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VIDEO: Santorum's Former Gay Aide Robert Traynham on "Hardball"

Longtime readers of Rod 2.0 may remember the outrageous story of Robert Traynnham from 2005. Traynham, who is Black, was serving as Communications Director for one of the leading anti-gay voices in Washington: Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Rick Santorum. Traynham and was outed as gay man by Mike Rogers.

When pressed on whether he supported the Senator's stands on lesbian and gay issues, Mr. Traynham abruptly ended the phone call by saying "Senator Santorum is a family man. I have been with Senator Santorum for eight years and I am very proud to be with him."

Santorum later issued a statement supporting his gay staffer, claiming that he "treats people equally, with dignity and respect."

Traynham is still defending his former boss. The Black gay Republican communications strategist—who has also worked at the National Republican Senatorial Committee—appeared on Hardball to explain Santorum's extreme positions. Santorum has campaigned on seeking to reinstate "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and invalidating same-sex marriages.

Traynham says he "doesn't know" Santorum's position on DADT but "fundamentally doesn't agree" with his position on marriage. Traynham adds that he has "never ever" heard his former boss utter a gay slur. "Rick's not extreme," said Traynham.

Keep telling yourself that, hon. Watch the video AFTER THE JUMP ...

WATCH: Olbermann and Matthews Slam Obama's Oil Disaster Speech

On Day 57 of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Disaster: President Obama will finally meet with British Petroleum executives. It is expected the President will tell the company it must pick up the tab for the massive oil disaster.

In last night's Oval Office address, the President vowed to deploy all resources to fight the oil disaster and keep the pressure on BP. "We will fight this spill with everything we've got for as long it takes," Obama said after two consecutive days surveying the Gulf Coast, which is threatened by a massive oil spill that began April 20.

Was the speech "too little, too late"? Many critics say the President painted himself into a corner after reneging on his long-term opposition to offshore drilling. Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, longtime Obama cheerleaders at MSNBC, were even more incensed. "Where is the how in this speech when the nation is crying out for how?"

Watch AFTER THE JUMP ...

WATCH: Chris Matthews on Obama: "I Forgotten He Was Black"

During last night's State of the Union address, MSNBC's Chris Matthews made a curious remark about President Obama. Said Matthews: "It's interesting; he is post-racial, by all appearances. I forgot he was black tonight for an hour."

The entire passage reads:

"He's gone a long way to become a leader of this country and past so much history in just a year or two. I mean it's something we don't even think about. I was watching and I said, wait a minute, he's an African-American guy in front of a bunch of other white people and there he is, president of the United States, and we've completely forgotten that tonight " completely forgotten it. I think it was in the scope of the discussion, it was so broad ranging, so in tune with so many problems and aspects and aspects of American life. That you don't think in terms of the old tribalism and the old ethnicity. It was astounding in that regard, a very subtle fact. It's so hard to even talk about it. Maybe I shouldn't talk about it."

Matthews's remark is probably meant to be a compliment, albeit left-handed one. It's a stark contrast to the Democratic presidential primaries and the general election, where cable news commentators regularly asked if we were "ready" for a black president. (Matthews once suggested white voters would support Obama just like "they root for black athletes.") It seems like Matthews is saying 'only a year or two ago we wondered if this would ever happen and now ... it seems normal.' True enough but there is a slight, nagging paternalism that many "articulate" blacks can readily identify. It's like being told "You don't sound like the rest of them" or "You don't really act black." And sorry that's not post-racial or a compliment.

Matthews later clarified his remarks on Rachel Maddow.

Matthews may have "forgotten" Obama was black but you can bet the Republicans haven't. Via Media Matters, watch both remarks AFTER THE JUMP ...

MSNBC's Matthews: Whites Are "Willing" to Support Obama Just Like They "Root for Black Athletes"

Via Think Progress. Another week and another racist or sexist slur from the all-white, all-male fratboys at cable "news" network. MSNBC. Hardball's Chris Matthews offered Sen. Barack Obama some "practical" "advice" on how to attract more white men and working class white voters to his presidential campaign.

