Racial Demagoguery/Hypocrisy Watch Exhibit 101: Chris Matthews and Hardball

[EffieBlack]

Right after having a fairly reasonable discussion about the need to have a second woman on the Supreme Court, Chris Matthews - fresh off of his "Wah! Wah! White guys don't control the WHOLE PIE anymore!!!" rant duet with Pat Buchanan the day before - announced that tomorrow's show will feature the Frank Ricci, the poor reverse discrimination victim who didn't get a promotion "because he's white."

I have a lot of issues with Chris Matthews, but he had always been pretty good - at least not a demagogue - on race issues. But for some reason, he has turned into Pat Buchanan's twin brother ranting and raving about "reverse discrimination" because the New Haven Fire Department realized that its promotion test was probably flawed.

I urge people to contact Chris Matthews and his producers and DEMAND that, if he is going to insist on giving a platform to this "victim," that he also provide a platform for the black firefighters who have been discriminated against in the city or some other guest who can explain the history of discrimination in the New Haven Fire Department and why these measures are necessary. Or, if that's too much to ask for, at least have a person of color knowledgeable about the issue who can present the other side.

It's bad enough that he had the all-white discussion of the case the other day, leaving poor Joan Walsh to try to balance out the conversation (and she did an admirable job in the face of the breathtakingly obnoxious and self-entitled white boy "we're being picked on" pity party), but his obvious attempt to ramp up bad feelings and divisiveness by bringing Frank Ricci on to complain about his treatment without offering any balance is irresponsible to the nth degree.

[e-mail]

[firedupdem]

1. I sent an email yesterday advising Mr. Matthews that he'd lost

a faithful viewer. I gave a pass the last time Buchanan went nuts because Matthews wasn't there. Yesterday was the last straw for me. I agree that those two discussing racial issues without a voice for the other side is ridiculous. And too bad for that fireman. Those guys pass the answers to their buddies and have been for years. Black folks aren't inherently dumb and unable to pass the same test. :grr:

[EffieBlack]

2. If the result were just the opposite - if not a single white person passed the test

You would never hear Buchanan or Roberts or Scalia or anyone else for that matter say, "So what if no white person passed? That's just tough for them - the black people obviously were better prepared and deserved to get the promotions."

Never in a million years. We wouldn't hear a peep because the test would have been scrapped as flawed since, everyone KNOWS that there is NO WAY that not a single white firefighter could pass this test when all of those black guys did.

[EffieBlack]

3. kick

[Ninga]

4. ditto ! n/t

[SemiCharmedQuark]

5. It was awful. And then his pathetic defense that "Well, Italians work in Italian restaurants"

It was incomprehensible.

[Supersedeas]

6. Tweety is all about surface appearances -- the understanding of humanity can be summed up

with his fascination with tie color.

[EffieBlack]

7. It wasn't incomprehensible at all - it revealed a mindset that's still all too common

People like Matthews and Buchanan think of fire departments and other such entities as "theirs" - the way an Italian restaurant belongs to Italians, so certainly other Italians would work there, they see public institutions and other areas of society as rightfully belonging to white men and minorities and women are "allowed" in, not by right, but by the graces of the real owners. And they are permitted in as long as their presence does not inconvenience the white men who really belong there and who are being so nice to let them in.

A fire department is naturally a white man's venue and some women and minorities have been allowed in, but now those people are getting greedy and making it harder for white men, the rightful owners, and, as such, must be slapped down and slapped down hard.

It's perfectly comprehensible to me. Matthews has slipped up before and shown his true colors, but never so blatantly. Remember during the campaign when he contrasted "regular people" with minorities? Every now and then, his mask slides a little. But in this instance, he's showing his real self. And it's ugly and hateful. He's circling the wagons because something that he holds dear - in this case, the right of white men to control one of society's institutions, is being threatened.

I find the whole thing disgusting. But it is not incomprehensible at all. I understand completely what Matthews is talking about. He probably just didn't realize that he's being so transparent.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

8. Well Tweety outright *said* that. He straight up said that Irish firehouses were a proud tradition

and then brought up 9/11 to back up his point!

[Stinky The Clown]

10. White sheets are also a proud tradition for some

What a lame excuse.

[EffieBlack]

11. He sure did - he said that a lot of white Irish firefighters died on 9/11-as if no black firefighter

died that day.

An absolute disgrace!

[JoePhilly]

9. Pat becomes apoplectic about one potential instance of reverse descrimination, yet ...

he never seems to be able to understand why blacks might be angry about systematic racism throughout America.

[EffieBlack]

12. No - black people are whiners who just need to get over it. Life's not fair, you know

But good Lord, let one white person think feel like he no longer has full and unfettered access to 100% of the pie and Pat screams bloody murder!

[Raineyb]

15. Worse, Pat thinks we're a bunch of ingrates because we should be

glad and get on our knees every day to thank God that our ancestors were enslaved and brought over to this hemisphere so we can deal with white supremacy and discrimination while benefiting from the white man's technology which apparently would never have happened in Africa since we're incapable of inventing things to improve our lot. :grr:

Pat Buchanan needs to STFU already. There's no good reason this rancid, racist, piece of shit should be on the air.

Regards

[CTyankee]

13. I live in New Haven and I assure you there is a LOT more to this that is

pretty bad. The fact is that our mayor did not do the right thing and do due diligence in developing a good test. As a result, he may have screwed the pooch for ALL affirmative action and that is deplorable. Because of his mismanagement and blunders, the cause that we have fought for may be severely damaged.

This is not a good case for us. I am furious over it since it could have been handled properly and had better outcomes.

[Empowerer]

14. Call Hardball at MSNBC 202-885-4000

[vaberella]

20. I called and left a message. I need an email...this is unfair. n/t

[EffieBlack]

16. John Payton, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, will be on Hardball tonight

I don't know if it had anything to do with DU or any other kind of pressure, but that's very good news!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

17. He has NOT been good on race issues. He spent the entire election cycle

ridiculing Barack Obama and blacks as not being "regular people." He characterized average whites as "hard-working, regular guys," not the "argula-eating, latte drinking" elitists like Obama. His racism shown brightly through. I remember many of us calling MSNBC and writing letters about Tweety's racist rants on Obama and minorities.

Tweety is anything but racially empathetic.

[nomorenomore08]

18. Even if Ricci *was* denied the job for being white, that simply adds to pre-existing injustice,

rather than contradicting it as though discrimination against non-whites didn't exist. Just because one white man may have been discriminated against (and it doesn't seem likely that he was in this case), doesn't mean that white men are suddenly some persecuted group. "Willfully obtuse," I think, is a good phrase to use here...

[CTyankee]

19. Please, be advised. There is more to this. The mayor of New Haven had

a role in this that is disturbing. He did not do what he should have, which is have the test examined for biases. Then he threw them out.

This is a bad case for us. Our mayor in New Haven, whose name is on this case, is to blame, IMO. He had a shot at making it a better test and he didn't do it. He is a Dem, too, but I won't ever vote for him again. I think he has really defeated us, if the SC decides against affirmative action, which is entirely possible.

This is a bad outcome because of mayor John DeStefano.