Considering NBC as a collective is ignoring Operation Fast and Furious, I think each show on NBC and MSNBC needs to be examined and called out. The MSNBC website is a complete mess and difficult to navigate. Most websites allow you to sort the results by date or relevance and a certain time period. Not MSNBC! You’re only allowed a keyword. And, for some reason, each article is listed by its latest update rather than its original publishing timestamp (but when you click on the article the date of the last update doesn’t match) so they’re completely out of order. It’s a NIGHTMARE navigating their website, worse than navigating MMfA.
I began with ‘Hardball With Chris Matthews’ because his coverage of Alberto Gonzales was far superior to his lack of Operation Fast and Furious coverage. Since he did a great job keeping his viewers informed on Mr. Gonzales’ scanda,l I would think he would want to keep his viewers informed on Fast and Furious. No one died in Mr. Gonzales’ scandal. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry did die as a result of Fast and Furious, but I guess that’s not as big of a deal as a few people losing their jobs.
I sent Mr. Matthews this email the other morning.
Dear Chris Matthews:
I have a very serious complaint because you have not talked about Operation Fast and Furious this year. How come?
I made a timeline for Fast and Furious and highlighted major dates. CBS News broke the story February 23, 2011. I reviewed your show’s transcript for that week and saw no mention of the operation On April 1, 2011 the Oversight Committee issued subpoenas to Eric Holder & the Department of Justice. Your transcripts from that week show no mention of the subpoenas. Mr. Holder testified on May 3, 2011 and once again your transcripts show absolutely no mention of his testimony.
Now, what really has me puzzled, is when George Bush’s attorney general Alberto Gonzales was in his scandal over the firing of 7 US attorneys you were all over it! Your show’s homepage only allows me to see 2010 and 2009 transcripts, but searching “Alberto Gonzales” at the MSNBC website brought up a lot of hits and I was surprised to see a lot from “Hardball with Chris Matthews.” Unfortunately the MSNBC website is a maze and I hope I received all the hits. However I saw that you mentioned Mr. Gonzales on these dates in 2007:
March 13. March 14. March 27. March 28. April 19. April 24. May 23. June 11. June 13. July 26. July 30. July 31. August 6. August 9. August 31.
In those shows you covered important dates, like when he was subpoenaed and his testimony. You also asked your guests the impact on Bush from a scandal like this. I’ve noticed that the hits brought up a lot of your blog entries, but I haven’t read them yet. How come you haven’t blogged about Fast and Furious?
You can easily replace Bush with Obama and Gonzales with Holder. The major difference, though, is in Operation Fast and Furious Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was brutally murdered by a gun from this scandal.
Like I said the MSNBC website is an absolute mess and disorganized. If I missed something please let me know. If I have I will correct myself.
However I demand answers, especially after how thorough you were with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. I demand to know why Operation Fast & Furious isn’t important to you. No one died in Mr Gonzales’ scandal. Our tax money is being wasted on illegal guns to be sold to Mexican drug cartels. Please help me understand WHY that is not important!?
Please email me back ASAP. I will be emailing you until I receive a response.
Mary Chastain
I made a timeline for Operation Fast and Furious based on the great coverage at CBS by Sharyl Attkisson. I found 45+ articles/coverage done by just Ms. Attkisson. CBS and Ms. Attkisson cover every new development in the case (like a legitimate news source!), similar to the way the Old Media treated Alberto Gonzales, including Mr. Matthews.
Ms. Attkisson broke the story on February 23, 2011. I took a look at ‘Hardball’s’ transcript from that day and found nothing. The major story that day was the Wisconsin fiasco. Let’s give Mr. Matthews a break because the time stamp on Ms. Attkisson’s story was 4:39PM. However, the transcript for February 24th shows nothing as well. His lead story was again the Wisconsin union story and “the Republicans assault on unions.” How about Friday, February 25? The transcript shows NOTHING. This lead story was someone asking Congressman Paul Broun who was going to shoot the president. Should that have been condemned? Yes, but how was that more important than a story about our federal government selling guns to Mexican drug cartels that have been used to shoot and murder people? I guess hypothetical shootings are more important than actual shootings.
The next big story was Congressman Issa issuing subpoenas on April 1, 2011. Again, on Hardball, the story was jobs and unions. Jobs are an important issue, but are they more important than the United States Attorney General being subpoenaed about an illegal gun walking scandal? I’m glad CBS covered it!
Mr. Holder testified about Operation Fast and Furious on May 3. You can read and watch his testimony at CBS News. On that day, though, Mr. Matthews didn’t touch the testimony. Instead, he talked about catching Osama bin Laden, which is completely understandable, but he also talked about Janny Scott’s book A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mother. Please explain to me how that is more important than the Attorney General testifying about an illegal gun walking operation?
What did Mr. Matthews talk about on October 3rd, the day the White House released memos showing Mr. Holder was briefed about fast and Furious in July 2010? The biggest nontroversy ever: a stupid rock on Rick Perry’s leased hunting property. On October 4th and 5th, the show concentrated more on Wall Street protests and Hank Williams Jr.!
Congressman Darrell Issa issued the subpoenas on October 12th. Mr. Matthews’ big story? Flubs from the GOP debate. The next day, he talked about Pastor Jeffress’s comments about Mormons and Catholics.
I have not found one mention of Fast & Furious. I did find many hits on Alberto Gonzales, though. On March 13th, the show wasn’t about breaking the story or even Mr. Gonzales’ testimony; instead, it was about a press conference for Mr. Gonzales. The majority of that show is dedicated to the scandal. The following week on March 27th, Mr. Matthews discusses how Monica Goodling, the DOJ’s liason to the White House, took the fifth. Read the transcript and replace “Monica Goodling” with “Eric Holder.” Mr. Matthews is so interested in what Ms. Goodling is hiding. Why is he not interested in Mr. Holder’s knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious? Better yet, why isn’t he interested in anyone’s knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious?
Simple question Mr. Matthews: Why are you not interested in Operation Fast and Furious?
I’m going to send him another email and will call. Watch for updates.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.