NY Times Book Review Scorches Matthews' "Tip and the Gipper"

[Jamaal510]

More: http://www.mediaite.com/online/ny-times-book-review-scorches-chris-matthews-tip-and-the-gipper/

Reviewer David Greenberg describes Matthews as a cable news “snarling head” who fundamentally gets his history wrong when describing the relationship between President Ronald Reagan and House Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill Jr., for whom he worked as an aide. “For those familiar with his brand of confidently asserted overgeneralization,” Greenberg writes of Matthews, “the book is about what you would expect.”

Greenberg goes on to debunk the notion that Reagan and O’Neill “put politics aside at 6 o’clock” to make compromise deals that would help both Democrats and Republicans. “It’s a nice idea for a book,” he writes, “if only it were true.” He questions the “false symmetry” Matthews sets up between the two men, who he says were not on the same level in terms of political influence. Mocking Matthews’ emphasis on Reagan’s “Irishness,” Greenberg concludes, “He has a fine appreciation of blarney.”

[monmouth3]

1. Matthews book is about how he wishes things were. The reality is how they really were, big diff.

[DonViejo]

2. The actual review is a better read than

the Mediaite report of it. Here's a link to the full NYT review:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/books/review/tip-and-the-gipper-by-chris-matthews.html?_r=0

[BeyondGeography]

3. They sure crapped all over Tweety

Why can't the Times always be so clear-eyed? Matthews had a front-row seat for a political play that went right over his head.

Thanks for posting.

[KamaAina]

4. "a kind of Democratic Pat Buchanan"

"giving voice to the resentments of the disgruntled middle class."

[hatrack]

5. Hah! Read this clip:

Matthews also misreads Reagan in retailing the tired Washington canard that his success lay in his affability. Many insiders did indeed swoon over the president’s ready charm, but his election depended just as crucially on his very public meanness, his zest for the punitive — the vows to crack down on domestic spending, “welfare queens” and the Evil Empire. An account of Reagan’s triumph that locates the key in his Hollywood smile cannot explain the victories that the conservative movement continued to enjoy after his exit.

[Ikonoklast]

8. Reagan was elected by people with a mean streak, just like him.

They knew Reagan was a mean shit, and they liked him for it.

[warrprayer]

6. Tweety's fapping over Reagan

... is embarrassing.

[Rex]

7. Why do pundits create this strange reality that never existed

then go on to news shows and get treated like experts when they lie their asses off or are just completely wrong? People like Matthews are part of the problem and not part of the solution and never will be.

[Paladin]

9. I bet Matthews will pull an on-air whine fest over this well-deserved trashing. (nt)