Adventus: (welcome back Robert!)

Behold what a controversy it stirs, however. Matthews is irate; Ted Koppel comes on the next night and stirs the ashes. Stewart has clearly overstepped the bounds of polite discourse. Why? Because he dared to be ethical rather than, like Mr. Koppel (a protege and fan of realpolitik practitioner and war criminal Henry Kissinger) another person for whom expediency is all.

E&P notes what Stewart noted; the similarity between Matthew’s position and that of Machiavelli. It’s an apt parallel, not least because Machiavelli was not advising “The Prince” on how to be happy, but merely on how to maintain power. And when power is not all that matters, power is bewildered as to how to respond.

Amazing this is coming from a comedian, no?

You’ll have to go to Comedy Central to see this interview with Chris Matthews. Viacom doesn’t allow clips of shows on YouTube, more is the pity, it took 20 minutes to watch this because Comedy Central’s video platform is so ridiculously glitchy.

I’ve never seen Chris Matthews, he has a political show on MSNBC called Hardball and he is promoting his latest book, “Life is a Campaign.” Matthews went off balance quickly and inviting Stewart on his own show said, ” You are afraid of me” and there must be something in his book “that you fear.” Again, misplaced.
Stewart replied, “Like fascism, I fear fascism.”

I think Mr. Matthews saying his book was better than “The Little Prince” was amazingly arrogant, most celebrities expect a puff interviews. Going head to head with a smart comedian has to be stressful when you have your own news show, I guess you expect deference. People that admire power for it’s own end do not like being laughed at, do not handle dismissal well. I don’t think for one second Stewart was antagonistic, I think he pointed out the obvious.

Five minutes on a show to promote your book doesn’t make for good discussion time, but then again even reading the Amazon summary lays out Matthew’s premises and direction.
Matthews may not have meant to, but he does come across as smarmy.
Washington and a TV set are two of their own territories of isolation.

Jon Stewart mentions the interview the next night (also on Comedy Central) and apologizes for coming across as sanctimonious, but not for being ethical.

Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince is available free online.

Machiavelli rose from obscurity to become a diplomat in Florence. Eager to gain favour with a ruling family he wrote The Prince, which is based on his fascination with Cesare Borgia, a prince of the Papal States. Borgia was all politics, successful, cunning, cruel, expedient. Machiavelli who was a patriot, believed Borgia would be the one to unite Italy, even though he did not like the man and his approach. The Prince is essentially about totalitarianism; success for the sake of success, the end justifying the means - the corrupt, authoritarian acts of those who govern are valid because of the wickedness of those they govern.

Men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, for everyone can see and few can feel. Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are. - Niccolo Machiavelli