Hey, remember when the government shut down last year, and liberals placed the blame on the Republicans? Remember what MSNBC’s Chris Matthews had to say back then?
“I believe it’s terrorism. This is the first time I’ve seen a political party or even a fraction of it saying that their number one goal is A — to shut down the American government, it is the American government. Kill a bill that has already passed by Congress and refuse to pay bills already run up by the Congress in an attempt to basically risk default. This is an attempt to destroy all we know of as the republican form of government in this country with the purpose — I don’t know the purpose.” (VIDEO: Chris Matthews: Ted Cruz Is A Terrorist)
Well — surprise surprise — the “Hardball” host has a completely different take now that Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren is pushing Democrats to defeat a last-minute spending bill designed to keep the government funded, praising Warren for her “revolution in the Democratic Party.”
“I still cannot find this more odd than to hear Elizabeth Warren coming off as the Joan of Arc of the left to go and fight Wall Street,” former RNC chairman Michael Steele said. “…And poor [Republican Texas Senator] Ted Cruz who was making the same principle charge is somehow Methuselah or something in the Chris Matthews mind.”
“He was called a political terrorist! Political terrorist!” agreed Republican strategist J. Hogan Gidley, who was perhaps too polite to note that Matthews was the one calling him that.
But Matthews wasn’t having the comparison. “Let’s discriminate here between somebody who’s trying to make sure Wall Street doesn’t get another bite out of the apple that shouldn’t have, and someone who’s out there saying [Defense Secretary] Chuck Hagel’s taking ten thousand bucks from the North Koreans. There’s a difference.” (VIDEO: Chris Matthews: Dems Needs To Stop Being ‘Hard Left’ And ‘Get Some Things Done’)
“I think it’s good for the country, I think this fight tonight,” Matthews said. “We could stand a few more days fighting about the big budget bill, as long as we have someone looking out for the people.”