The always hyperbolic Chris Matthews on Tuesday touted Barack Obama's call for action on global warming with a rambling warning. The Hardball anchor hyperventilated, "And why did President Obama try to move the ball on global warming and climate change today? Well, because cities like Miami are about to turn into Atlantis if we don't do something about this." [MP3 audio here [1].]
He added, "They're only five feet in the air, Atlantis – I mean Miami." If one assumes that Matthews knows Atlantis isn't real, he presumably meant that Miami is only a few feet above sea level. Matthews lauded Obama, praising, "At least he knows that the future of the planet is at stake. He's got the right values."
Later in the program, the liberal journalist repeated his assertion: " We're going to have Miami turning into Atlantis by the end– by our children's lifetimes."
After guest Howard Fineman started to laugh, Matthews warned, "It's not a joke. It's frightening."
The host insisted that if this were the '60s, climate skeptics would be called "pigs." He explained, "People that didn't care about anything except their own wealth. That's all they cared about. Pigs."
A partial transcript is below:
Hardball
06/25/13
5:12
CHRIS MATTHEWS: And why did President Obama try to move the ball on global warming and climate change today? Well, because cities like Miami are about to turn into Atlantis if we don't do something about this. They're only five feet in the air, Atlantis– I mean Miami. They only got about three feet coming at them. So, there will be about two feet left of them in a couple decades. Anyway, finally, let me finish tonight with this point. How do you punish people, the anti-environmentalists people in the Congress and in the business world? Because it's going to hurt us later, what they're doing now.
...
MATTHEWS: Up next, President Obama is trying to tackle climate change today. He's not expecting any help from the Congress. At least he knows that the future of the planet is at stake. He's got the right values. Can he move on this?
...
MATTHEWS: But if this is true, that carbon emissions are causing the sea level to rise and we're going to have Miami turning into Atlantis by the end– by our children's lifetimes, [Howard Fineman laughs], it's not a joke. It's frightening.
HOWARD FINEMAN: No, it's not.
MATTHEWS: It's real. It's not BS. We used to call these guys and women, well, mostly guys, pigs back in the '60s. People that didn't care about anything except their own wealth. That's all they cared about. Pigs.
-- Scott Whitlock is the senior news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here [2] to follow him on Twitter.