VIDEO: Tweety to Elizabeth Edwards: Trial lawyers to blame for lack of bartenders in Pennsylvania

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Hardball: Elizabeth Edwards Asks What’s It Going To Take To Mention John Edwards
By: Nicole Belle on Saturday, January 5th, 2008 at 6:30 AM - PST

Elizabeth Edwards appeared on Hardball Friday to give Chris Matthews a hard time about his continual ignoring of her husband’s campaign for the Democratic nod.



video (Windows Media): http://www.crooksandliars.com/Media/Download/24997/1/hardball-liz-edwards-010408.wmv

video (QuickTime): http://www.crooksandliars.com/Media/Download/24997/2/hardball-liz-edwards-010408.mov

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/01/05/hardball-elizabeth-edwards-asks-whats-it-going-to-take-to-mention-john-edwards/

What a frustrating interviewer Tweety is. You know walking into Hardball that you’re going to be interrupted continually, but he’s not even bothering to listen to anything the person says. When Elizabeth remarks fairly mildly that this is not the first time that the media has ignored John Edwards’ solid second place win for some distraction over a candidate who didn’t do as well, Matthews’ response is to ask if John’s strategy is to knock out Hillary Clinton (the third place candidate) in conjunction with Barack Obama.

Then he asks Elizabeth to differentiate between John and Barack Obama, and when she tries to play up John’s populist appeal, Tweety’s response is to denigrate trial lawyers as an undesirable interest group to be supporting Edwards’ campaign, even going so far as to blame trial lawyers for the lack of bartenders in Pennsylvania. Huh? Is he forgetting that Elizabeth Edwards was a trial lawyer herself? Watch how Elizabeth constantly tries to get Matthews to focus on John Edwards’ campaign and Tweety’s little mind flits elsewhere.

Partial transcript below the fold

CM: But Sen. Edwards, your husband, takes tons of money from trial lawyers. They’re an interest group.

EE: Every person…teachers are an interest group. Press people are an interest group. Every time, you can’t just identify their occupation and say they’re an interest group. You do that all the time. I’m a little tired of that, Chris.

CM: But what’s…what’s…how do you defend taking all this money from the trial lawyers?

EE: What?

CM: They’re not the most popular group in the country

EE: You know, and I suppose there are people who take money from people who own…um…

CM: Teachers are defensible, trial lawyers are a question mark.

EE: Well, actually trial lawyers have spent their lives defending precisely the same kinds of people John’s talking about: working people, who have to go up against corporations or insurance companies and find themselves on the short end of the stick too often. Because they don’t have the voice, the champion that they need, and John’s proud of the fact that he has the support of those kinds of people. I’m tired of this stuff from you. It’s the same song and dance from you all the time.

CM: And what is my song and dance?

EE: That you treat trial lawyers as if they’re a different breed of American than anybody else. They’re…

CM: They’re just driving the doctors out of the states like Pennsylvania, that’s all. These guys can’t afford to practice any more because the trial lawyers are killing them with malpractice.

EE: No. The reason that the insurers pulled out of the state of Pennsylvania was because the anti-trust laws do not cover insurance companies. We can argue about this for a long time…

CM: I just think the doctors are the good guys, okay?

EE: The doctors are the good guys. But it’s not doctors, it’s the insurance companies that have been the problem.

CM: You can’t even find a bartender in states like Pennsylvania because of the trial lawyers. Elizabeth, thank you, the champion of the trial lawyers. You think that’s a good cause to run on for President?

EE: I think the people who trial lawyers represent—the working people of this country—that’s who John’s talking about. The people he grew up with. When he went to work, he went to work not because he had…he was enamored of the trial lawyer. He was enamored of what they did, of the work they did, of the people that they represented. That’s what he’s doing still.

CM: Well, he gave a good speech last night.

EE: He did give a good speech…

CM: It was a good speech. And he’s a great candidate. And I think…

EE: I didn’t hear that…would you like to…

CM: He’s a great candidate. He’s one of the three in the mix right now. It’s a tough one. I mean, he’s not the first woman president, first African American president—this is exciting history. John Edwards is just another white Protestant from the South.

EE: I have to say something. I’m a child of the ‘60s; you are too. We fought very hard for civil rights and women’s rights. What we fought for is so that it wouldn’t make a difference that we were a woman, or we were an African American. It shouldn’t make a difference. We’re not allowed now to say, ‘I’m sorry, it makes a difference to me. ‘ I get, I get…That’s what we fought for, for to make it no difference whatsoever.

CM: You think we’re there? We’re color blind?

EE: Not yet.

CM: I know, that’s why it’s exciting, this race.

EE: It is exciting.

CM: You’ve got a great face, Elizabeth. Sorry, I don’t want to patronize you. You’re great.

[K Gardner]

1. This was one of his most disgusting performances to date. Obnoxious to the nth degree

to a wonderful, gracious and intelligent woman. No excuse for it. It's time for Tweety to go. Thanks for posting this, in all its obnoxious glory, for all to see. Even if you don't support JE, I hope we can all agree Matthews is an ass and has no business being in the influencial position he is in.

[skipos]

2. I agree with a lot of the things she is saying but

does she usually stutter that much? She sounds like she has had 20 Red Bulls. She probably has!

[K Gardner]

3. She does have a pattern of hesitant speech, that's Elizabeth, but let me

remind you that this woman has bone cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy daily. Thanks for the nice, empathetic remark.

[Berry Cool]

6. She may have been having a bit of "chemo brain," and if that's the case

just getting on TV with Tweety is something for which she probably deserves a medal. Chemo brain can really affect your functioning.

