Friday, May 07, 2010

Chris Matthews is an Idiot

In another chapter of "I watch him so that you don't have to," Chris Matthews finished yesterday's edition of Hardball with another of his silly little poetic "Let Me Finish" segments. Whoever writes these things has the vocabulary of Christopher Hitchens and the intellect of Christopher Robin. This one was waxing rhapsodic about the British election system.

Let me finish tonight with the excitement of this election in the United Kingdom. I love British elections for a handful of reasons. First, you get to see precisely how the people feel right now. They tell you which party the people want running the country, for the simple reason people over in Britain only get to vote for party. There‘s none of the confusion you get in this country. No voting for one party for president, the other for Congress, the other for the Senate. In British elections, you vote for a candidate for parliament from one party, and you‘re saying you want that party to pick the prime minister.

The third advantage is the winner of the election in Britain completely controls the government. The prime minister party, his party sets the agenda. Parliament carries it into law. And the government itself acts on it. One party does it all. You know who to blame. I like it simple. You can‘t be simpler than that.

Fourth advantage of the British election, the government elected today will take office immediately. There will be no lame duck, no long intermission between one government and the next. Winners take office. The losers pick up their papers, shove them into their bags and head out the door. It‘s neat. And most people like it neat.

Let‘s watch the Brits. Maybe we can learn something.

Well, the outcome of this particular election is summed up in a headline on Google, "An Uncertain and Difficult Road Ahead in London."

So much for, “It's neat.” It looks really messy to me.

The most likely outcome, it seems, is a “coalition” government. So much for, “One party does it all,” in that eventuality. Or a minority government which is about as stable as the chemical element Hassium.

You watch the Brits, Chris, I’ve got better lessons to learn.

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