The Thrill (Up The Leg) Is Gone

by digby

..it turns out that Obama is a limp girly man after all.

Chris Matthews: He is leading with his chin on just about every issue out there — healthcare, terror trials, job losses, even the breast cancer report. He’s exposed and vulnerable. His poll numbers are dropping.

Is he just too darned intellectual? Too much the egghead? Why did he bow to that Japanese emperor? Why did he pick Tim Geitner to be his economic front man? Why all this dithering over Afghanistan? And who thought it was a wonderful idea to bring the killers of 9/11 to New York City, the media capital of the world … so they could tell their story?

Is Obama channeling Adlai Stevenson for heaven sake?

He and Ron Brownstein and Susan Page of USA today went on to discuss the fact that Obama is an egghead and an elitist who’s listening to Ivy Leagers who think they know everything instead of Real Americans who “went to state schools.” (I’m not kidding, that’s what they said.) I guess Matthews hasn’t heard that song for a while and as with his favorite Pat Boone album, he just has to get it out and play it now and again.

Not that I think Obama is doing a terrific job of speaking to the everyday concerns of Americans. But it’s not because he’s too smart and went to Harvard fergawdsakes. (As I wrote yesterday, one of the smartest populist reformers around is Elizabeth Warren, who also happens to be a Harvard professor.)

But if what you want is stupid, folksy, common touch know-nothingness, here’s a memorable little pile of dumb:

Matthews: I’ve been so impressed by Lincoln’s words this week — government of, by and for the people. It isn’t government of, by and for the people. This is being decided, the biggest issue of our time, this economic crisis, the worst, according to the wall Street Journal,since the 1930s, by people so much bigger headed than most voters, than most members of congress, certainly than me. This is being decided by people like Hank Paulson.

THANK GOD this president has this secretary of treasury and not the one other ones he had before, perhaps. But Richard, the people can’t vote on things like this.

Wolf: (nods sagely)

Matthews: We can’t understand it. I’m one of them. I don’t get it. What are all these derivatives and all this short selling and all this complicated financial … skigamadoo or whatever you call it. What is it?

Wolf: Even the candidates have problem getting through this alphabet soup. I mean, they’ve both mangled the players and the key terms of those involved here. Are they talking about firing the right person when he talks about Chris Cox? Is it Fannie Mac or Freddie Mae?

Matthews: I’m just wondering if it’s above our pay grade? I think Carly Fiorina may have been right. These guys can run for president but they can’t be Secretary of the Treasury.

Matthews: Even elected presidents can’t master this financial game. It’s too complicated. Shouldn’t they come out and tell us who their economic team’s gonna be? … The reason I ask is because we saw the president this week and Bush has all the native intelligence you can have. He doesn’t want to touch it because for a layman to start talking about the economy right now is very dangerous. Right Lynn?

Lynn Sweet: It’s tough. It’s interesting because who would have thought that his treasury secretary would emerge from this crisis…

Matthews:the third secretary, two are gone…

Sweet: Right. That he would emerge from this looking as the strong person in the administration, who’s pulling it together. And we’ll see if the congress gives him the power to run the economy.

Matthews: Is congress willing to make him King Henry as they put on the one of the magazine covers?

Wolf: the cover of Newsweek…

Matthews: Will they let him be King Henry?

I don’t think anyone’s going to mistake Matthews for an intellectual any time soon, so he’s safe from the Stevenson curse. No egghead is he, this man who was ready to name the Treasury Secretary King at the first sign of trouble.

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