If Scooter wrote it down, then I said it

[dancingme]

An hour or so later, Matalin called back Imus to, uh, clarify.

You can't twist our words or mischaracterize our conversation. You said to Kelly just now that I essentially deny this. So let me be clear, crystal clear.

If Scooter wrote it down, then I said it.

I don't remember saying it. I was trying to explain to you what it could have meant. What it does not mean is that Tim literally hates Chris.

But if Scooter wrote it down, then I said it.

So don't say I deny it, or don't characterize it in any way.

If Scooter wrote it down, then I said it.

...

If he wrote it down like that, whether or not I remember saying it it's irrelevant. If he said that then I said that, and it sounds like something I would say. In the same way I would say Wilson is a snake or anything else.
...

I want you to understand the gravity of what you’re doing here. In 15 years I have never called you back, when you’re jerking my chain 24-7. I’ve never done this. It’s not about my chain. It’s about clarifying and disallowing you to twist my words. If Scooter wrote it down, then I said it. I’m not contradicting Scooter—Is that clear? Are looking at me? Are you listening to me? Ok.

Any guess on what her talking point was?

-Atrios 12:03 PM

http://atrios.blogspot.com/

[malaise]

1. More than a little desperate

Poor Mary NOT!

[emulatorloo]

2. earlier part of show, Matalin says **she** hates chris matthews, not tim russert hates chris

this is quoted from firedog lake piece which is REALLY worth reading too (also included the callback you quoted):

<snip>

Here's a bit more from Matalin's impromptu calls to Imus this morning, again via Atrios:
-------------------------------------------
Matalin: We were friends for a really really long time.

Imus: Why do you not like him now:

Matalin: This is not about him or me or liking or disliking. I do not like anyone - I'm being redundant here - who purports to be a purveyor of truth and serving the public by serving the truth out there who flagrantly is making up stuff. To my mind an observation a nightly flagrant bias, an untruthtelling, about the circumstances surrounding this and other things having to do with the Vice President. And I did call his producers to no avail. Chris is to his producers as you are to the world, but you're in a different position.

So it's not what I think about him. I think he's an incredible human being who has overcome a lot. I love his wife and when his show was first on it was must see TV. And now I can't trust… if I know for a fact that everything he's saying about things in which I'm involved are wrong then I can't trust anything else that he says.
--------------------------------------------
But Mary, what if you know for a fact that what Matthews is saying is true, but that by saying it, he's damaging the political prospects of your former boss nee political godfather by calling his myriad of lies to the public's attention? By questioning the little credibility that Vice President Cheney might have left at his 18% approval rate and falling, does Matthews' questioning beging to impinge not just on your former boss's ego, but also, perhaps, on your own personal consulting and lobbying and self-promotioning bottom line? Guess that's a horse of a different color altogether, isn't it? Or perhaps a roosting chicken?

<snip>

Then after reporting her "IF SCOOTER WROTE IT DOWN I SAID IT correction, firedoglake writes:

Ummm….as Duncan asks, can you tell what her talking point was for the call back? Can you say "questioning Scooter Libby's credibility during his criminal trial was not smart"? I can. I can also say "someone placed a call to Mary and asked for an immediate correction on the record." Any guesses on who that might have been?

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/02/08/the-trouble-with-mary/

The Trouble With Mary
By: Christy Hardin Smith