The Media's Katrina?

At Firedoglake, Christy Hardin Smith unloads on Chris Matthews by quoting a transcript from the Scarborough show:

Matthews: Let's not forget, and I'll be brutal, the reason she's a U.S. senator, the reason she's a candidate for president, the reason she may be a front runner, is that her husband messed around.

Mika Brzezinski: Yeah, but . . .

Matthews: That's how she got to be a senator from New York. We keep forgetting it. She didn't win it on her merit, she won because everybody felt, "My God, this woman stood up under humiliation," right? That's what happened . . .

"What is wrong with Chris Matthews? With all of these media people? I mean that, in all honesty, what in the hell is wrong with them? Their personal loathing of Hillary Clinton shone through in every sniggering, overwrought report this week."

Maureen Dowd is, shall we say, a tad skeptical:

"There was a whiff of Nixonian self-pity about her choking up. What was moving her so deeply was her recognition that the country was failing to grasp how much it needs her. In a weirdly narcissistic way, she was crying for us. But it was grimly typical of her that what finally made her break down was the prospect of losing."

And Michelle Malkin is downright disgusted by HRC's show of emotion:

"It took a lifetime of lies, deception, hypocrisy and hardball power grabs before Hillary and Bill's political fa¿ades disintegrated. But now, finally, the empty dummy molds underneath have been laid bare completely. Many will point to Hillary's watery-eyed performance at a Portsmouth rally on Monday as a watershed moment. Down in the polls and facing imminent defeat, the erstwhile anti-Tammy Wynette turned on the spigot and played damsel in distress: 'It's not easy, and I couldn't do it if I didn't passionately believe it was the right thing to do. You know, I have so many opportunities from this country. I just don't want to see us fall backward, you know?'

"The steely voice -- infamous for uttering profanities at staffers, state troopers, and her Secret Service detail, bellowing at the Bush administration and Rush Limbaugh, and imitating a fiery southern drawl -- turned drippy: 'You know, this is very personal for me. It's not just political; it's not just public. I see what's happening, and we have to reverse it.'

"Insert heartfelt pauses and choke-ups as directed. So long, feminist hero. Hello, weeping willow. Anyone who believes Hillary spontaneously teared up and got emotional on the campaign trail has been in a coma the last three decades."

Great footnote, from Washington's WMAL radio: