Even the Republicans hate on the Republicans on that Olbermann show.

Go to about 4:15 on the video. Apparently the "liberal media" is finally wearing off on Ol' Pat Buchanan.
As much as it physically pains me to type this...well played, Pat.

The Post Where I Actually DEFEND Chris Matthews. Woah.

Full transcript here.

I know everyone's favorite hobby is to knee-jerk hate on Chris Matthews. And I understand the urge, I really do - but let's get some perspective. He often says stupid things, sometimes he's just over the top and ridiculous and sometimes he says things that offend. He's a smart person who says some stupid things sometimes. I don't know about you all, but I know plenty of people who fit that description - many of them are my friends.

Compared to the broader mainstream media spectrum, he's hardly the worst offender. Take a look at anybody on Fox news or Rush Limbaugh, etc.
Maybe because he's on MSNBC instead of Fox he's held to a higher standard. Maybe we expect more from him because of his resume, I don't know.

All I'm trying to say is that, though he may be a total blowhard, I don't find him to be a bad person...which is more than I can say for some others in his industry.

I do think the apology was sincere. I also don't think he'll be turning into Charlie Rose anytime soon - he is who he is and his show is what it is. But as ill-advised as his words sometimes are, I don't they are driven by malice.

Cookie Politics

K: Okay, in one sentence, tell me when we'll know who won the Iowa caucus.

M: Hopefully by 11pm or so?

K: Okay, so tonight.

M: Yes. The Caucuses/Cauci/ALL TEH IOWANS CAUCUS EXCEPT PEOPLE WHO WORK NIGHTS starts at 6:30pm Iowa time. Then there will be some absurdity and eventually, they will announce a winner.

K: The process seems ridiculous. What with the luring people away with cookies and all.

M: It is totally ridiculous. And the sweet temptation of cookies makes it very hard to predict.

K: Because if it were you, despite your staunch support of Obama, if you'd been standing in like a group for ten hours holding hands or whatever the fuck they do and your blood sugar was low, you'd be hard-pressed to resist the temptation of an Edwards supporter promising you a delicious chocolate chunk cookie.

M: I would bring my own cookies so as to avoid such temptations. BOOYAH.

K: You're already smarter than most politicians. I mean, football players who make millions of dollars totally play hard in the Super Bowl so they can get free hats and t-shirts. Campaign volunteers make no money and can often be persuaded by the siren song of cookies.

M: Fuck. Now I really want cookies.

K: See? If I had cookies to offer you and asked you to do me a favor in return, it'd probably work. Obviously I should run for office. This is an especially good idea since I am part robot and not subject to the cookie weaknesses of mere mortals.

M: Whatever, dude. Some lobbyists from like, Wisconsin or Maryland could own your ass with offers of cheese or crabcakes.

K: You must think I have absolutely no willpower.

M: All I'm saying is that you'd sell out the American people for some gourmet cheeses in a heartbeat.

K: Well, shit, man, the American people need to take care of themselves. Girlfriend needs her Gruyere.

Oprahpalooza

Last night approximately 8,500 people arrived at the Verizon Wireless Center in Manchester, NH not for a concert or hockey game, but for a political event. They waited in lines that snaked on for blocks, waiting even longer once they made it inside. They stuck around the whole night and then drove home in a snowstorm. It was a Sunday evening, the weather was bad and the Pats were playing the Steelers but two of the biggest names in the country were in town – Oprah and Obama. After drawing crowds totaling almost 60,000 at 3 events in Iowa and South Carolina, the Oprahpalooza U.S. Tour ended with an event described as the "largest political event in recent New Hampshire memory."

Now, I’m sure renting out the largest indoor venue in New Hampshire doesn’t come cheaply, but it may have paid off for the Obama campaign. Thanks to the free media and boost in momentum gained not only by Oprah’s involvement, but also Obama’s surge in the polls, the campaign garnered a tremendous influx of support in the week leading up to the event. More than 650 new volunteers signed up to help and over 2,300 new New Hampshire supporters joined the campaign.

As tickets were snatched up rapidly and waiting lists were created, one of the big questions leading up to these events was “Are the audiences just going to see Oprah? Or are they actually there for Obama?” the answer, I think, was a little bit of both. Thanks to their quadrennial tradition of holding the nation’s first primary, voters in New Hampshire have a tremendous amount of access to the candidates, a fact of which they are very much aware. Most of the people I posed the “Oprah or Obama?” question to answered that they really wanted to hear Barack Obama speak, but it was the bonus prize of Ms. Oprah Winfrey that drew them out to that particular event on a snowy Sunday evening instead of the many other events that Senator Obama
will be having in their area before the January 8th primary. It was also apparent that some in the audience were people who were not typically involved in the political process, something the campaign was counting on. “This is an incredible opportunity for me to speak to thousands of New Hampshire voters who might not otherwise come out to a political event, and to energize the thousands of volunteers and supporters already working for change around the state,” Obama stated before the event.

Introduced by Michelle Obama, who is a powerful speaker herself, Oprah Winfrey spoke passionately and with the optimism and charm her fans expect. She explained why she had ventured outside of her “TV box” to publicly endorse a candidate for the first time, telling the audience that unlike other politicians she had encountered Senator Obama had “an ear for eloquence, and a tongue for the unvarnished truth” instead of the “veil of political rhetoric.”

When he finally took the stage, Senator Obama joked that you knew it was a good event because he was the 3rd best speaker on the stage, but he took full advantage of his large audience, speaking for close to 40 minutes. Though the hour grew late, the audience remained engaged and often interrupted with chants of “O-ba-ma!” as he presented a rousing version of his stump speech, with Oprah and his wife, Michelle cheering from behind him. He closed his speech dramatically, reminding his audience that the only reason he, his wife and Oprah were there was “because somebody somewhere stood up when it was risky, they stood up when it was hard, they stood up when it was unpopular” and he urged voters to do the same. “That’s what we need to do right now, we need to stand up for America, stand up for equality, stand up for justice, stand up for our children” he shouted over thunderous applause as the audience, in fact, stood.