Chris Matthews: GOP using ‘Cold War CIA tactics’ to bring down U.S. government

By Eric W. Dolan/Raw Story

MSNBC host Chris Matthews tore into the Republican Party on his show Tuesday night, comparing their anti-government attitude to CIA-led coups during the Cold War.

“If they didn’t like a government somewhere — Guatemala, Iran, the Dominican Republic, Chile — they just brought it down,” he said. “Guess what, Republicans are now using the same tactic here at home. If they don’t like who we’ve elected president, they find some way to undermine the government, discredit its leaders, whatever it takes to destroy it.”

“We are using in this country the same old Cold War CIA tactics to destabilize our own country,” Matthews continued. “Look at the impact of the constant threats to shut down the government on public confidence. It’s all in the ratings. It’s making people forever nervous about the basic ability of America to even have a running government. Is that patriotic? I don’t think so.”

The liberal MSNBC host alleged that while President Barack Obama was attempting to keep the government running, Republicans were hoping to gain political points by refusing to compromise and crash the government.

Watch video, courtesy of MSNBC, below:

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Hardball guest: NRA supported gun control in the 1960s because of Black Panthers

By Samantha Kimmey/Raw Story

On Hardball with Chris Matthews on Friday, the host criticized the “slippery slope crowd,” or people who believe that gun control or limits to the Second Amendment are “the first unfaltering step towards mass confiscation” of all guns

“My question, are the regular gun owners of this country, the people who go out and hunt in hunting season, the people who shoot skeet or simply like to pack their own bullets, regular gun enthusiasts, are they going to listen to these nut cases, or to Joe Biden when he offers proposals like last week on background checks and high capacity magazines?”

Joy Reid, managing editor at The Grio and MSNBC political analyst, said she did not believe most gun owners would side with those on the “fringe” who are stockpiling assault rifles.

David Corn of Mother Jones said that in the 1990s, Clinton managed to pass an assault weapons ban by enlisting law enforcement’s support, creating a “wide coalition.”

Matthews then showed a clip of James Yeager, who the Raw Story reported on Thursday said he would “start killing people” if Obama continued to push gun control. The host also spotlighted Alex Jones, who said, “the Second Amendment isn’t there for duck hunting. It’s there to protect us from tyrannical government and street thugs.”

Reid said that these were not “normal pro-Second Amendment people” and that paranoid individuals were attempting to speak for all gun owners.

She also seriously questioned a claim from the chair of the Gun Appreciation Day: that slavery might not have happened if everyone in America had been allowed to have a gun and that Martin Luther King Jr. would probably agree with him.

“Why is it that every time the far right decides to make an argument that is insane, they jump on the civil rights movement or slavery and latch their argument onto the history of African Americans?” she asked.

Matthews then mentioned a proposed law in Wyoming that would charge federal officials or agents with a felony who “attempts to enforce an act, order, law, statute, rule or regulation of the United States government” on a person’s firearm or ammunition.

We’re not making this up, ladies and gentleman,” Matthews said.

Reid then said that when the Black Panthers in the 1960s advocated for an individual right to arms, “It was people like Governor Ronald Reagan who pushed for gun control. He signed the Mulford Act, which essentially made it illegal to carry guns in public, illegal to carry guns in a car,” which she said tha NRA supported because it was aimed at curtailing the Black Panther movement.

Watch the video, via MSNBC, below.

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Chris Matthews: Republicans would have blamed Obama for 9/11

By Eric W. Dolan/Raw Story

On his show Tuesday night, MSBNC host Chris Matthews said Republicans would have blamed the September 11 terror attacks on President Barack Obama if he were in office at the time.

The liberal TV host began by calling on Republicans to stop blaming Obama for failing to clean up the mess they created during the Bush administration. He also accused Republicans of stoking so-called birther conspiracies about Obama.

“Imagine if Democrats played this rough,” Matthews said. “Imagine if they blamed the Republican Party for a failure of national security on the eve of 9/11? Does anyone doubt they’d have done it to the Democrats had the horrible attacks occurred on Obama’s watch? Really. Can’t you hear the birthers and tea partiers gyrating with righteous indignation over that one?”

He said Republicans were “dying” for voters to “reward them for the single virtue of having lost the last election so they didn’t have to be here cleaning up the mess they left behind.”

