Twitter.
I was just about to post about what Glenn Greenwald Twittered that someone else (Toure!) Twittered that Chris Matthews said on MSNBC about a protester who popped up during the Sotomayor hearings earlier. Then I decided — phew! — to double check for myself what Matthews said.
What Greenwald said Matthews said (retweeting Toure):
About an anti-abortion protester: RT @ToureX “Chris Matthews just said ‘I saw 1 guy with a ponytail. Says it all about his political views'”
What Matthews actually said (emphasis mine):
MATTHEWS: I want to ask you [Norah O’Donnell], your firsthand observations of these hecklers. Both men, abortion rights opponents. Are there indications there are more to come today?
O’DONNELL: I think that always…
MATTHEWS: Look at people in the crowd that might have the same look, the rough cut [as the hecklers]– I saw one [heckler] with the ponytail, not sure what that says at all about his political views, but sometimes you can spot these guys in the crowd if you look closely…
Not, “[The ponytail] says it all about his political views.” But rather, “not sure what [the ponytail] says at all about his political views” though the having of one might be a good way to ID other protesters in the crowd.
Much better!
(Says it all about Matthews’s punditry? Not to mention the game of telephone that can be Twitter…)
Liz Cox Barrett is a writer at CJR.