Nazis are fast becoming the favorite slur of the hosts on MSNBC. Chris Matthews last Friday compared the "aggressive" push for war in Iraq to what lead to the prosecution of war criminals at the Nuremberg trials. Matthews appeared with Chris Hayes, Alex Wagner and other MSNBC regulars to discuss a new cable documentary on the tenth anniversary of the Iraq war.
After reading a congratulatory reading of a column he wrote prior to the war, Matthews lashed out: "I was really embarrassed by my country, how a President of such limited ability, limited rhetorical ability, mental ability, historic ability, could talk us into a war." Making one of his favorite comparisons, the Hardball anchor sneered, "You know, the Nuremberg trials were primarily, before the Holocaust and all those other issues, was against people who launched an aggressive war. And this was an aggressive war." [MP3 audio here [1].] So, in this example, George W. Bush is one of the Nazis?
The Nazi reference came after Hayes cued up Matthews, wondering, "What was the political temperature of the national conversation when you wrote [a column in 2002 that denounced the coming Iraq war]?"
Matthews's casual linkage to the Nazis isn't new. On October 22, 2012 [2], the journalist attacked conservative "birth control Nazis."
On November 26, 2012 [3], Matthews compared conservatives unhappy with the 2012 election to Hitler. He insisted that those on the right consider the Hispanic vote "extraterrestrial" and then added, "The last guy to refer to the black auxiliary was Hitler."
On January 14, 2013 [4], Matthews's colleague, Martin Bashir, connected the NRA to Hitler.
A transcript of the March 22 exchange:
Talking Hubris
10:02 ET
CHRIS HAYES: And Chris, I want to read something you wrote, September 1, 2002, a column. This is your last newspaper column about the war. You said, "So, I'll say it. I hate this war that's coming in Iraq. I don't think we'll be proud of it. Oppose this war because it will create a millennium of hatred and the suicidal terrorism that comes with it. You talk about Bush trying to avenge his father. What about the tens of millions of Arab sons who will want to finish a fight we start next spring in Baghdad?" I think it's interesting that was your last column when you wrote that. What was the political temperature of the national conversation when you wrote that?
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Well, I was alone and, I mean, there were obviously were other war critics, like Ted Kennedy, big-shot critics, but myself I felt like the country was rushing to war and I was really embarrassed by my country, how a President of such limited ability, limited rhetorical ability, mental ability, historic ability, could talk us into a war, a war that was just totally against our history. You know, the Nuremberg trials were primarily, before the Holocaust and all those other issues, was against people who launched an aggressive war. And this was an aggressive war. And I had never heard of the United States making a case like that before.
-- Scott Whitlock is the senior news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here [5] to follow him on Twitter.