Tweety is using Page Six for damage control over his sexual mashing

[UTUSN]

No doubt he will now repeat, "I am now an icon," which he first did when Darryl HAMMOND "did" him on SNL for the first time. Yet it's odd, a hair in the over easy eggs, to see a flunky like Tweety in a gossip column venue that caters to GLAMOROUS people. Tweety is looking more and more like Pat BUCHANAN, like when the camera shot him from below at yesterday's coverage of the KKKarl slinking away. (Will look for Tweety/BUCHANAN comparison pics.)


*******QUOTE*******

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08142007/gossip/pagesix/pagesix_u.htm

'hardball' Host In On-air Hit

Was MSNBC's Chris Matthews perving on CNBC hottie Erin Burnett on live TV the other night? It sure looked that way when, as Burnett discussed the nation's mortgage crisis, the "Hardball" host suddenly asked: "Could you get a little closer to the camera, come in closer . . . come in closer, really close." A baffled Burnett responded, "What are you. . ." to which Matthews cut in, "Ha! Ha! Just kidding! You look great!" As a flustered Burnett said she wanted to look at the tape, Matthews continued, "Look at that! . . . No, you're beautiful. I'm, just kidding. I'm just kidding, you're a knockout! It's all right getting bad news from you, even. OK?" The clip quickly surfaced on several blogs. Matthews told Page Six he was only fooling around with Burnett because the camera lens had already made her appear closer than usual. "It was this weird fishbowl look . . . I was just kidding around." Burnett, who's said to be nipping at the heels of CNBC "Money Honey" Maria Bartiromo, insisted, "I wasn't upset or offended."

********UNQUOTE*******

[screembloodymurder]

1. Sexual bashing?

Come on. He paid her a compliment... she wasn't offended... why does that bother you?

[UTUSN]

5. The word is "mashing." This topic was noted by several DUers when it happened.

The consensus was that he behaved like a pig, which he has done before. Why did you feel impelled to jump into a thread you didn't like?


Here's an old re-post example of his historical piggishness:

...Then M-TV held its 20th or 25th or whatever anniversary, and all the cable echo chambers were doing segments of Britney shedding her duds down to almost nothing. Not to be left behind, Tweety followed suit, with a guest "culture" commentator from Time Mag, the young humor columnist, Joel STEIN. The staff kept re-running the Britney clip, and Tweety was clearly DROOLING disgustingly. STEIN said, "You're beginning to creep me out." Tweety responded, "Yeah, well, wait till YOU're 50." This led to the suggestion that "Tweety" be modified to "Tweezer" to retain the hair reference while canceling out the affection factor and also adding the (dirty old) "geezer" angle.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

11. Did you see it? It seemed to bother her and she appeared to be flustered and confused by his

actions.

[H2O Man]

17. I agree. n/t

[MADem]

18. It wasn't sexual at all. He just thought her face was beautiful, which it is.

It reminded me of the geek trying to be suave with the 'cool' girl in school. If that's "sexual" then a glimpse of an ankle must set male hearts a-twitter...

Tweety's a dork, but that's as far as it goes with him.

[ellenfl]

23. it was sexual harassment. eom

[MADem]

24. Well, I disagree. As does the "victim." Your mileage obviously varies.

Everyone has a FACE. Her's looks nice. It no crime to say so.

[ellenfl]

30. i have been the victim of sexual harassment.

have you? i know it when i see it. obviously you don't. if i were to guess, i would say you must be male.

tweety was leering at her and she realized that. what do you expect her to say after she has been told her place? she did what many women have done through the years, she let it go.

ellen fl

[ellenfl]

31. HOW MANY OF YOU TWEETY APOLOGISTS

ARE FEMALE?

just curious. as a female, i was appalled. he did this with the 3 women who made the obama and rudy ads. his behavior of late has been despicable.

ellen fl

[MADem]

38. Waaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!! Get over yourself. That's not the way you win an argument. NT

[MADem]

37. Oh, boy, an "I'll BET YOU!!!" retort!!!

I deliberately refuse to state my gender because I get such a kick out of the way people make halfassed assumptions, especially, like you just did, when you ran out of argument. And you just ran out of argument.