Watch video, courtesy of MSNBC, below:

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GOP lawmaker admits he’s extorting Congress to rewrite Constitution

By David Edwards/Raw Story

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews Monday that he is giving Congress ten days to pass a constitutional amendment that would make raising taxes nearly impossible. And if he doesn’t get what he wants, he will do everything in his power to force the U.S. to default on its debts.

“Okay, in ten days you want to change the United States Constitution by two-thirds vote in both houses?” Matthews asked. “That’s what you’re demanding.”

“Yes,” Lee admitted. “If possible we can’t change the Constitution just in Congress but we can submit it to the states. Let the states fight it out.”

“You want the Democratic Senate, by a two-thirds vote, to pass a constitutional amendment or you want the house to come down?” Matthews pressed.

“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying and I’ve been saying this for six months,” Lee said.

Lee’s amendment would require a two-thirds majority to raise taxes, making future tax hikes nearly impossible. He would also require spending to return to 1996 levels.

Watch this video from MSNBC’s Hardball, broadcast July 25, 2011.

Chris Matthews Clowns Steve King, Forces Iowa Congressman To Admit He Doesn’t ‘Trust The Words Of Any Source’

By Faiz Shakir /Think Progress


Reps. Steve King (R-IA), Michele Bachmann (R-MN), and Louie Gohmert (R-TX) introduced a bill today that they claim would help manage a government default if the debt limit is not raised by Aug. 2. The legislation is motivated by the right-wing triumvirate’s view that the default would not have severe repercussions on our economy. “I think we have plenty of money to service our debt,” King said today.

This afternoon on Hardball, host Chris Matthews wondered how King could come to such an aberrant determination that a default is not a threat. “You have some superior knowledge — what basis do you have for your judgement?” Matthews asked. “I do have superior knowledge, thanks for recognizing it,” King jokingly responded.

Over the next few minutes — at the very same moment Moody’s was reporting that it may downgrade the U.S. AAA bond rating — Matthews pressed King on where he gets his knowledge. Hilarity ensued:

MATTHEWS: Who are the people you’re dealing with? [...]

KING: The American citizens. [...]

MATTHEWS: So you’re polling in your district to find out whether the United States goes into default or not at the end of this month. … They know what’s going to happen…

KING: I have an independent judgment as well.

MATTHEWS: Ok tell me where it comes from.

KING: It comes from a long experience of dealing politically, and in business, and raising a family, and being an American citizen…

MATTHEWS: What does raising a family teach you about international finance? [...]

KING: That’s not my only source of information — is raising my children. [...]

MATTHEWS: Do you trust the Wall Street Journal, do you trust the New York Times?

KING: I read the Wall Street Journal. I sometimes read the New York Times. I don’t really trust it. I don’t trust the words of any source.

Matthews continued pressing King on whether he trusts the Chamber of Commerce and other conservative organizations who warn of a crisis if the debt limit isn’t raised. King said he challenges all those sources.

Matthews then asked if King could cite one — just one — international or domestic expert who he trusts on these issues and agrees with his view. King, of course, could not name one. Watch it:

Chris Matthews: Republicans are ‘terrorists’ in budget negotiations

By Eric W. Dolan/Raw story

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews said Tuesday it was scary that Republicans like Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) were willing to “not face the warning signs” about raising the federal debt ceiling and take the United States “right of the cliff.”

His guest, Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO), noted that it was a misconception that raising the debt ceiling would permit Congress to spend more.

“All we are doing is making good on the spending that has already occurred,” she said. “It’s like they bought a new car and don’t want to make the payments.”

Later speaking with Salon.com’s Joan Walsh, Matthews said that the Republican’s plan to hold the debt ceiling “hostage” until Democrats agreed to budget cuts was “terrorism.”

Watch video, courtesy of MSNBC, below:

MSNBC host Chris Matthews: Is Palin even capable of thinking?

By Eric W. Dolan

Ron Paul suggests basic freedoms depend on property rights

By murielkane

On the same day that he announced his candidacy for the presidency, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) made waves by telling MSNBC’s Chris Matthews that he would not have voted for the 1964 Civil Rights Act if he had been in Congress at the time.

Paul dismissed claims that he is a racist as “outlandish” and said he would have voted to desegregate public facilities. He insisted, however, that private business owners have an absolute right to decide what to do with their own property.