MATTHEWS: You got to talk like a firebrand because if you‘re carrying their fight for them, they‘re going to like you. You know, a lot of white people root for black athletes because they‘re winning for the home team. People are quite willing to pick up black heroes, if they‘ll win for their side.

Watch the video:

Rod 2.0 previously reported Matthews' colorful description of Obama's bowling game: "This gets very ethnic, but the fact that he’s good at basketball doesn’t surprise anybody."

Matthews, who was forced to make two on-air apologies to Hillary Clinton for crude remarks, often gushes over Obama but continues to offer on-air racial stereotypes. Maybe this is the admission price some people are willing to pay to watch one of anchor newsreader Keith Olbermann's vitriolic anti-Hillary "Special Comments."

Some Background ...
Matthews: Does Obama Connect with "Regular" Voters or "Only African-Americans [R20]
Chris Matthews Mocks Obama's Bowling as "Ethnic" [R20]
Shuster Suspended Over "Pimping" Chelsea Clinton Comment [R20]
All White Panel on MSNBC's Tucker: Is Obama Black Enough? [R20]
Matthews on Giuliani: The Country "Wants Fascism" [R20]
Matthews on Hillary: "How Many Times is She Going to Be Confused by Men?" [R20]
Matthews is Obsessed with Hillary's Sex Life [R20]
Matthews and Newsweek: Mitt Romney is "Buff" [R20]

Chris Matthews: Does Obama Connect with "Regular" Voters or "Only African-Americans"?

More off-color, fratboy humor from the all-white, all-male anchor team at MSNBC. Last week, the chief serial offender, Chris Matthews, took a momentary break from his favorite pastime—ie, Hillary Hate—to use some self-described "ethnic" commentary to describe Sen. Barack Obama's performance at a Pennsylvania bowling alley. Also last week, we missed this pearl of wisdom from Tweety: The anchor asked if Obama could "connect with regular people" or "only appeal to ... the African-American community and from the people who have college or advanced degrees?" Video at Media Matters.

The bizaare line of questioning happened during Hardball when Matthews interviewed Obama surrogate Sen. Claire McCaskill ("D"-MO), "Let me ask you about how he—how's he connect with regular people?" Matthews asked. "Does he? Or does he only appeal to people who come from the African-American community and from the people who have college or advanced degrees?" Earlier in the same show, Matthews again obsessed over Obama's bowling performance and "teased the segment with McCaskill by asking, "[C]an Obama woo more regular voters—you know, the ones who actually do know how to bowl?" Keep it classy, Chris.

McCaskill never corrects Tweety—err, Matthews—to suggest that blacks are also "regular" people. No surprise there. Just several weeks ago, the senator described the presidential frontrunner as "a black leader in America, [who] has come to the American people not as a victim, but rather as a leader." The senator's colorful description of Obama as a "black leader" was given a free "get out of jail" pass from the suddenly very race conscious "progressive" e-telligentsia, as well as black bloggers and talk radio. Interesting.

On a related note, there were numerous comments and emails that attempted to defend Chris Matthews' off-color remarks about Obama's bowling performance and several "proud Obama supporters" even dismissed the remarks heard by hundreds of thousands of viewers as "irrelevant." Maybe that's just the admission price some people are willing to pay to watch one of Keith Olbermann's anti-Hillary "Special Comments."

Matthews: Does Obama Connect with Regular People? [MM]
Are Obama Surrogates Clueless? [Taylor Marsh]

Some Background ...
Chris Matthews Mocks Obama's Bowling as "Ethnic" [R20]
Shuster Suspended Over "Pimping" Chelsea Clinton Comment [R20]
All White Panel on MSNBC's Tucker: Is Obama Black Enough? [R20]
Matthews on Giuliani: The Country "Wants Fascism" [R20]
Matthews on Hillary: "How Many Times is She Going to Be Confused by Men?" [R20]
Matthews is Obsessed with Hillary's Sex Life [R20]
Matthews and Newsweek: Mitt Romney is "Buff" [R20]

Chris Matthews Mocks Obama's Bowling as "Ethnic", Says It's No Surprise "He's Good at Basketball"

Another week, another racist or sexist slur from the frat boys at MSNBC. Several of the Republican-leaning hosts took time off from their favorite pastime—ie, Hillary Hate—to use self-described "ethnic" commentary to describe Obama's recent, not-so-very-good performance at a Pennsylvania bowling alley.

