I can't help but like Chris Matthews, because he is frequently so awkward; he's like the uncool uncle, in a cute way. That said, he often gives assholes waayy too much leash on his show, in the interest of some kind of "balance," I think. When he calls them out, he's great (like the Michelle Bachmann fiasco), but I think he lets certain people say too much.

You know, people who just sit there and chortle while another person is making a legitimate argument usually have nothing to say.

I so wanted to reach in there and SMACK THE EVER LIVING SHIT out of that old guy.

The Bob Herbert clip calling sexism sexism! Way to go Bob!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH0nUHnV_oY

Why does a guy like this think its a huge insult to tell a woman that he's glad that she can't be his wife? What makes him think that she would even want to be his wife? What makes him think that he's so great that she's somehow missing out on being his wife? Really, that's what his stupid comment is implying. All, it does is make me feel sorry for the woman who may actually be his wife if he even has one. And in the meantime, all of womankind who isn't leg shackled to this idiot can breathe a sigh of relief that they "can never be his wife." Hallelujah! Amen!

That was really disgusting.

I'm so glad that it seemed to roll off her back-- we can all recognize silencing tactics when we see them, and I'm sure he expected that attacking her personally (as he certainly couldn't seem to attack her argument) would put her "back in her place." Ha! Suck it!

Bob Herbert is a really great ally.
Contrary to what Amanduh said above, I've got absolutely no use for Chris Matthews. His comments this week about the inclusion of family planning funds in the economic stimulus bill were outright lies and were pretty inflammatory too (good analysis over at Shakespearessister.blogspot.com). His comments about Hillary Clinton during the primary campaign were sickeningly sexist. I didn't find them cute or subversively uncool- quite the opposite. One thing about him that bothers me in addition to his totally unenlightened views on women is simply his attitude of wanting to be cool and get his guests, audience, and other TV hosts to like him. NYTimes magazine had an interesting profile of him as their cover story last year that made me laugh because it portrayed him as such a wannabe.
Unfortunately, I've already written letters to MSNBC about him and cancelled my Newsweek subscription (owned by MSNBC) so I'm out of ideas.

...and I forgot to point to AmplifyYourVoice's post on the Feministing Community site as another good critique of Chris Matthews' recent behavior.
I can't stand the dude.

Drama Drama Drama. As long as that makes the ratings, its gonna be what the networks want. They do not care about your veelings, only if you tune in or not.

My boyfriend and Iwatched this last night and we both assumed that Matthews didn't give a rat's ass about what Dick said to Walsh. It seemed like MSNBC told him over commercial break to say that after Herbert pointed it out.

In another note, Dick was sexist during the entire segment. He blatantly ignored Walsh one more than one occasion, telling her to "give it a rest," and then going straight to Chris Matthews after she first spoke. He obviously felt that what she as a woman had to say was unimportant because she was a woman. I'm going to make sure my rhetoric of women's discourse class sees this today.

Congrats to Herbert for calling Dick out! I was so happy I left the television on to hear that, because I would have gone to bed more angry if I hadn't head someone tell America what Army said was sexist- because you know a lot of people laughed along with him.

I also agree completely with what virago said, I too wondered why the hell this asshole felt it would be a good insult and cause her so much heartbreak. Walsh deserves so much credit for still speaking out after this douche-nozzle attempted to silence her on public television just because she was a woman who disagreed with him.

Sorry this comment was so long, it just really set me off that Dick almost got away with saying this, lol.

I am really glad she responded to his comment. I probably would have been so shocked at the sexism that I would not have known what to say.

Sadly, there's nothing even a little surprising about Armey's behavior. That's just what the Republican party's become over the last half century.

Walsh was put in a tough position and deserves a lot of credit for soldiering on.

Herbert did the right thing and deserves credit for it, but it's also a little sad that he deserves credit for it: what he did should be reflexive to decent people.

Matthews should be ashamed of not cutting off Armey and literally, as Armey was in the studio with him, throwing him off the show. It's one thing for a host to give a guest leeway, but that was just ridiculous. Sometimes one side has a point and the other side's just being generally assholish and refusing to have a point, and members of the media who pretend otherwise, who pretend that both sides or both guests need to be listened to in the name of "balance," are useless enabling tools the world would be better off without.

I posted this on Feministe, too, but I thought others might want to join in on contacting Mr. Armey's current organization:

Thank you, Bob Herbert, for being your usual awesome self. And I thought Joan Walsh was pretty classy as well.

If y’all want to get involved in a little activism, he is the Chairman of an organization called freedom works. This is what I wrote on their contact page (with my real name and email address):

Dear Mr. Armey,

I saw that clip of you being disrespectful to Joan Walsh on Hardball. For shame. Oh, and by the way, “I am so damn glad that you can never be my husband.” And if you are married, I hope you treat your wife with more courtesy and respect than you showed Ms. Walsh. You owe her an apology.

Sincerely,

(My real name)

Here is the link to the contact page: http://www.freedomworks.org/contact/

The way the dick kept interupting her with seemed, to me in anycase, to be an attempt to bully her into silence. I think he hoped she would get angry and behave in a way that might diminish her credibility. You know, the women are weak and emotional thus illogical meme.

If that was his intent, she sure burst his bubble.

I could see Armey thinking, "Oh my goodness this woman is talking with words that make sense, I must shoot her down."

Armey's comments were so cheap.. it was SO obvious that he was at a loss for words, so he just fell back on whatever bullshit he could spew.

Blech, that clip made me throw up a little. I think it's a really interesting example, though, of something that we've talked about in a couple of my women's studies classes -- that men will often dominate a conversation in which both men and women are participating. What Walsh said was really important, but also that segment was dominated by an exchange between Armey and Matthews.

wow. that was like some sort of time warp. creepy.

it was good to see Herbert call him out. it would have been nice if Matthews had said something. frankly, i'm not surprised.

Maybe it's sophomoric of me, but I find it funny that a guy named "Dick Armey" is snarking on Barack Obama's name!

Seriously, everytime I've ever heard this guys name, I get a mental cartoon images of troops of phalluses with guns and helmets marching to war. Which I guess may suit him...