Chris Matthews Shrieks: NRA Is Doing a 'Dance of Death' Over Obama
The staunchly pro-gun control Chris Matthews on Friday sneered that the National Rifle Association is doing a "dance of death" in celebration of their victory over Barack Obama. Regarding senators who voted with the gun group, the Hardball host mocked, "These are the guys who took the easiest vote in American political history. They backed the NRA." He added that "it was almost a religious experience for these clowns." (Couldn't that last part be said of journalists in relation to Obama?)
Regarding speakers at the NRA conference in Texas, Matthews snarled, "I think it might be a dance of death over the President's political grave, is what it really is." [MP3 audio here.] Former Democratic governor Ed Rendell appeared on the program and blamed the organization for future horrors: "Imagine the blood on the hands of the people who voted against this common sense bill."
However, Rendell was governor during the time abortionist Kermit Gosnell was running his unrestricted abortion clinic in Pennsylvania, an abortion clinic where Gosnell allegedly murdered four babies. Matthews, of course, didn't bring up this point.
Instead, the host insisted that the NRA wants unstable people to get guns: "The NRA is implicitly telling people who have a problem with their background and know it, go to a gun show."
A partial transcript of the May 03 segment is below:
5:04
CHRIS MATTHEWS: These are the guys who took the easiest vote in American political history. They backed the NRA. And it was almost a religious experience for these clowns.
MATTHEWS: The NFL has sort of limited the end zone dances to something minimally triumphant now. You can't put on an entire performance art there. But these guys, it seems to be no limit. I hear it's going to go on all afternoon. Sarah Palin's going to do one of these things. It's just going to go on and on. I think it might be a dance of death over the President's political grave, is what it really is. I think the governor's right. It can't just be about less invasive background checks. Is this the holy grail for these people?
...
ED RENDELL: I think the Republican Party is headed towards disaster and it's not too late. I think the Kelly Ayottes of the world should change their vote. We should try to get a revote here. We should try to get this thing passed because as you said, imagine the next tragedy, but imagine if that person got their gun at a gun show and that person wouldn't have gotten it had they applied through a universal background check. Imagine the blood on the hands of the people who voted against this common sense bill.
MATTHEWS: Yeah. By the way, just to the point you're making. Just to follow, before you go into it. The NRA is implicitly telling people who have a problem with their background and know it, go to a gun show.
-- Scott Whitlock is the senior news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
