Tweety

A few years ago Atrios nicknamed Chris Matthews of Hardball on MSNBC Tweety. I picked up on it because I thought it was funny.

Now the resident of the White House is a person who  likes to type   things on Twitter who may or may not realize that he may crash markets or start a war with a 5AM Tweet.

God help us all

Quincy turns 5 today

I'm not really big on  birthdays as I was born on my sister's 5th birthday and she has not forgiven me til this day. But John Quincy Adams wants to celebrate by chewing up stuff and digging holes. Chris Matthews (Tweety) of Hardball ended our argument on what to name him when he mentioned JQA. His predecessors were Hubert Horatio "Humphrey" and Michael Gorbachev "Gorby."

When we brought him home the cat wasn't thrilled at first but Ptolomey has since made his peace.

He figured out how to dig holes and still does. I can't believe I actually have to buy dirt to fill them in.

The Q likes to dig when it rains.

We nursed him when he wasn't well.

And put up with the destructive streaks.

He helps with yard work.

He is our big affectionate,clumsy Golden Retriever.

Hardball

Hardball is back on MSNBC at 3AM replacing The Ed Show. Love him or hate him Chris Matthews has one of the best political shows on TV. I'm a night shift worker so I notice these things.

The Pennsylvania Society meets in New York

"I don't know anyone who's been bought at Pennsylvania Society, Rented maybe -- but not bought." - Montgomery County Republican Ken Davis





Again I haven't been invited to any of the swanky parties this weekend. It must have been an oversight because I was ready to cash in my aluminum cans at Bilecki's Junk Yard to finance the trip.

The big news is that Tweety won't be attending according to Politico: Chris Matthews no longer plans to attend a ritzy Saturday night dinner hosted by the Pennsylvania Society, as Politico reported earlier. Matthews informed the event organizer that he and his wife could no longer attend, according to the organizer's assistant.

There will be plenty of other office seekers making the rounds. The list of potential Governor's includes Tom Corbett, Pat Meehan, Don Cunningham, Tom Wolf, Tom Knox, Dan Onorato, Jack Wagner and Jim Gerlach who will all be pressing the flesh at various soirees. And Senators Arlen Specter and Bob Casey plan to attend. I've asked some of our local office holders if they plan to take part and will update when they get back to me.


The last few years Gene Stilp has sponsored a pot luck dinner at the capitol in Harrisburg at the same time but I'm not sure if he is doing it this year. There has been grumbling about the fact that this event has been held out of state forever and many people think it should be held in the Commonwealth but as Governor Rendell said "People say if you had it in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh no one would come." That would break my heart.

Patrick Murphy for Senate

According to a story in Roll Call Bucks County Rep. Patrick Murphy (PA-8) is looking at taking on Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) in 2010. His top aide said "he’s looking at it very strongly right now.”

Murphy is an Iraq war vet who easily won a 2nd term in Congress taking 57% of the vote in November. He is a proven fundraiser raking in almost $4 million this cycle and would probably need at least $20 million for a Senate bid. He has some local ties being a graduate of Kings College and his brother JJ Murphy is the Wilkes-Barre City Administrator. JJ is an Air Force Reserve officer who was recently called up to active duty and deployed to the Horn of Africa. Another local connection is that he once told me that he reads my blog.

The buzz about Chris Matthews running for the seat took a hit when Politico reported he has signed a long-term contract with MSNBC to keep hosting Hardball. Some other reports say he is house shopping in Philadelphia and the latest Rasmussen poll has him trailing by just three percentage points, 46% to 43%. Other polls have him way down. The crew over at PAWaterCooler have had a collective tingle going up their legs at the possibility and will be very disappointed if he doesn't make the race. We will see. The Rain Man pointed out something I didn't even think of. Imagine Tweety at a confirmation hearing grilling a nominee and telling the guy "you don't know what you're talking about." Pat Toomey came close to knocking off Specter in the 2004 Republican primary ( he may try again) and Tweety made mince meat of him on an appearance his show. What a great debate that would be!

.

If Matthews decides not to make the Senate primary a circus another serious candidate is Allyson Schwartz.

Tweety for Senate

I still think that Chris Matthews is using this possible Senate run as a negotiating ploy in his contract talks with MSNBC. But if he did make it to the Senate it would make C-SPAN a lot more entertaining. Will the gentleman yield? NO I WILL NOT. Let alone when he would be the presiding officer.


Now they are even polling the possibility. From TPM:


The new numbers from Public Policy Polling (D): Specter 40%, Matthews 27%, and a very high 33% undecided.

The internals have good news and bad news for both candidates. Specter is below 50%, a bad place for an incumbent, but he's grabbing 30% of Democrats and a 41%-28% plurality among independents, indicating that he's able to draw some crossover support like he usually has in his previous races. If he can solidify the 32% of undecided GOP voters, he would basically have it made.

He might even be serious about this as he told the Colbert Report in the spring:

"Some kids wanted to be a fireman. I wanted to be a Senator."

My blog buddie Alex has some thoughts on the possibility; that there are people in Pennsylvania who would reflexively vote a) against a Republican or b) against Arlen Specter?
Stunning. I had no idea. Really. None. What. So. Ever. None.


Then there is the residency issue. I don't know where Matthew's votes but he has been in Washington for a long time. Rick Santorum got beat up because he really lived in Virginia but I'm sure Chris can buy a voting address in the Commonwealth. There might be a $500,000 fixer-upper for sale out at Harveys Lake that he could move into. But if he is really serious about running for Senator in PA he should buy Joe Biden's old house in Scranton.

Who is Neville Chamberlain?

This yahoo on Hardball doesn't have a clue. He 's actually yelling louder than Tweety.


Radio Host Kevin James Walks into a Smackdown





Crooks and Liars has the transcript.

Neville Chamberlain was the Prime Minister of Great Britain before WWII.

Like many in Britain who had lived through World War One, Chamberlain was determined to avert another war. His policy of appeasement towards Adolf Hitler culminated in the Munich Agreement in which Britain and France accepted that the Czech region of the Sudetenland should be ceded to Germany. Chamberlain left Munich believing that by appeasing Hitler he had assured 'peace for our time'.

Tweety for Senate

Last night on the the Colbert Report Chris Matthews was asked about the rumor that he will run against Arlen Specter for the Pennsylvania Senate seat up in 2010. His response:


"Some kids wanted to be a fireman. I wanted to be a Senator."

PHILADELPHIA - Hillary Clinton is hoping the “Colbert bump” will help propel her to victory in Pennsylvania.

The Democratic presidential candidate will make her first appearance on Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” on Thursday. Both Clinton and Colbert have come to Pennsylvania ahead of the state’s hard-fought Democratic primary on April 22.

Clinton rival Barack Obama also is in Pennsylvania, but has thus far declined Colbert’s invitation. Obama’s wife, Michelle, will appear on the show Tuesday.