Monday, January 14, 2008

Does Chris Matthews have a problem with women?

BY FRANK J RANELLI


Is Chris Matthews of MSNBC waging a hostile, chauvinist's agenda against Hillary Clinton and women? His abject track record against women says, "Yes." It's time to end the misogyny of Matthews.

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Does Chris Matthews have a problem with women? It appears so. Prominently highlighted across the blogosphere, Matthews has repeatedly utilized his show on MSNBC to resort to a one-man machination crusade against Hillary Clinton. For years, Matthews has used loosely implied sexist epithets, such as referring to Senator Clinton as “Madame Defarge" and "Nurse Ratched," to defame and disparage her.

Matthews has a lengthy and sordid history of tenuous reproach toward the Clintons; principally aimed at Hillary. Moreover, most Americans are fed up with polemic pundits and are openly outraged by Chris Matthews' demonization of Hillary Clinton. This public ire is because Mr. Matthews has a blatant problem with women in general, and especially strong-minded, independent women.

Matthews’ immense antipathy for Hillary is likely best punctuated by comments he made, published in the Philadelphia Inquirer magazine in 2001, when he thusly pronounced to a colleague, “I hate her. I hate her. All that she stands for.” However, the bona fide nadir of Matthews’ aversion to Hillary is his insane intimation that “she may be a front-runner [because] her husband messed around.”

Chris Matthews' "never-ending naked sexism[1]" is definitely grounds for MSNBC to fire him. His constant diatribes of only thinly-veiled misogynistic views is a vast hindrance to an otherwise credible news organization that needs to outshine Fox News, not emulate it. This has little to do with support for or against Hillary, but for firmly putting an end to the open and sad sexism that is still pervasive on-air and in the mainstream media.

Hillary may or may not be your “cup of tea”, but if she is to be defeated as a candidate for the presidency, then it must be on her failure to galvanize liberals and attract independents; her being out-of-step with voters on the issues, not the ranting of an imprudent, chauvinistic male talking head on television.

Sadly, Matthews distaste for women – and those chiefly in positions of power – doesn’t stop at the baseless condemnations of Hillary. Chris Matthews has also called into question Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, dogmatically describing her as “scary.” Further yet, he has astonishingly wondered aloud if she (Pelosi) would "castrate" House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

NBC fired Don Imus for a singular, similar remark and now it's time to expunge Chris Matthews from MSNBC for his biased, protracted rage against woman, Hillary Clinton and his machismo sexism. It's time to end the misogyny of Chris Matthews and other such purveyors of a hostile “white men only” bourgeoisie embargo on women in our government and in places of power.

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Sources: Media Matters; MSNBC's Chris Matthews problem

[1] Bob Fertik; Chris Matthews Should Debate Hillary

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