Chris Matthews Is a Jerk, Now It's Official; Wash Pundit Bassett Embellishes on GQ Piece

Chris Matthews (left) and Laura Bassett

A FEW WEEKS AGO I PENNED my opinion of NBC pundit,  Chris Matthews; I don't care for him; never liked him nor his openly obnoxious style of talking on Hardball.

Now I read something unflattering about Matthews via GQ and Washington pundit, Laura Bassett, who claims Matthews is a dog and a boorish dog at that. Is Matthews a flake? Yes, this is proof positive, but we digress.

Is it really unflattering, or is this something a schmuck like Matthews inside really likes and enjoys? It may be weird but I say Matthews, and some powerful media men like him, posses this internal hard-on. They just go ga-ga. I'll call it that, ga-ga.

They enjoy this ga-ga because it's an extension of their ego and the power they employ, even if it goes beyond the pale of unacceptable. They won't come out, like Matthews, and do something so outwardly wrong and inexcusable that's it sexual harassment front and center. No, they'll use a set of internal code words, like Matthews does both on and off the air that might make some women uncomfortable; Matthews is a genius tactician of this behavior and I've watched him go to it for years, from the infancy of his cable show until now. It's a sort of bad-boy act without going full tilt but Matthews knows it as a frequent specialty in his play book.

I don't know what Matthews is like when the camera is off but I can imagine. His takedowns of women on the air; even ones whose obvious discomfort doesn't stop him from taking obvious shots are not surprising to me because I kind of assume he's that way. That it would take someone like Bassett to write extensively about it now only surprised me that it would take so long.

Men like Matthews like to mask their assholeness so they can preach how terrific they really are; that they really care about women and fight for equality and sanctify their inward jerk. Some get away with it. Some do not, Matthews is one of those fakers; as I said, I never quite liked the guy to begin with and that was before Ms. Bassett's piece. Now my feelings have been justified.