Wow! Chris Matthews is really bitter about that Tingle

When you get right down to it, there are three things that really upset Chris Matthews when you bring up his comment in 2008 that Barack Obama sends 'a thrill' up his leg. First and foremost, he's upset that it appears to becoming the centerpiece of his legacy; that comment is making him the poster child for the death of objective journalism and if he doesn't know that, he's learning it incrementally. The second thing is that he must inherently know at some level that Obama's policies are failing. Lastly, he is EXTREMELY hypersensitive about his 'thrill' being referred to as a 'tingle.' Naturally, this distinction without a real difference only increases the frequency of that word choice from the right.

Now, to this awesome Chris Matthews meltdown. Just hit play and watch his reaction to a C-SPAN moderator who reads the 2008 quote back to Matthews and asks him if he still feels the same way. At that very moment, Chris had to open up his heart and let all of his anger out; there was no stopping him.

Via FORA.tv (h/t Hot Air):


Chris Matthews: Jackasses, Stop Asking About Obama Speech from National Cable and Telecommunications Association on FORA.tv

I'm suddenly in the mood for this clip from Morning Joe the day after Matthews uttered the now infamous words in 2008. It's moments like this one that continued to build until they culminated with the outburst Matthews had with the C-SPAN guy:

Confirmed: Romney can now officially call Obama a 'socialist'

Last year, during an appearance on the O'Reilly Factor, Mitt Romney refused to call Obama a socialist when asked. Instead, he said he would prefer to just say, "he's in over his head," a "liberal," and a, "failure."

Well, the least Romney could do is ask Mr. Obama why he attended a socialist event in 1996.

Via Buzzfeed:

It's a reminder that the President presented himself as much more progressive during his time in Chicago. In this little-seen advertisement that ran in the Hyde Park Herald in 1996, Obama was listed on a panel sponsored by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), University of Chicago Democrats, and University of Chicago DSA.

Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) = Communists. Allen West was derided for identifying 80 communists in Congress. Imagine if he'd have pointed to the White House too.

Reason #1,965 Not to get excited about Mitt Romney.

Back on May 9th, Buzzfeed posted a find perhaps even more significant because it shows that Obama's gay marriage position never evolved; it changed for political expediency. He's lying... again, which is what socialists do. Here is a document signed by Obama himself. It is a list of answers he gave to questions pertaining to homosexual rights. Note what he wrote for answer #6:

"I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages."

Is it possible to "evolve" and "devolve" at the same time?

Is China $1 Trillion in debt... to America?

This is certainly an interesting twist, reported by McClatchy of all places. Did you know that the American people are holding roughly $1 Trillion in Chinese bond debt? How is this possible, you ask?

Via McClatchy:

The story begins nearly 100 years ago, in 1913, when the government of China began issuing bonds to foreign investors and governments for infrastructure work to modernize the country. As the country fell into civil war in 1927, paying these debts became increasingly difficult and the government fell into default. Even so, in April 1938, the Nationalist government of China began to issue U.S.-dollar denominated bonds to finance the war against Japan's brutal invasion.

Locked in a pitched battle for survival, the government issued these bonds into 1940. As part of its wartime financial aid, the U.S. government further provided a $500 million credit to China in March 1942, shipping gold there and helping to stabilize the currency. In return, it appears that the U.S. government redeemed some of these dollar-denominated bonds. But China doesn't appear to have repaid this debt either, according to State Department records, and the declaration of the People's Republic of China in 1949 ended decades of political, military and financial cooperation.

While successor governments are usually bound by the debts of predecessor governments, the new Communist government refused to pay any of these claims. The issue lay dormant for decades, just as the bilateral relationship did. Then, in 1979, as part of normalizing relations, Washington released government financial claims regarding the expropriation of American property and appears to have dropped the matter of the war debt entirely. However, it is one thing for government decision-makers to let go of government debt, however questionable that is.

And it is entirely another thing for individual citizens to press their claims. Some U.S. investors tried to sue the Chinese government in the 1980s and 1990s. However, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act makes it very hard for any U.S. citizen to sue a foreign government in U.S. courts because the law generally says that U.S. courts do not have jurisdiction.

The law usually only allows the jurisdiction of U.S. courts if a foreign government waives its immunity, commits a tort or seizes property. Recent additional exceptions have been added for terrorism. China lost an initial summary judgment for failing to appear in court but, with the urging of the U.S. State Department, later appeared in court and successfully argued that U.S. courts did not have jurisdiction.

Today, the Chinese bonds held by U.S. investors may be worth as much as $750 billion, according to Jonna Bianco, president of the American Bondholders Foundation, who estimates the value of bonds held by investors worldwide may be $10 trillion, including interest and penalties for default.

Bianco, who is doing media interviews on this topic, is not happy about China reneging on this debt while purchasing American banks and AMC movie theaters.

Via Special Guests:

Jonna Bianco, president and founder of the American Bondholders Foundation (ABF) says that if China is the economic superpower the world believes it is, they should now begin paying back this debt to its American bondholders and the American people. Instead, China is ignoring these obligations and buying things like banks and movie theaters on American soil.

“Is it not enough that the bulk of our manufacturing base has shifted over to China placing millions and millions of Americans out of work? Is it not enough that China continues to provide ammunitions and weaponry to our enemies that are killing American troops overseas? Is it not enough that China continues to steal our intellectual property/trade secrets/patents making knock off products that they dump around the world costing American Businesses billions and billions of dollars in losses? Is it not enough that China has continued their cyber warfare attacks against American people, businesses and the American Government? Is it not enough that China continues to manipulate its currency? Is it not enough that China continues massive unfair trade practices? Is it not enough that China continues to support the North Korean and Iranian Nuclear Programs which continue to threaten the safety and future of America? At what point will Americans say....ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!! No More! We must stop the double standards that China has and make them pay their bills!

It appears that both the Bush and Obama administrations have refused to press this issue. That said, the American people were bilked by their own government in 2009 to the tune of $787 Billion in stimulus and now, if reports are true that the Obama administration could forgive China's debt to Americans, we could be bilked again for about the same amount.

In fact, in an email response I received from Bianco about how much we owe China vs. how much they owe us, she replied:

"China owes the U.S. including its bondholders more than we owe them by far!"

More on this subject at American Bondholders Foundation.