How does Chris Matthews keep his job?

Tweety, as they call him, is billed by MSNBC as a man of keen political insights. The record to the contrary is voluminous and now includes this ridiculous entry.

UPDATE: Here's a video montage of Matthews making the curious case that John McCain will be a "hero" and a comer if he gets 18 percent in tonight's caucuses while Hillary Clinton will suffer humiliating "rejection" if she gets 32 percent on the Democratic side.

Now Chris Matthews has gone too far

I dissed Chris Matthews here last week, and with good reason, but now I've got even more reason to wish that he'd go away.

The guy is a blatant sexist, and his offenses are no less egregious than those for which Don Imus got canned by MSNBC, the company that still employs Matthews.

The parent company of MSNBC also owns CNBC, where Erin Burnett works. She's the woman whom Matthews disrespected last Friday night with his inappropriate remarks about her looks.

Matthews has a long record of sexist remarks, and he'd better soon reform or he's going to come under the same kind of unrelenting fire that chased Imus off the airwaves.

Incidentally, Digby's worthy take on this latest of Matthews' offenses is right here.

The macho imperative

Digby has a habit of getting it right, and this bit about the politics of masculinity-versus-femininity is no exception.

Your typical right-winger, especially, seems to live in mortal fear of losing his grip on his masculinity.

This helps explain the peculiar idolization of John Wayne, which I addressed here a few weeks ago on the occasion of the Duke's 100th birthday. It's funny how conservatives saw a rugged cowboy and a war hero in a guy named Marion who studiously avoided military service in World War II.

And then there's the truly strange penchant among some commentators these days -- especially Chris Matthews on MSNBC -- to display a man-crush on any politician who exhibits machismo. It probaby isn't really a gay thing, but a shrink could have a field day sorting out the implications of it all.

Liberal media?

You mean this liberal media?

Oh, the humanity!

Now that this spoiled slut is back in the slammer, can anything be done about also incarcerating anybody and everybody who gives a damn about her travails? How about revoking their citizenship? Taking away their voting privileges (not that they're the kind who would bother voting)?

It's disgraceful that MSNBC has required political talker Chris Matthews to lead his show tonight with this crap. Keith Olbermann probably will be forced to follow suit.

I'm not saying that there's not an audience for this nonsense. Television is awash in tripe that attracts huge numbers of mouth-breathers, but they're not exactly the same folks who can read stop signs without moving their lips.

What makes the network pinheads think that the reasonably literate political junkies who watch Matthews and Olbermann care one whit about Paris Hilton? Wait! Let me guess: It's focus-group feedback interpreted by junior executives who are convinced that celebrity bullshit like this on a political show will attract young viewers. As if.

Most people who don't chew gum or uptalk hardly even know who Paris Hilton is. Hell, I used to think she was an it -- and it was a hotel in France. I still don't know what she's famous for. How can such a cipher actually have what the supermarket mags refer to as "fans"?

We're on the road to perdition, people. Mark my words.