MSNBC's Chris Matthews quipped to political analyst Michelle Bernard, "You know, Michelle—and this gets very ethnic, but the fact that he’s good at basketball doesn’t surprise anybody ... But the fact that he’s that terrible at bowling does make you wonder." The Hardball host said Obama’s bowling "form" wasn’t "the most macho." Watch it, courtesy of Media Matters:

Earlier on Hardball, Matthews made some "off-color" jokes to Obama surrogate Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA) about Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's former pastor: "Let me ask you about this Jeremiah Wright story. You go to a church. I assume it's a black church."

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida, also repeatedly mocked Obama's bowling performance as "dainty" and "prissy."

Last year, Chris Matthews was forced to make two on-air apologies to Hillary Clinton for crude remarks.

Some Background ...
Shuster Suspended Over "Pimping" Chelsea Clinton Comment [R20]
All White Panel on MSNBC's Tucker: Is Obama Black Enough? [R20]
Matthews on Giuliani: The Country "Wants Fascism" [R20]
Matthews on Hillary: "How Many Times is She Going to Be Confused by Men?" [R20]
Matthews is Obsessed with Hillary's Sex Life [R20]
Matthews and Newsweek: Mitt Romney is "Buff" [R20]

MSNBC's Shuster Suspended Over "Pimping" Chelsea Clinton Comment

The hits keep coming for the fratboys at MSNBC. Reporter David Shuster is suspended after saying Chelsea Clinton was being "pimped out" by Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

The graphic anecdote was made Thursday night while Shuster acted as substitute host on MSNBC's Tucker €”video and transcript at Media Matters—and noted there was something "unseemly" about the Clinton daughter contacting celebrities and Democratic National Committee superdelegates. "Doesn't it seem like Chelsea's sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?" he asked a guest.

Not really. There are numerous recent examples of adult sons and daughters campaigning for parents, such as Mitt Romney's five sons, the Bush twins, or, Kate Edwards or Karenna Gore. Regardless of where you stand on Clinton or Sen. Barack Obama, "pimping" is probably not the best word you want used to describe your daughter's work. The term has become ubiquitous across pop culture—such as MTV's Pimp My Ride—but that doesn't make it right. It's still distasteful and disrespectful. Progressive blogger Taylor Marsh probably speaks for many feminists, noting Chelsea Clinton is "not some chick robot turning political tricks for her mother, showing cleavage and thigh, while hoping to get cash for some hustler."

Shuster's quasi and faux apology the next morning on Morning Joe—whose host, Joe Scarborough, is a former Republican congressman—was totally inadequate. More upsetting is the entire mail exchange between Shuster and the Clinton campaign, posted at the Politico, where the reporter "stood his ground" and refused to make a private apology.

Shuster's comments are part of a larger pattern of bias against women, blacks and gays by the all-white male anchor team at MSNBC and well-documented at Rod 2.0. Where to begin? Don Imus was fired for his infamous remarks against the Rutgers' women's basketball team. Tucker Carlson has been criticized for his remarks on Barack Obama's bi-racial heritage, and, was forced to apologize to gays after boasting about "beating up" a gay man who made a pass at him. Then, of course, there is frat house chairman Chris Matthews, whose on-air antics are well-documented and was recently forced to make another on-air apology. If you don't speak out against the offensive language used to describe Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, make no mistake, you're giving license to describe Michelle Obama and her daughters in the same manner.

