Chris Matthews trying to race bait?

Most of my friends, at least the ones who are into politics, watch and respect Chris Matthew's Hardball above and beyond all other talking head shows. I enjoy his show as well. He does focus on the truly important national issues and he has the best guests of any show that I've seen. He does sometimes pull the O'Reilly tactic of cutting someone off when he doesn't like what he's hearing and occasionally using his boisterous voice to intimidate, but it's something I overlook.

He recently stepped over the line in my most humble opinion. He is now outraged over a memo released by unnamed democrats who call Alito's prosecution record not as impressive as the President may have you believe. In the memo the democrats list a mafia case which Alito lost and 20 gangsters were acquitted. Our Hardball host somehow believes that the democrats are calling Alito's heritage into question instead of simply showing that his record is faulty. Matthews displayed this to Orin Hatch, of all people, to which Orin replied with the usual banter of 'this is normal for those despicable dems.'

When called on it Howard Dean laughed it off, but Matthews stuck to his guns claiming most people feel the same way he does. This is where he is wrong. The memo makes no mention of Alito's ethnicity nor does it imply it. If it does then call my comprehension level into question. I'm not a particularly bright guy, but I cannot see how Matthews has come to this conclusion. Maybe he's wanting to gather ratings, but this I find asanine. This is Rev Al Sharpton tactics Chris.

I wonder if Matthews is now a republican.

"I think this country needs a higher crank-up of democracy now. Louder, more boisterous democracy would be better for us right now." - Chris Matthews

Crooks and Liars has an interesting take on the incident as well as the video of Chris' comments here.