Chris Matthews On GOP Field: How Did Party Of Lincoln, Reagan ‘Descend Into A Diabolic Clown Show?’

Whether or not you find yourself in line, politically, with the opinions espoused by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, can we all agree here that, when the man is on, he is ON? I almost wish I could bottle his passion up in a bottle and spritz it on some of his more boring colleagues, who shall remain nameless… or on some influential names on the other side of the fence who either aren’t outraged at The Trumping of the GOP, or who are and choose to remain quiet.

Here is what Matthews had to say about the GOP field Monday night. I have a feeling it stands to resonate most with Republicans inclined to agree with his assessment of the change within the party.

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It’s a long quote — a monologue, really, — but it’s all so poetic and just so golden, that I’m going to leave the whole thing here for you, gentle reader, to peruse at your leisure:

“How did the party of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt and General Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan descend into a diabolic clown qhow? When did P.T. Barnum grab hold of the Tea Party and New York money and mix it into this witch’s brew of a TV Debate headed by Donald Trump?

How did this clown show of Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich find itself with the ‘Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ as its grand ringmaster? How did the King of the Birthers become the midwife of right-wing presidential politics? And what sin did someone commit to unleash this torrent from hell on a once-serious political party?

I don’t claim any deep sympathy, but it takes a deeply cold heart not to feel for those good-minded Republicans out there who have this grotesquery leap before their face. What happened to the moderates and the reasonable of the center-right? Did they go mute? Did they lose their tongues? Their right to speak out? Are they watching what I’m watching? Are they going to let this happen?

Are they going to chug along from here to Tampa, to the sweltering convention hall of next September, all the while anticipating the Hobbesian choice between a candidate who puts them to sleep and one who gives them nightmares? Is this what all the debates, all the speeches, all the wanderings-about has achieved – a duet of death, a karoake of the choke-hold?

‘Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.’

Newt Gingrich. Donald Trump. Let me say no more.”

Ok, show of hands: Who in the room has a tingle running up his leg?

Have a look at the segment for yourselves, via MSNBC:

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.