrowe]

2. If Hillary becomes president, Ann Coulter types will be his only guests. nt

[flordehinojos]

3. in my book he is on the same level as ninoska perez-castellon ... no matter how many journalistic

degrees he may actually have. how is it JOURNALISTIC in any way to spend an entire hour talking about whether or not the clintons even live together, why are they always applauding, "what's with the applause?" he asks, and the next question i expect to hear from him is, "do they even have sex? do they even have sex with one another? do they engage in "self-abusive" sex as catholics of his generation are inclined to say ... and what care is it of his what they do, how they do, or whether they do it or not... Lord, if that is being journalistic ... i too want an award for journalism for my calling bush a bullheaded monster who is out to kill us all.

[Felinity]

4. Kick for Sat. morning

[Democrat 4 Ever]

5. Tweets recently said on "Real Time" with Maher that his favorite

Churchill quote is (paraphrasing here folks) "Dogs look up to you, cats look down on you but pigs will look you in the eye."

Why, out of a whole history of interesting things Churchill said in his long and illustrative life, Tweetys thinks that is the deepest, most profound thing Churchill said says much more about Tweety than Churchill. I can see why Tweets relates to pigs but I'm sure pigs everywhere are offended. Tweety is about as deep as a mud puddle in the middle of the Gobi Desert with a lost less to offer.

And now he has lowered the standards of whatever award they handed him. Other recipients should be pissed.