Canadian Cynic

Chris Matthews fumbles the ball again

You know, for someone who has the chutzpah to call his show "Hardball", sometimes, Chris Matthews is a real pussy. Take this exchange, provided by Bob Somerby over at the Daily Howler:

MATTHEWS (8/19/04): Tell me about the time you discovered that [Kerry] wasn't honest about his account of events. When did you first discover that habit of his, as you say?

THURLOW: Well, on a firsthand basis, I understood that the Purple Heart that he received at Cam Ranh Bay was fabricated and wasn't based on any factuality at all, but—

MATTHEWS: How did you learn that, sir?

THURLOW: I learned that from the people who had been with him at that time, when he reported that he received an injury from hostile fire, when in fact, there was none.

And what is wrong with this exchange, you ask? Read Thurlow carefully:

"Well, on a firsthand basis ... I learned that from the people who had been with him ..."

Dude, if you learned it from someone else, then by definition it isn't firsthand, is it? Like, duh.