She looked like she was in a fishbowl. They KNOW each other. She gave her report, he had ten or twenty seconds to fill, so he goofed on her.

Amazing, how "patronizing" you are. You're acting like this "little woman" who has a pretty decent job at the financial/economic arm of the NBC network, someone who needed one helluvan education to QUALIFY for that job, who deals with the rough-and-tumble of Wall Street on a daily basis, is somehow a 'delicate flower' in need of YOUR 'protection' from a fat diabetic five hundred miles away on a satellite feed.

And I also find it amazing how, if you're so "pro-woman" that you would DISCOUNT what the woman ACTUALLY SAID. She probably has at least one advanced degree, but you have to speak FOR her?

She's not bothered by her pal Tweety, but obviously, she's a victim in your little mind, ergo she's what--not SMART enough to think for herself? She needs YOUR outraged voice? Because clearly, she didn't know what she meant (silly little thing) when she waved it off?

Gimme a break. It's called making a mountain out of a molehill, what you are doing. And even though you don't realize it, because you are so wrapped up in your self-righteous anger, you are insulting the very woman you claim to be protecting.

:eyes:

[ellenfl]

22. it was sexual harassment. eom

[Exiled in America]

26. Sexual harrassment is defined as unwanted. If she didn't have a problem with it, its not.

[ellenfl]

28. well, i saw the exchange and it looked like she DID have

a problem with it. it was meant to put her in her place.

ellen fl

[Exiled in America]

32. And thank god decisions aren't made based on what YOU think something look likes

But what she says it is.

[ellenfl]

35. what's she going to say? she finally got her shot at

tv and she's going to complain about tweety's leering? you obviously have never been in her position or you would not be so cavalier about it.

ellen fl

[Exiled in America]

41. Yeah, you certainly know best what's going on in her mind. My mistake.

:eyes:

[MADem]

46. 'Finally got her shot at TV?' Are you nuts? She WORKS for CNBC...

Jesus, you love to paint people as VICTIMS when it suits you, it seems. She's no ingenue. She gets as much airtime as Tweety. She has also been around for awhile.

She has not ONE, but TWO shows on CNBC. One's called STREET SIGNS--she is the ANCHOR of that one, and the other is called "Squawk on the Street" that she co-hosts with a guy named Mark Haines. She used to work for Bloomberg TV--she has a long resume and a good reputation. She's not the understudy, breathlessly waiting for her "big break" on Opening Night.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15838220/

Burnett joined CNBC from Bloomberg Television where she anchored two hours of programming daily. Prior to Bloomberg, Burnett served as Vice President at Citigroup, where she built an online financial news network targeted at institutional and retail investors.

Burnett also has worked at CNN as a writer and booker for CNN's "Moneyline." She began her career at Goldman, Sachs & Co. as an investment-banking analyst focused on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance.

She was a member of the team awarded the 2006 Deadline Club Award for Business Reporting.

[MADem]

39. Never MIND what she had to say about it. She's obviously, in your mind, too DUMB to know what she

actually meant.

Never mind that she needed at least one advanced degree, probably more, to get the job she has.

[Exiled in America]

42. No shit.

Stuff like this is the black side of liberalism - people who are ridiculously and obsessively thought police, judgmental, ignorant, and assume that they know what everyone else thinks and feels about everything.

The light side of liberalism is of course things like you know... health care and education and labor rights.... but the dark side really fucking blows.

[MADem]

45. Go too far left and you end up on the right.

Gotta avoid the KoolAid!! That's what gets folks in trouble...!

[ellenfl]

47. insult me all you want. it is what it is.

it's too bad you had to resort to personal attacks of me. you're watching too much tweety, i think.

congratulations to the guest. i am sure she worked hard for her job(s) and endured plenty of leering from the likes of tweety to get where she is. that doesn't mean she has to like being demeaned . . . any more than i like you doing it to me.

btw, i watched the rest of the clip and what i really think we should be discussing is her stand on chinese imports. she made the statement that china is our friend because it is keeping the cost of goods down by not spending the $ it would take to make those products safe. she may look good (to some) but that attitude is very bushco. but i guessed you missed that when you and tweety were leering at her.

ellen fl

[Hekate]

53. Trying to keep one's cool is not the same as not having a problem with harrassment.What exactly was

...she supposed to do while the cameras were rolling?

