Chris Matthews elaborates on being silenced by VP's office

[babylonsister]

TV Guide did an interview, but I can't access that from my computer.

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/

Matthews: V.P.'s office tried to silence me on Cheney's Iraq role

At a 10th anniversary party for "Hardball" last week, Chris Matthews said that Bush White House officials -- especially some in Dick Cheney's office -- had tried to "silence" him by putting pressure on executives at MSNBC.

Matthews' comments were a little cryptic, but now he's elaborating in an interview with TV Guide. Matthews says that there was a "concerted effort" -- carried out by three people linked to Cheney -- to kill discussion of the role Cheney's office played in trumpeting a supposed nuclear threat from Iraq.

"I thought on the 10th anniversary it would be good to celebrate the First Amendment, which gives us all our living," Matthews tells TV Guide. "We reviewed in brief the remarkable experience of covering the Clinton and the defense of the war with Iraq. And the difference in these two cases was that although I was extremely tough on Clinton, there was never any attempt to silence me -- whereas there was a concerted effort by to silence me. It came in the form of three different people calling trying to quiet me."

TV Guide asks Matthews why he's "coming out about this now."

"I think people ought to know this," he says. "There's a lot going on among our producers, our young bookers, now that I never noticed before. There is an almost menacing call that you get whenever someone hears something they don't like -- their people call up and threaten, or challenge, and get very nasty. That's now become the norm. I told people, 'Just tell me this from now on.'

"Every time someone calls and tries one of those things, whether it's the Mitt Romney campaign or the John McCain campaign or whatever, I will put it on the air. I'm tired of this kind of pressure that's now become normal among the young staffers on these campaigns. When it's coming from the vice president’s office -- there was a concerted effort to stop me from reporting on what the vice president's office was doing in terms of making the case that there was a nuclear threat from Iraq. I wanted to remind people having a talk show that is outspoken is not without its troubles."

[Atman]

1. YOU FUCKING DOUCHE BAG, CHRIS! "People" needed to know this years ago!

Do some goddamn research, Mr. Journalist. You could have read DU on any given day and you'd have seen plenty of reports about this type of harassmnent. I suppose no one really tried to silence Rather either. But now his conscience (read: fear of ratings under a Democratic administration) has gotten to him. What a worthless piece of slime.

.

[soothsayer]

2. He's right! The best solution is to go public. Even Pelosi should say, "Look, here's how

they threatened me" and lay it all out on the table. (I'm assuming somebody's got the goods on her)

[tularetom]

3. He's feeling the heat from Olbermann

and he's trying to establish his anti administration bona fides by making these kind of accusations to show how "edgy" and "outspoken" he is. But not to worry - the WH will soon slap him back into place and he'll be back to having orgasms over the chimp in his sock stuffed space suit.

[hadrons]

4. It was fun watching Tweety on Olbermann after the GOP snoozefest/debate ....

Olbermann was pointing out the failures and stupidity of Tweety's new loves, Rudy and Freddy.

On one hand Tweety whines that the facist VP tried to silence him and one the other he kisses the asses of two men who would pick a facist VP if they win.

There's a word for guys who like this type of relationship.