海角大神

Should Chris Matthews get fired for his 鈥渞ace card鈥� rant at RNC chief Reince Priebus? That鈥檚 a big discussion on Twitter and in various other social media at the moment. In case you haven鈥檛 heard about it, Matthews at Mr. Priebus on MSNBC Monday morning, yelling that some Republican campaign memes are meant to appeal to racial prejudice.

On the 鈥�Morning Joe鈥� appearance Mr. Matthews began with Mitt Romney鈥檚 bad joke about his own birth certificate, moved somewhat nonsensically through Mr. Romney鈥檚 prep school education and financial background, and then ended up with the Romney ad that falsely claims Obama is repealing work requirements for welfare. All these things depict the incumbent as the 鈥渙ther,鈥� someone not like us, and thus constitute race-baiting, alleged Matthews.

鈥淚t is an embarrassment to your party to play that card,鈥� Matthews muttered at Priebus, who clearly had not expected to be hit by a Category 3 word-icane.

鈥淕arbage, garbage,鈥� Priebus replied.

鈥淚t鈥檚 your garbage,鈥� said Matthews.

Hmm. OK then. That brightened up everybody鈥檚 bagel and hot beverage, didn鈥檛 it?

We鈥檝e got a couple of things to say in response to this.

First, all you conservatives out there calling for Matthews to suddenly experience unemployment, you鈥檙e going to be disappointed. MSNBC wants to be the anti-Fox, and this only helps that branding. From the network executive point of view, the whole thing was great television. Matthews was surprisingly angry; Priebus was dumbfounded, like somebody who鈥檚 found a bug in their jam jar; and the supporting cast was shocked, and tried to rein in their co-broadcaster.

They were unsuccessful.

Second, this doesn鈥檛 mean the incident is good for Matthews鈥� media career. Yes, he鈥檚 well known for rants 鈥� people make highlight tapes of them to post on YouTube, as if they were hockey fights. Yes, his bosses might even praise him, and he鈥檒l get lots of 鈥渁tta-boys鈥� from liberals.

鈥淚鈥檝e never heard 鈥� never heard 鈥� such a positive response,鈥� said Matthews in an .

But live by the rant, die by the rant. Metaphorically speaking. Republican guests are going to be increasingly wary of appearing with Matthews, and those that do may come rhetorically armed. Matthews got a taste of that a few hours later on Monday when he tangled with Newt Gingrich. The ex-GOP hopeful is pretty good at insults too, and he accused Matthews himself of being a 鈥渞acist鈥� because he (Matthews) said the phrase 鈥渇ood stamp president鈥� is racial code, too.

鈥淲hy do you assume 鈥榝ood stamp鈥� refers to black? What kind of racist thinking do you have?鈥� said Mr. Gingrich.

Matthews may get tired of his interviews all degenerating into Word Fight Club. Though come to think of it, a Matthews-Gingrich show could be pretty compelling.

Meanwhile, Tom Brokaw鈥檚 been lost in the shuffle here. He was sitting next to Matthews on Monday when the fuse burned down. Eventually, he crawled out from under the Matthews-caused wreckage to pronounce that he didn鈥檛 think Romney鈥檚 birth certificate joke was racial. It was 鈥渁wkward,鈥� said the former anchor. But he went on to castigate Priebus, and by extension the Republican leadership, for allowing a lot of ugly stuff to pass unchallenged during the GOP primaries, dealing with the president鈥檚 heritage, his 鈥渟ocialism,鈥� and so forth.

鈥淚 think [that stuff] comes the other way, too, from Democrats to Republicans,鈥� said Mr. Brokaw. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what鈥檚 made Americans fed up with politics.鈥�

Amen to that. See you along the way, Tom.