Tweety behaved like a jerk, with the jerk's usual "I was only joking, where's your sense of humor" excuse.

She tried to keep a professional demeanor, which is not the same thing as approving of his behavior.

Hekate

[Gold Metal Flake]

2. His inability to control his emotions and thoughts...

Aren't these symptoms of demetia or something similar? He can't control his saliva, he blurts out his subconscious desires, it's like his inhibitions have been broken down.

I suppose he could be drinking on the job or could be un the influence of some chemicals.

No matter what the source, he's a trainwreck in the making.

[TroglodyteScholar]

49. Maybe he's on Topamax

My wife and my mom have both taken the stuff, and while it helped what was being treated, their inhibitions were shot to hell. My mother even used crude language in front of me, and that is totally out of character.

Not sure whether all this is really out of character for Tweet or not.

[npincus]

3. OK- I'm on Tweety's side on this one!

I was watching that night, and noticed that Burnett was oddly close-up on the split-screen view. Obviously, the camera was shooting her closer than Tweety... I never observed that before. Usually people on both sides of the split-screen view look the same size, but Burnett's head looked a lot bigger than Tweety's, filling up her portion of the screen. So when he said "can you get closer" I got it right away... he SHOULD have clarified then, now it's a bit late. But i got it, and think Tweety's awkward behavior reveals he may have an "itch" for her. (Eeew)

[MADem]

19. Tweety is easily discombobulated by beautiful women. His wife is a knockout, though--you have to

wonder how he managed that!

[Exiled in America]

27. omg you said his wife was a knockout - you are a sexual harassing asshole!

:sarcasm:

[MADem]

29. Heh heh.....!!! nt

[Katherine Brengle]

4. Ugh, I saw that clip.I

IMO, it was a classic example of a man trying to throw a seemingly pulled-together, powerful woman off her game and make her just a "chick" again.

It was gross and it certainly didn't look like she thought it was funny *at the time* - she looked freaked out and irritated.

If she said she was offended, she'd look like the *frigid bitch* and it could hurt her career - I'm sure she's well aware of this.

[Captain Hilts]

6. He's got some serious health issues, so it's not really fair to go over his looks. nt

[UTUSN]

10. Millions (billions?) of people have diabetes, & I've never heard of affecting-looks being a side eff

effect of diabetes. The comparison had NOTHING to do with his "serious health issues." It might have been more pertinent for you to excuse his trademark juvenile behavior based on his "serious health issues". So, what "serious health issues" does Pat BUCHANAN have to justify my not commenting on HIS looks? It is absurdly P.C. to castigate on this score. The intent here was a simple, wingnut-bashing (yes, I consider Tweety a wingnut), light-hearted, sneering thread. Sheesh!!1 I suppose you will object to my now saying Tweety's looks (read, "metaphor for IDEOLOGY") would qualify him to appear in THIS line-up:

[Captain Hilts]

14. Matthews just had a prolonged hospital stay. Go after Buchanan, he's just fat. nt

[Javaman]

7. and this is why I don't watch tv...

it appears as if it has turned into a 9th graders version of picking up chicks.

"you're like so hot"

"like no way am I hot"

"like you are way hot"

"like so are you"

[TwilightGardener]

8. OK, in Tweety's defense, I saw it, and there was a little fish-bowl effect

going on for some reason. I was surprised that Tweety would go off like that in such an obvious sexual-harassment mode, even notwithstanding his prior behavior, but now it makes sense. I think he's telling the truth--guess he just thought it was funny.

[npincus]

16. me, too

[MADem]

25. She's a leaner, anyway. If you see her on CNBC she tends to lean forward more than some others. NT

[Mugu]

43. Didn't see the episode in question, don't watch his show.

But, it makes sense that the reference was to her sitting too close to the camera. I'll bet that he didn't even think of the possibility of it sounding like harassment until the words were already out of his mouth. No intent, no foul.

Regard, Mugu

[Poiuyt]

9. Well, it wasn't as bad as when Glenn Beck wanted to take nude pictures of the woman he

was interviewing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTPfTfgT-Vo&mode=related&search=

[Mutineer]

12. Neither Beck or Matthews behavor is acceptable.

And both should know better. Furthermore, their networks should deal with them.

