Chris Matthews: Joe Wilson 'Wrong' But Would Be 'Absurd' for Alan Grayson to Apologize

It would be "absurd" for Florida Rep. Alan Grayson (D) to apologize for insisting recently that Republicans stand behind a health care "holocaust," MSNBC's Chris Matthews argued on Thursday's Hardball.

While Matthews felt Grayson's Nazi comparison was over-the-top, Matthews cheered Grayson's display of "cojones," even chuckling at video of Grayson calling Republicans "knuckle-dragging Neanderthals."

Matthews made clear to guests James Warren of the Chicago Tribune and Politico's Roger Simon that he thought Grayson was just the shot in the arm liberals needed for their health care push (audio available here, video embedded at right):

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Well, he [Rep. Joe Wilson (R)] was wrong [for yelling "you lie" to President Obama], this guy's right. I'm serious. I don't always take sides, I'll take sides here. I think this guy's right, for this reason. I think the trouble with this debate over health care is the Republicans have won a simple argument: stand-pat looks good.

MATTHEWS: They have made the case effectively because of the joke the Democrats have put together here, because the president won't say what he wants. They've been able to say, "What we have is pretty good, leave it alone. Do no harm."

MATTHEWS: And that "do no harm" argument is probably, if this thing goes down, what wins. And that's why the Democrats have got to say, "What we have now isn't working, we're not healthy, we've got millions of people without health care, millions of people having their health care denied when they think they have it, and we've got to fix it."

ROGER SIMON, Politico: Right.

MATTHEWS: And they're not winning that argument.

-Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters