Chris Matthews makes a very good living accusing other white people
of being racist. It’s a strange occupation, but as much as it pains me
to admit, Chris Matthews is neither crazy nor stupid. He is wrong a lot.
He is cloying and irritating. He is certainly tedious. But he is not
crazy or stupid, so he cannot be entirely dismissed.
Matthews suffers from an idealized version of history in which rebellious liberals spoke truth to power and ended the Vietnam War. These same heroic souls marched with Martin Luther King. They locked arms and stared down billy clubs and riot police across the South in non-violent unity until their example taught the nation how to love. Matthews’ liberals risked their lives to close the book on segregation. They set American women free from the patriarchal shackles of the homestead. They organized against greedy corporations until they paid union workers a living wage. With open hearts and generous spirits, Matthews’ liberals have been righting wrongs for 50 years, and, by God, they’re not done yet.
To be clear, I’m not setting up a straw man. Matthews and his boomer ilk believe these things in their heart of hearts. They must. How else could they screechingly accuse the rest of us of racism, greed and selfishness with such conviction? To be an American liberal today, one begins by patting himself on the back for all of the good thoughts he has for mankind. It doesn’t matter that Joe Biden and Barack Obama give nothing to charity (or that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan give a great deal). Joe and Barack care more.
Matthews suffers from an idealized version of history in which rebellious liberals spoke truth to power and ended the Vietnam War. These same heroic souls marched with Martin Luther King. They locked arms and stared down billy clubs and riot police across the South in non-violent unity until their example taught the nation how to love. Matthews’ liberals risked their lives to close the book on segregation. They set American women free from the patriarchal shackles of the homestead. They organized against greedy corporations until they paid union workers a living wage. With open hearts and generous spirits, Matthews’ liberals have been righting wrongs for 50 years, and, by God, they’re not done yet.
To be clear, I’m not setting up a straw man. Matthews and his boomer ilk believe these things in their heart of hearts. They must. How else could they screechingly accuse the rest of us of racism, greed and selfishness with such conviction? To be an American liberal today, one begins by patting himself on the back for all of the good thoughts he has for mankind. It doesn’t matter that Joe Biden and Barack Obama give nothing to charity (or that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan give a great deal). Joe and Barack care more.
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