American Politics Journal -- Keep Talkin', Wayne



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Matalin Loses It
by The Editors

Tuesday, March 21, 2000 -- Washington, DC (AmpolNS) -- Regular readers of American Politics Journal know that we are sick and tired of seeing professional hard-right loudmouth Mary Matalin turn up like a bad penny on NBC's Meet the Press.

She never fails to spout trash talk about the White House when she appears with Brother Tim Russert -- but it's worth mentioning that her delivery has become more bitter in recent months, a sure sign of a vitriolic pundit obviously frustrated at her own inability to badmouth Bill Clinton out of the White House.

Matalin alternates with conservative "eminence grease" Bob Novak in the "from the right" chair on CNN's Crossfire. We usually don't waste our time with this staged, stilted weeknight exercise in political shadowboxing on which conservatives spout the latest sound bites scripted by the rightwing think tanks and moderates provide weak (and weak-minded) comebacks -- especially when Matalin is neo-fascist hostess. She spends most of her air time demonizing liberals rather than debating issues.

But we are glad we caught last night's fun-filled episode -- if only to see Mary Matalin lose her temper and show the world what she's really made of.

Early in the show, she framed a question to Village Voice editor Wayne Barrett about Hillary Clinton's plan to appear at a rally in Harlem as follows:

MATALIN: Now, Al Sharpton has been called -- not by liberals, not by me -- a professional monger of racial hatred, a career inciter of race violence. He libeled an innocent man who he said he raped a black teenager and spread feces on her. He's incited a riot over a Jewish merchant in Harlem which resulted in the death of seven people. Isn't there a way to show your support of the minority community in those issues in New York without kissing the ring and other parts of Al Sharpton's anatomy?
BARRETT: Well, Mary, is Al Sharpton going to be there? I don't think you said that. I don't know whether or not he's going to be there.

Gee, Mary, did you bother doing your homework? Or should we even expect you to do any when such a big, fat, juicy opportunity to demonize an activist presents itself?

Later in the segment, the killing of Patrick Dorismund by a New York City cop was the topic of discussion. Mary was growing testy as Wayne Barrett tore a new hole for Mary as she feebly attempted to defend Rudy Giuliani's unethical release of Dorismund's police record:

MATALIN: He has been -- he has been arrested for possession, for drugs, for assault.
BARRETT: He has never. He has...
MATALIN: He has a criminal profile.
CORN: That's not true, Mary.
MATALIN [angrily]: Excuse me, David!
CORN: [calmly] That's not true.

We could be polite and say that Mary was, at best, stretching the truth. But David was right --Mary was not telling the truth. David and Wayne had both "busted" her. How did she react? Not by taking back her untruths, but by snapping at David, one of the most level-headed questioners on pundit television (even more so than the regular Crossfire "liberal" Bill Press).

Following the break, David asked a question of courtly and likable conservative New York Post editorial page chief Bob McManus -- but he was not going to let Mary's lies rest:

CORN: OK. Thank you very much. Secondly, Mary, in the first segment said that the fellow who had been shot, Patrick Dorismond, had been -- his record said that he was guilty of criminal possession of drugs. Was that true or not?
MCMANUS: I'm not sure.
CORN: Because there was possession of weapons and the case was...
MATALIN [defensively]: I said gun! I said gun!
CORN: You said it was drugs!
MATALIN [angrily]: Do you want to beat this dead horse until it's glue or do you want to move on?
CORN: You know, this guy has been demonized enough. He is dead. His two kids are without a dad. I don't think we should be involved in smearing him anymore than Rudy Giuliani already has.

The talk turned to details of Hillary's and Rudy's fundraising, but David's spirited and heartfelt criticism was the high point of the show, and it would have remained that way had it not been mentioned again -- but Matalin, foolishly, was the one who wouldn't let a sleeping dog lie and tried to bash Corn with it.

It was a big mistake. Here is the transcript of the closing exchange:

MATALIN [sarcastically]: You know, David, I was really moved by your passionate defense of this, um, tragic shooting. But the allegation that either I or Rudy Giuliani are desecrating a member -- the memory of this guy is such a typical and despicable...
CORN: That's exactly what's happening.
MATALIN [yelling]: ...tactic of the left! I don't see you being moved when...
CORN: That's exactly what's happening.
MATALIN: ... Rudy Giuliani and the cops in New York...
CORN: He's releasing...
MATALIN: ... lemme finish...
CORN: ...information!
MATALIN: ...are being called racist and bigots and they're motivated by bigotry! [yeslls] I don't see the people on the left...
CORN: They -- That's exactly...
MATALIN: ... getting all gassed up about that kind of desecration.
CORN [yells back]: This was an innocent man who was killed for no good reason, and they're putting out slanderous information about him, and you're participating in it tonight.
MATALIN [loses her cool completely]: No! I am not participating in it! [calmer] I want to hear some of the same kind of passion when the cops who are saving lives are called racists and bigots.
CORN [calmly]: I want to hear you say some sympathy for this guy or rather than just name call or just...
MATALIN [shouting defensively]: I didn't call him names! His, his record is that he was arrested.
CORN: You say he supports the "looney left" of concerns.
MATALIN [pointing]: No, I called you a member of the "loony left" not for that concern, but for your leftist socialist archaic ideas.
CORN [smiling]: Which came up all in spades tonight, right? Sitting in on the left, I am David Corn, good night for CROSSFIRE.
MATALIN [motormouthing, looking pissed off]: Andfromtheright, I'm Mary Matalin. Joinusagaintomorrownight foranothereditionofCROSSFIRE [yanks microphone off].

It's about time that someone stood up to the factual and intellectual dishonesty of Mary Matalin.

Russert sure won't -- he lets everything she and her husband James Carville say go unchallenged and plays to the "entertainment" value of their fake "Odd Couple " act. Bill Press rarely speaks up about the outrageous assertions coming out of Matalin's and Novak's yaps.

David Corn is not only the one man we've seen with the stones to stand up to Matalin; he also exposed her for what she is -- a short-tempered, frustrated smearmonger.

And by the way -- what is CNN doing allowing a woman who was a consultant to -- and is by every indication still a strong ally of -- the Bush campaign a practically open microphone to influence issues and the November election?

CNN should promptly dump Matalin -- and put Corn into the regular "liberal" rotation.

Don't believe us? You can catch the "Crossfireworks" at http://cnn.com/video_vault/

Look for the two excerpts from Crossfire.

And if you agree with us, let CNN know. You can call them at (202) 898-7900, email Crossfire@cnn.com, or send a message at their feedback page (http://cnn.com/feedback/).