The Mess at MSNBC [Media Matters]
Shuster Falsely Claimed Chelsea [Media Matters]
NBC Makes News on Clintons [NY Times]
Reporter Initially Defended Chelsea Comment [Politico]
David Shuster Says Chelsea "Pimped" [Taylor Marsh]

Some Background ...
All White Panel on MSNBC's Tucker: Is Obama Black Enough? [R20]
Tucker Carlson Says He Assaulted Man [Pam Spaulding]
Matthews on Giuliani: The Country "Wants Fascism" [R20]
Matthews on Hillary: "How Many Times is She Going to Be Confused by Men?" [R20]
Matthews is Obsessed with Hillary's Sex Life [R20]
Matthews and Newsweek: Mitt Romney is "Buff" [R20]

Strategist: Romney Best Candidate to Stop the "Militant Gay" Agenda"

Only hours before the Iowa Caucus and the official beginning of the 2008 election season. Apparently, the strategists at the Mitt Romney campaign are eying the polling data and fear embarrassment if their millions of dollars cannot buy the social conservative vote in the Hawkeye State.

Via Think Progress: On MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, former Missouri Sen. Jim Talent (R, of course), who now advises Romney, pushed back on well-documented clams that Romney previously claimed to be a strong supporter of gay rights. Talent maintains Romney has never been inconsistent on gay rights and has "always" tried to stop the influence of "the militant gays." Video and Transcript at Think Progress:

"He’s always had the same position as to regards to the gay agenda. Look, he wants to know people to know he values gay people as people, okay? But he doesn’t want the militant gays to be able to change the cultural institutions of the country."

"Multiple Choice" Mitt has not "always had the same positions" on the gay agenda, whatever that may be, We've reported this since last year and this is the reason the press and fellow Republicans constantly question Romney's authenticity. Even the mainstream media is aware of Romney's revisionist history on gay rights: Pam Spaulding links to You Tube of CNN's Wolf Blitzer questioning Romney on his previous opposition to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

No matter how much you spend to run for president, you can't run from your record, Mitt.

More MITT ROMNEY
More POLITICS

You May Want to Read ...
Multiple Choice Mitt [NY Blade and Wash Blade]
NYT Profiles Romney's "Shift" on Gay Rights [R20]
Lesbian Mom Confronts Romney [R20]
Romney Quotes Scripture on Gay Marriage [R20]
"Multiple Choice" Mitt [R20]
Mitt Romney Explains the Obama-Osama Sign [R20]
Mitt Romney's "Play on Words" [R20]
Romney's "Do As I Say, No As I Do" on Porn [R20]
Romney Latest: "I Am Not Anti-Gay" [R20]
Romney Panders to Far Right [R20]
Let the Gay Bashing Begin [R20]
For Gay Rights Before He Was Against It [R20]
McCain Flip-Flops on Gay Rights [R20]
Matthews and Newsweek: Mitt Romney is "Buff" [R20]
Romney's Latest: Gays in the Military [R20]
One Question for Mitt Romney [R20]
Will the Real Mitt Romney Please Stand Up? [R20]
Romney Defends Flip-Flopping [R20].

Chris Matthews: "It's Hard to Tell" Where Hillary Stands on Iraq

No it isn't.

Chris Matthews, the neo-conservative host of MSNBC's Hardball, takes a momentary break from suggesting Americans need a "little bit of fascism" and returns to his favorite past-time: Clinton-bashing. This week's distortion: Sen. Hillary Clinton's position on Iraq.

On the February 26 edition of Hardball, Matthews interviewed New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson—one of the second tier Democratic presidential candidates whose background and potential may push him to the A-list. Matthews took the opportunity to suggest Clinton favors the Bush Administration's troop escalation whose loudest cheerleader is Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT).

MATTHEWS: Well, don't you take umbrage at the fact that she's broad-brushing other Democrats, perhaps, to her left? I mean, it's easy to get to her left on the war in Iraq. She takes a somewhat -- well, it's a hard ambivalent position. It's very hard to tell whether she's with Lieberman or she's with the Democratic Party on the issue of the war.

Take a memo. In January, we reported Clinton's call to reduce troop numbers and start re-deployments. About two weeks ago, Sens. Biden, Clinton, Dodd and Obama voted with all of their Democratic colleagues and seven Republicans on a non-binding resolution against the escalation. Lieberman voted with the Republican majority.

