I’ve had about all of Chris Matthews that I can stand. I am a regular viewer of Keith Olberman on MSNBC because he was the most courageous of the “news” broadcasters during the last couple of years as “We the People” have been exercising our right to “throw the bums out” meaning, in this case, the republicans who nearly pulled off the impossible by controlling all facets of our government. Their plan for a permanent republican majority was stopped because, I’m sure in their minds at this time, they chose the wrong Bush to “close the deal” they had been working on for about the last 25+ years or so before GW Bush took the oath of office on January 20th 2001. Our framers, when originally writing the constitution that has been the longest lasting self-rule document in the world’s history, tried to make it virtually impossible for one group to control the entire government. Their plan of “checks and balances” was remarkably brilliant, especially when you consider the time in which it was devised, and it was put in place to protect Americans from the possibility of tyranny by the majority.

The United States of America is not, and was never intended to be, a pure democracy – despite the rhetoric of most of our national leaders on “both sides of the isle.” We have what is called a representative democracy and there were many “checks” put in place to insure that all Americans have a voice in our representative government. The three branches of government and how they are inter-related, the bill of rights, the constitution itself, and even things like the electoral college were all intended to prevent one group from being able to impose its will on the “minority.” In fact, (as another of my long list of “sidenotes” if you’ve read many of my posts) I have listened to many of the people who have been in agreement with me in the last election berate the electoral college as something whose time has come and gone. I couldn’t disagree with them more – even though I rarely these days agree with the people in Montana or Idaho or other small states – it would be a direct violation of the intent of the framers to reduce the influence of these areas by electing a president via just the popular vote. While, in most cases (2000 being the significant exception) the popular vote and the electoral college agree. Disbanding the electoral college would, in my view, make it highly unlikely for places like Montana, Idaho, New Mexico, etc. from being more than a passive part of any election. This is just one of the many “checks” the framers put in place to prevent what the republicans almost pulled off.

Had GW Bush not been so incompetent, I believe the republicans would have succeeded. They just needed one more term in the White House to get at least a one or two generation “grip” on the Supreme Court. They had a grip on the congress and that was lost as the backlash against the incompetence and the corruption of the Bush administration slowly managed to creep outside the perview of the so-called “mainstream media” that the republicans so affably refer to as the liberal press (despite the reality that it is owned and operated by about 5 devout republican leaning corporations). This grip on the information that has become no more than a propaganda “machine” pushing their lies out as “truth” is still a major stumbling block to restoring this nation to what it was before what I call the “Assault on America” (they originally referred to it as the “Contract for America”). Bush screwed up so badly that even the pundits like Matthews couldn’t continue to defend him and a flood of books and internet blogs hit the scene starting toward the end of Bush’s first term that brought enough “light” to the public that they finally repudiated these barbaric policies that no right minded American, no matter what their political persuasion, would support if they knew the truth.

The problem is that with people like Matthews in positions to be influencing millions of people every day, the battle rages on. I’m saying all this to frame what I saw tonight, which if you’ve been reading any of my past posts you’ll know that I have been lobbying for President elect Obama to push for prosecution of crimes committed by George Bush, Dick Cheney, and anyone else involved in their administration (in fact, anyone in government who violates the law should be held accountable, if for no more practical a reason than our leaders take an oath to defend the constitution, and if there is no accountability for them – well, what do you expect the ramifications to be as the knowledge of this “trickles” down?). I have been pointing out that the republicans have created this huge mess and they are planning to blame all our troubles in the next few years on Obama and the democrats ALREADY and they would love nothing better than to get back into power with all these abuses “in tact.” Just reversing some of GW Bush’s decisions does not send the proper message. They need to answer for their actions in a court of law. Both George Bush and Dick Cheney have admitted to committing felonies on camera, on national TV.

Matthews, in my view, is the epitome of someone who will say whatever he needs to say to keep his audience. His program is named “Hardball” as if he is really a tough questioner. But when you get under all the exterior “show” he doesn’t stand for much. And he seems to me to be about the easiest of the pundits that I have occasion to watch to be manipulated by the different politicians – keep in mind out of general principles I refuse to watch FOX “News.” I once discontinued my Dish TV service for about a year and to try to keep me as a customer they kept a few channels live, one being FOX “News” – and I watched it for about 2 or 3 months before I just couln’t stomach it anymore. I figured out that most of the “reporters” on that station were part of the republican caucus. It was actually one of the things that started me reading all the books I’ve read in the past three years to find out what is really going on with our government. When a so-called “News” outlet is “connected at the hip” with a political party – that is alarming. This is a threat to our democracy as defined by the framers.

However, I’m almost thinking that Matthews is worse. Let me tell you why. One of my big concerns has been that when all the “stuff” dies down about the Bush administration, if there is no accountability, they have another Bush in the “wings.” Well, tonight the propaganda started and Matthews was right there pushing it. I thought it would take a couple years before they had the nerve to do this, but Jeb Bush was the “man” on Matthews show this evening. The plan is for him to be the next senator from Florida and then president in 2012 or 2016 depending on the success of Barrack Obama. My stomach sank as I was listening to Matthews extole the virtues of the man who was directly responsible for his brother stealing the 2000 election and therefore the last 8 years of virtual destruction of our government and its reputation around the world. HAVE WE LEARNED NOTHING??? I can tell you, I’ve had enough Bushes for my lifetime and hopefully the lifetimes of my children. I can see it now, Bush/Palin in 2012. Ughhhh!!!! How someone like Chris Matthews could do this at this time just goes to show that these people have absolutely no scruples. The last thing this country needs right now is even the thought of another Bush as president!