Meeting The Press

One would assume a big political nerd like me would watch "Meet The Press" every week. Yet somehow I usually can't manage to subject myself to the masturbatory farce that is Tim Russert's Sunday Morning Beltway Circle Jerk. I would rather be shot in the face by the Vice President than sit through a full episode. Luckily for me, there are many who do watch and fill us all in on the frightening details. I did see clips and transcripts of yesterday's installment and, boy, did I miss a good one.

The star (and I mean literally- Russert gave her the bulk of the air time) was former Bush/Cheney advisor Mary Matalin. The topic on hand (as if you didn't guess already) was the Cheney shooting story. Ms. Matalin was there in a praying mantis stance ready to pounce on anyone who tried to talk around the official White House talking points. This picture shows her working her claws, ready to snap away-



This made for interesting TV because among her fellow panel guests were David Gregory, one of the few members of the White House Press Corp with the balls to take McClellan to task for his lies, and Maureen Dowd, the deliciously saucy diva of the NY Times editorial staff. Gregory and Dowd both tried to refute Matalin's discrepancy-filled version of the shooting story, as well as put the outrage into the larger context of a secretive, imperial White House. Matalin showed her true colors as Mr. Gregory was questioning her and she went all Malkin on him...

GREGORY: The vice president's office doesn't feel an obligation to disclose that to the American people directly. You do it through a ranch owner in Texas? It just -- it just strikes me as odd.

MATALIN: It strikes you as odd because you live in a parallel universe....

GREGORY: If you thought he did everything right... why did you do a big national interview this week?

MATALIN: Because you went on a jihad, David. For four days you went on a Jihad.

GREGORY: And that's an unfortunate use of that word, by the way. This is not what that was.

(Bold added by me)

If there was any doubt as to the maturity (or lack thereof) of Matalin's arguments, this exchange erased them. Apparently, in the world of Bush/Cheney followers, demanding honesty and accountability from the White House is tantamount to a jihadist attack. As Steve at Left Coaster notes, this was "a prime example of how this administration’s defenders manage to equate criticism and dissent with terrorism" and how "Matalin lapsed into that pathetic 'you criticize us, you are a terrorist' mindset all too easily." Hey she did work for Dick Cheney and George Bush, so she learned from the masters.

If you want to see video of this mess, Crooks and Liars has the goods.

And, as always, Arianna dissects the show in her weekly Russert Watch:
Russert Watch: The Mary Matalin Horror Show