Clinton was one of 77 senators who voted for the 2002 Iraq Resolution. As we have been saying for months, she should not apologize—no one voted for five years of civil war, suspension of habeas corpus, detainees at Guantanamo, manipulation of intelligence data and a conflict that has already cost more than Vietnam. The Democratic presidential candidate cannot apologize for authorizing the war because the new talking point would be "they were for it before they were against it." (A plus for Obama, he's always been against the war and wasn't in the Senate in 2002.) That cost Kerry the 2004 election and it's not going to sink the party in 2008.

Go ahead and lay into Hillary for parsing the word "authorization" or rationalizing her intentions behind the vote. Sens. Biden, Clinton, Dodd and Obama may disagree on how to resolve the massive and costly foreign policy fiasco created by the Bush Administration and the rubber-stamp Republican Congress. But there is no disagreement over the escalation.

Interesting how Chris Matthews vacillates between swooning over Giuliani and Romney ("He has the perfect chin, he looks like a Mountie.") to tearing down Hillary Clinton and analyzing her sex life. He's definitely a closet ... neo-conservative.

You May Want to Read ...

Matthews on Giuliani: The Country "Wants a Little Bit of Fascism" (Rod 2.0) Matthews on Hillary: "How Many Times is She Going to Be Confused by Men?" (Rod 2.0) Matthews is Obsessed with Hillary's Sex Life (Rod 2.0) Matthews and Newsweek: Mitt Romney is "Buff" (Rod 2.0) Do Pants Suit? (Rod 2.0) News: Hillary and McCain (Rod 2.0) News: Hillary and the Gays (Rod 2.0) News: Hillary Packs Crowds in Iowa (Rod 2.0) Anti-Gay Mike Huckabee Paroled Rapist/Killer (Rod 2.0) Decision '08: Hillary Internet Chats, (Rod 2.0) Breaking: Hillary Clinton Announces (Rod 2.0) Clinton Announcement? (Rod 2.0) Cheney: Hillary Clinton "Could Win" (Rod 2.0) Hillary Clinton's Republican Senate Opponent Uses the "L-Word" (Rod 2.0) Lucifer vs Hillary vs Condi (Rod 2.0)

Chris Matthews and Newsweek Agree: Mitt Romney is "Buff"

This is very interesting.

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is basically re-inventing himself as he goes along—remember, only recently he was a pro-gay rights, Massachusetts liberal who votes Democratic—and he gets a free pass from editors and conservative talk shows hosts who are more impressed with his looks.

From the February 26 edition of Newsweek, an article by Jonathan Darman and Evan Thomas:

There is something a little too good to be true about Mitt Romney. The former governor of Massachusetts and candidate for the Republican presidential nomination is so buff and handsome in late middle age that when a brochure from a recent campaign showed him standing, bare-chested, on a swimming float, he was accused of sexually pandering to women voters.

Hmm. Not too sure about Romney "sexually pandering to women voters", but his recent changes of heart on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and abortion might be considered "pandering" to conservative voters.

Moving along. Media Matters documents more gushing by MSNBC's Chris Matthews. Taking a momentary break from heaping praise on Rudy Giuliani, the right-leaning host of Hardball heaps compliments on the former Massachusetts governor:

MATTHEWS: What do you think of him as an opponent? We're looking at him right now. He has the perfect chin, the perfect hair, he looks right. He looks like a Mountie. He looks like from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Can that guy capture the hearts of the American people?

Well, Chris, it's obvious that Romney has captured at least one person's heart.

Some Background ...

Matthews on Giuliani: The Country "Wants a Little Bit of Fascism" (Rod 2.0) Matthews on Hillary: "How Many Times is She Going to Be Confused by Men?" (Rod 2.0) Matthews is Obsessed with Hillary's Sex Life (Rod 2.0) Romney's Latest Flip-Flop: Gays in the Military (Rod 2.0) Will the Real Mitt Romney Please Stand Up? (Rod 2.0) One Question for Mitt Romney (Rod 2.0) Marriage Ban Advances In Massachusetts (Rod 2.0) Romney Voted for Dem Paul Tsongas In 1992 (Rod 2.0) Romney Defends Flip-Flopping (Rod 2.0) Mass. Court Will Hear Romney's Case (Rod 2.0) For Gay Rights Before He Was Against It (Rod 2.0)