It's time for MSNBC to say goodnight to Chris Matthews

By Richard K. Barry

I saw this interview when it aired. I think I was doing something else, not paying a lot of attention. It was such a stupid statement that I assumed I heard it wrong. Daily Kos put it up this weekend, proving that I did hear what I thought I heard. 

The conversation was between MSNBC host Chris Matthews and Andrea Mitchell. In it, Matthews questions the extent to which "wife beating" is really that big a deal. 

This is the relevant exchange:

Chris Matthews: Is that close to the bone, the idea of wife beating, some old beaters?
Andrea Mitchell: That was part of it.
Matthews: Yeah, but is that something that women really worry about, men being brutal?
Mitchell: Yes. The Violence Against Women Act ...
Matthews: At home? In the home?
Mitchell: Yes, domestic violence ...

Chris Matthews continues to be one of dumbest hosts of a political show working in America today. And thanks, Chris,  for the 1950s era language on one of the most intransigent social problems of our time. 

What an ass.