[Captain Hilts]

15. I agree. Matthews should be disciplined for his remarks.

No matter what his intent.

[BlooInBloo]

13. "I was just kidding" - to be followed with "you're so sensitive"....

... and "maybe I should make a list of what I can and cannot say", and lastly "everyone's so politically correct".


Oh wait - was I talking about DU or Chris Matthews?

[AlCzervik]

20. i'm sure in Matthews little world no one ever tells him he's wrong or being inappropriate.

and thats the problem imo. They all live in a bubble.

[ellenfl]

21. he's done it before and it is reprehensible.

there is absolutely no excuse for this behavior. imo, it undermines the credibility of the guest as well as being sexual harassment.

no excuse. it's just wrong.

ellen fl

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Exiled in America]

34. You know what the worst part of this story is? She's not nearly that hot.

:evilgrin:

Seriously, that hair? Crazy talk.


I half kidding because I think this subject is ridiculous.

[ellenfl]

36. said like a real male chauvinist pig. eom

[Exiled in America]

40. Yup that's exactly it. Ask anyone.

:eyes:

[Exiled in America]

44. Ok, now I've seen the video, not just just the transcript. It was tactless and insulting.

It I take my previous dismissive comments back and apologize.

It is NOT always offensive or wrong to acknowledge that we are sexual creatures and beings that have physical attractions. It bothers me greatly when some try to introduce a new kind of oppression by pretending that any sort of acknowledgment of physical attributes in any context is somehow inappropriate or limited to one gender.

But it is also an absolute certainty that trivializing someone else's professionalism, intellect by behaving as though their bodies are their primary attribute and that desirability (especially to men) is their primary function - that's unacceptable.

If someone is walking down the road, sees a beautiful man, and comments to a friend, "my god that man is gorgeous," I think its a shame to turn that into some kind of big deal. There's no reason in my mind why that should be any different for a man or a woman.

Unwanted advances, behavior inappropriate to the workplace, or behavior that is demeaning or that ignores all of either a man or a woman's other attributes is wrong. Pretending like we don't find other people attractive and sometimes - in the right contexts - even saying so is very appropriate. And I'm scared of a society where we become so rigid in our thinking that we turn even the smallest behavior into some kind of a big deal....

...that's where I was coming from when I read the transcript. However, I've seen the video, and I was wrong about this particular instance. This was really weird, uncomfortable, and offensive. It was inappropriate to say the least.

EDIT - and, PS I still don't think this particular ancor is "all that." :bounce:

[UTUSN]

50. (Slapping forehead) Sheesh. 7 belittling/dismissive posts against another DUer, plus 8 by a tandem

pal, then this. Yeah-yeah, there's an apology. Sort of anti-climatic and injurious. I hope poster #48 will review, too. All over what was intended to be a wingnut-bashing aimed at a common enemy.

[Exiled in America]

52. Hey that's fine.

I must admit concern over how anonymous posters view another anonymous poster over an internet discussion board is not exactly a high priority on my list of things to care about. If that angers you, if that offends you then that's just the way it is.

I did what most people don't do, and said I was wrong about this one. That's not enough for you, I guess. Let me tell you how much I care about that....

[ellenfl]

54. thank you for seeing the point some of us were trying

to make. i may have been wrong to say it was sexual harassment but, under certain circumstances, that is exactly what it could be. that's how that part of the exchange struck me and, obviously, i was not amused.

if you could not tell, i am not a big fan of the 'boys will be boys' school of thought. imo, it's a cop-out for poor upbringing.

also, imo, towel-snapping, girl-ogling male behavior is not appropriate for a 'news' (or political opinion) show.

ellen fl

[high density]

48. It looks like Tweety being his typical lame self

And if the target of his lameness "wasn't upset or offended," I wish those trying to make a sexual harassment case out of it would give it up already.

[antonialee839]

51. Tweety defends self "She's no hot, sock stuffed, chimp

in a flight suit . "Really folks, this was harmless fun".

[ProgressiveFool]

55. could have been worse

He could have told her that he'd heard only women can touch their elbows together behind their backs...

[ellenfl]

56. i think only katherine harris can do that. eom