Tweety, OTOH, has no excuse. I cannot believe he ended with such a patronizing pat-on-the-head conclusion, either.

Someone needs to find him a Pennsylvania bartender so he can drink himself into oblivion.

[spooky3]

14. to say nothing of what 18 hour days, day after day, will do to your

ability to think and speak smoothly, and to be patient with sexist idiots.

I wish she (or Keith) would punch Tweety's lights out, and I'm well-rested. :-)

[skipos]

15. Lay off the drama

I have had a number of family members go through chemo for cancer, one for bone cancer, and it never made their speech sound like that. Spare me the guilt trip.
She is probably low on sleep and high on caffeine, or maybe just nervous. Or maybe that is the way she speaks. All understandable.

[K Gardner]

19. Wow.. I just now read this response, and I really have to say you are an absolute ass. n/t

[skipos]

20. More drama. Yawn. nt

[mruddy]

21. You're absolutely wrong.

After chemo & radiation treatments, it now takes a few seconds for the words to start forming. I sincerely hope you never have to learn this first hand.

[skipos]

22. Please read what I posted

"I have had a number of family members go through chemo for cancer, one for bone cancer, and it never made their speech sound like that."
You wrote "You're absolutely wrong."

I didn't know you were there. Why didn't you help change my uncle's diapers with me? Thanks for your "sincere hope" though.

This is the last time I ask a question about Edwards or his wife around here. Jesus.

[Evergreen Emerald]

4. "you've got a great face Elizabeth..."

Tweety at his finest sexist, stupidest self. How the hell does he get paid to shout his line of bull is beyond me. What power we give stupid people.

[iamjoy]

9. Subtext - You're Fat

When a guy says a girl has a nice face, he's saying she's fat.

What a troll Tweety is. I remember several months ago, after Kerry made his stupid joke about "stuck in Iraq" both John and Elizabeth were on Hardball. And John was going to address Kerry's comments, and Elizabeth stopped him and made some joke about John not being able to tell jokes. And Tweety said, "Does she bite your balls like this at home, too?"

But Elizabeth was cool, she reminded Tweety that her children were watching.

Nice face, what about her great mind? Elizabeth knows her stuff and holds her own.

[Evergreen Emerald]

10. wow...I never thought of that. So, he is even more of a pig

than I originally thought. I have always admired Elizabeth Edwards. She is the one who should be running for President.

[mod mom]

5. Tweety is an over inflated wind bag touting the Republican talking points. They

want Edwards out, hence their ignoring his campaign. He looked ridiculous here and Mrs Edwards did an excellent job explaining the important role of trial lawyers in fighting for the little guy against corporate interest.

[ecstatic]

7. "You’ve got a great face, Elizabeth"

He is so unbelievably sexist and derogatory towards women guests. He would never treat a male guest that way.

[bluedeminredstate]

8. He's commented on women guest's appearences before.

What a weird and creepy comment to say and I've heard him do it before to other women just like that. He throws it in there appropos of nothing and it's so stunningly unprofessional that I can't believe he still does this shit in 2008.

I can tell you that if Chris was being sued for sexual harassment by a staffer at Hard Ball or if he or a member of his family was injured somehow through corporate negligence or incompetence, he'd find himself the best goddamn trial lawyer he could, using all his Washington connections. Trial lawyer haters always hate them until they need one. Then it's OK.

Kind of like the repukes hating all trial lawyers for ruining the country until people like Scooter Libby needed one (hell, he WAS one!). And then there are those situations when a repuke needs to sue a corporation or company for civil damages and "tort reform" and "clogging the courts with frivolous suits" are terms they've never heard. Funny that.

[spooky3]

12. very true

[spooky3]

11. Good for you, Elizabeth, for standing up to stupid arguments

and doing so politely and assertively.

Notice how quickly Tweety backed down or tried to change the subject, rather than refute your arguments. Then he tries to insult you, as he often does with women, at the end.

Thank you for your intelligence, dignity and courage.

Thank you for everything you and John are doing for all of us.

[Stinky The Clown]

13. NO VIDEO: Matthews is a sad, pathetic, irrelevant little man.

[Blue_In_AK]

16. Tweety doesn't have any understanding of the way

the justice systems works (or is supposed to). Sure, there are unscrupulous lawyers and occasional frivolous lawsuits, but in reality lawyers are the protectors of our rights in this country. If he was such a "patriot" he would know that. We'd be in a world of hurt without trial lawyers, both criminal and civil.

[hisownpetard]

17. After this interview, Tweety should be taken off the air. It felt like Elizabeth was being

interviewed by someone who got a one-day pass out of the asylum.

There is no dignity to the man.

He just keeps interrupting this earnest and intelligent woman who has something pertinent to say, with his inane
and useless remarks, bouncing off the walls. She made an excellent point - that the MSM is still talking only about
Hillary and Obama, even though it was Edwards who came in second (which few people expected).


I don't know how Elizabeth didn't haul off and punch him.. He is nothing more than a sycophantic spittle donor
who does not belong on the air. Enter Rachel Maddow, please.

[Catchawave]

18. EE did great, despite the fact

you know she wanted to punch him in the face.

Was that him coughing uncontrolably off camera while she was trying to answer a question? No apology?

[BattyDem]

23. So Matthews, if you or someone you love is ever injured, cheated or harmed in any way ...

who will you call to help you get justice?

Yeah ... that's what I thought. :eyes:

[struggle4progress]

24. If he cain't find a bartender in Pencilvainya, maybe it's cuz them ain't want HIM to find em