“I believe that property rights should be protected,” Paul stated. “Your right to be on tv is protected by property rights because somebody owns that station. I can’t walk into your station. so right of freedom of speech is protected by property. The right of your church is protected by property.”

Suspicions of racist attitudes on Paul’s part are not new and rest on part on newsletters containing racial slurs that were published under his name in the 1990s. However, his belief that the basic freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights are simply varying aspects of property rights has been less publicized and may deserve closer attention.

This video was uploaded to YouTube by Talking Points Memo on May 13, 2011.

Levin Threatens Matthews With Phony Defamation Suit Despite His Own Serial Defamation Of Media Matters

From Media Matters

Right-wing radio host Mark Levin is reportedly "threatening to sue Chris Matthews" for saying that radio hosts like Levin play a "role" in "fueling the heated language" because they "are furious" and regularly engage in "ugly talk." Levin, however, regularly engages in defamation of Media Matters, among many others.

Report: Levin "Threatens To Sue Chris Matthews, MSNBC Lineup"

Huffington Post: "Levin Is Threatening To Sue Chris Matthews And Anyone Else Who He Feels Is Accusing Him Of ... Foment[ing] Political Violence." In a January 14 item, Huffington Post reported:

Conservative radio host Mark Levin is threatening to sue Chris Matthews and anyone else who he feels is accusing him of having helped foment to political violence.

The impetus for Levin's threat was a statement Matthews made about him on his Tuesday show. Matthews had cited him and fellow right wing radio host Michael Savage as examples of incendiary media figures promoting ugly rhetoric--something that has come under scrutiny in the wake of the Arizona shootings.

[...]

In response, Levin laid down a challenge to Matthews.

"I challenge Chris Matthews, I'll put $100,000 on the table, to find any example where Sarah Palin has promoted the murder of anybody," Levin said, though he added that calling for the killing of terrorists didn't count.

"A hundred thousand on the table if Chris Matthews can find anywhere Mark Levin has urged the murder of people who have different political viewpoints," he said.

He then threatened to sue not only Matthews, but practically all of MSNBC's biggest hosts, if he felt they had made any allegations against him. [Huffington Post, 1/14/11]

Levin Regularly Attacks "Criminal[s]," "Morons," And "Jerks" atMedia Matters On Air

Levin Attacks "Hacks" At "Criminal Front Group" Media Matters. On the February 4, 2010, edition of his radio show, Levin called Media Matters a "criminal front group," and said "we don't care about them because they're just hacks." [Citadel Media, The Mark Levin Show, 2/4/10]

Levin Attacks The "Perverts" At "Hate-Machine" Media Matters. During his November 5, 2009, show, Levin attacked "the Saul Alinsky tactics of Media Matters, which is not a charitable organization, which is not a nonpartisan organization, it's a hate-machine paid for by the Democrats, and subsidized by you because they have a tax-exempt status." He said, "I think most of the people who work at Media Matters, frankly, are perverts. Do I know this for a fact? No. But to write a story like this, I think your head's in the gutter, Eric Hanahanahanaku" (attacking Media Matters' Eric Hananoki). [Citadel Media,The Mark Levin Show, 11/5/09]

Levin Attacks "Morons" And "Jerks" At Media Matters. During the his September 9, 2009, show, Levin called President Obama a "jerk" and an "an incompetent boob," adding, "And you morons atMedia Matters, the criminal front group, make sure you write down every damn thing I say and send it all over the world. I said it here, let's hear it everywhere, you jerks." [Citadel Media, The Mark Levin Show,9/9/09]

Levin "Salute[s]" The "Criminal Enterprise" Media Matters For Being "Upset" At Pelosi, Sotomayor Smears. During his July 28, 2009, show, Levin said "we want to salute the criminal enterprise otherwise known as Media Matters, the Soros front group. The criminal enterprise is very upset that I called Nancy Pelosi, Nancy 'Stretch' Pelosi, with those ping pall eyes of hers -- ping ball eyes -- ready to pop out. They're also very mad that I said [Supreme Court Justice Sonia] Sotomayor -- I read the list of things that they're attacking me on, I was cracking myself up -- I said Sotomayor is Ruth Bader Ginsburg plus 50 pounds. That was a good line. Don't you think Mr. Producer? I liked it." [Citadel Media, The Mark Levin Show, 7/28/09]

