Chris Matthews Does Worse Than Sarah Palin Would on 'Jeopardy'

By Mark Whittington | Yahoo! Contributor Network2 hrs 15 mins ago

COMMENTARY | Newsbusters reports how MSNBC's angry news analyst Chris Matthews performed less than spectacularly on "Jeopardy." That Matthews has repeatedly speculated on how poorly Sarah Palin would perform makes it all the more delicious.

Of all of the pernicious and misogynistic slams on Palin, the ones about her intelligence has been the most puzzling. If Matthews had been paying attention, he would have realized Palin thinks well on her feet, as when she ripped Joe Biden to shreds during the 2008 vice presidential debate. That should have served as a clue to people like the MSNBC host who seems to be enraptured by the black legend of Palin as the psycho-bimbo.

Why do people like Matthews like to run down Palin's intellect? Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds speculates it is a sign of a well-founded intellectual insecurity on the part of the person doing the mocking. They feel threatened by a person of undoubted gifts as Palin has and react accordingly. Most of these Palin haters are liberal men like Matthews or Bill Maher who mask a certain anxiety with bluster.

Of course, there are women who ha! te Palin but for different reasons that are as old as high school cliques. Their attitude is, what is that country bumpkin from the sticks doing playing on our turf?

The question arises, will Matthews' unfortunate experience serve as a dish of humility? Will he reflect upon the folly of tossing stones in glass houses? To paraphrase Eric Segal, political combat means never having to say one's sorry. But this particular "hate story" is not so much a tragedy as it is a farce.

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