MSNBC's Matthews uninjured pulling head out of Judy Miller's ass

Hardball host fawns over former White House stenographer; stays away from tough questions

By J. Thomas Duffy

MSNBC's Chris Matthews, host of Hardball with Chris Matthews, escaped serious injury yesterday, extracting his head out of the rectum of Judy Miller, former New York Times reporter and White House stenographer.

"We weren't sure," offered MSNBC President Dan Abrams. "We sent Chris to the hospital, just as a precaution."

Abrams wasn't pleased with his host's interview with Miller, who served nearly three-months in jail for not disclosing her source in the CIA Leak Case, which turned out to be convicted felon I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Sources tell us that Abrams is considering a change in the title of Matthews' program to Soft Balls on Chris Matthews.

Matthews, with his trademark grinning and drooling, welcomed Miller with "Judy, you're a hero to the press. You are definitely a woman to be trusted with secrets..." -- and started off the interview on a strange, blathering tangent:

I'm in Los Angeles right now. I'm up there in a -- I was up in a Renaissance Hotel the other night, looking down -- actually, when I got up this morning -- seeing this whole city, crowded city, below me. Is it safe?

Matthews, fawning over Miller, continued his line of questioning the former White House shrill about the recent NIE report and the alleged strengthening of Al Qaeda.

Not once did Matthews, his cranium firmly squeezed into Miller's behind, question his guest about her role in spreading the lies and misinformation coming out of the Bush Grindhouse in the run-up to invading and occupying Iraq

Another point Abrams was upset about was that the network teased and ran promos for Matthews' show, and specifically his interview with Miller, offering the tantalizing prospects of her views and opinions on the commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence and incarceration.

Without asking her a single question about Libby that Miller could have answered or chosen not to answer, Matthews gushed:

MATTHEWS: Judy, I believe in you. You‘re great. And by the way, I didn‘t ask you about Scooter Libby because—because the president didn‘t ...let‘s make it clear what happened here. If he had pardoned the guy, we could talk because there‘d be no further legal action against him. But because he‘s now floating around there in limbo, as the guy with clemency commutation but still appealing his case, you can‘t talk about the case.

MILLER: That‘s right.

MATTHEWS: I completely understand that. I sympathize with you.

MILLER: Thank you, Chris.

MATTHEWS: And I sometimes even sympathize with Scooter Libby.

"If this is how Chris plays hardball," an agitated Abrams fumed, "than we have to sit down and have a talk... Either that, or he can pack his bags and move over to Fox News."

In a related story, unconfirmed reports have former MSNBC host Rita Cosby, recently losing out on a World Wonder title, stalking the graveyard where Anna Nicole Smith is buried, badgering workers and visitors. Cosby, it is being said, still hopes to revive the deal with Abrams to launch a 24-hour Anna Nicole Smith channel.

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Links

-- Watch Video of Judy Miller plays Hardball with Chris Matthews
-- Hardball with Chris Matthews' for July 18 Read the transcript to the Wednesday show
-- Miller To Leave 'Times' With Movie Deal In Hand; Signs On To Star In Memento Sequel; Not Sure If She Will Continue Freelancing For Bush Admin.

Bonus Link

Editor & Publisher: Judy Miller Defends Leaker -- Of Harry Potter Ending!