Levin Attacks Media Matters As "The Thought Police." During his November 14, 2008, show, Levin said:

Meanwhile, Media Matters for America is a tax-exempt nonprofit, nonpartisan group, so it says under penalty of perjury. You as a citizen are free to write to the Internal Revenue Service and ask them to conduct an investigation of Media Matters. And if I'm of the mind, I will pursue this with you further, giving out addresses and so forth. Right now, I've got more important things to do. But we will fight back on this program. We're not gonna roll over for the -- for the thought police, for the anti-free speech types. We're not gonna let them just push through the censorship doctrine or anything else they try to do through the back door. We're gonna fight them, we're gonna name names, and we're gonna demand legal action and the enforcement of the law against tax-exempt groups that use, in essence, taxpayers' money to promote vile politics of the sort that Media Matters does. [Citadel Media's The Mark Levin Show, 11/13/08]

Levin: Media Matters' Brock "Obviously Flipped Out." In 2004, Levin said:

By the way, folks, we're gonna keep an eye on all these lib organizations and who's funding them, and if they won't tell us, we will ask them. Media Matters for America[www.mediamatters].org, I'd like to know who funds them. We know George Soros is one of them. It's basically a front group for John Kerry. If you go to their website -- only attacks conservatives, only attacks Republicans. I urge you to go there and look. And they distort what people say. We're going to start our own monitoring system and we're going to monitor them. I know David Brock, who used to, who runs that group. He used to come into my office and ask me for information, which I happily gave him. Was a nice guy, and he obviously flipped out. Everybody's a liar and he's gonna monitor everybody, even though he said he was a liar. Exactly. We're going to monitor these boys and girls over there. [WABC, The Mark Levin Show, 8/17/04]

Levin's Obsession With Media Matters Extends Beyond His Radio Show

Levin: "Feminism Front Group Media Matters Also Staffed With Illiterate Clowns." Levin wrote in a tweet: "Feminism front group Media Matters also staffed with illiterate clowns. http://bit.ly/ccNltHhttp://fb.me/HUEWi3yC." [Twitter, 10/17/10]

Levin: "I'm Sure The Criminal Front Group - Media Matters - Will Get Right On" Rick Sanchez Lack Of Apology To Rush. Levin wrote in a tweet: "I'm sure the Criminal front group - Media Matters - will get right on this! http://bit.ly/d5hWR9 http://fb.me/uJ8N2ROg." [Twitter, 10/7/10] Levin Pens "Media Matters: Criminal Front Group." Levin wrote a Facebook notetitled "Media Matters: Criminal front group," which alleged that Media Matters is "a criminal front group. The IRS needs to audit them to determine the extent of its evasions." [Facebook.com, 10/7/10] Levin: "Criminal Front Group Media Matters. Useless Idiots." Levin wrote in a tweet: "Criminal front group Media Matters. Useless idiots. http://bit.ly/a6Cjh4 http://fb.me/L9drbFgN." [Twitter, 10/6/10]

Levin: "The Bastard Who Funds The Bastards At Criminal Front Group Media Matters." Levin wrote in a tweet: "The bastard who funds the bastards at criminal front group Media Mattershttp://bit.ly/aAXd7d http://fb.me/xMChWsj2/." [Twitter, 9/18/10]

Levin: "Media Matters - Mouthpiece For Tyranny. Hence, The Infinite Lies." Levin wrote in a tweet: "Media Matters - mouthpiece for tyranny. Hence, the infinite lies.... http://fb.me/ClSfHyuE." [Twitter, 7/4/10]

Levin: "Media Matters - The Criminal Front Group That Endlessly Peddles Lies." Levin wrote in a tweet: "Media Matters - the criminal front group that endlessly peddles lies...http://fb.me/CGRTHGBN." [Twitter, 7/28/10]

Levin: "Fecal Head Eric Boehlert." Levin wrote a Facebook post linking to a photo of Media Matters' Eric Boehlert, stating: "Fecal head Eric Boehlert, 'senior fellow' at George Soros's hate machine Media Matters -- can you guess which one he is? No, not the one on the right." [Facebook.com, 5/24/10]

M.C.L comment: The only people Levin should be suing are the people that got his balls are in a vise grip..