Massa Mess: MSNBC Says Blame Republicans!

Tonight on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, the host and his two guests tried to pin Eric Massa and the Democrat party's mess on Republicans. Imagine that.

Calling it "their latest tactic," Matthews led Norah O'Donnell with a statement that the Republicans essentially plan to smear the Democrats with Massa because they didn't resolve their issues with Massa more quickly and effectively.

Here's the clip:



Politico's Jonathan Allen was a bit more fair, explaining that Republicans in office simply wanted to learn more about all of the events surrounding Massa and the timeline of those events.

O'Donnell did bring to light that House Minority Leader John Boehner might indeed be wise to push for a reopening of the investigation, because there is the possibility that Massa acted inappropriately toward an intern, and if Pelosi and the Democrats tried to sweep Massa's mess under the rug, that obviously would be a serious ethical violation.

Matthews kept taking the issues back to Massa's personal and private activities, essentially trying to paint Massa as a victim. After showing text of a discussion Speaker Pelosi had with Charlie Rose, Matthews suggested somebody ought to "Show some sympathy for this guy." He then showed Larry King asking Massa "Are you gay?"

The segment came to an end with O'Donnell bringing the theme back to Massa being victimized by "The Republican Right", followed by Matthews and Allen discussing the idea that Massa might be good fodder for Saturday Night Live.

Although he's now gained the new nickname "Tickle Me Eric," I don't think the former Congressman will be making an appearance on Sesame Street any time soon. Massa has proven himself to be a very troubled person. His strange fascination with groups of men engaged in group tickling and other behaviors, as well as his inability to answer Larry King directly about his sexuality, leave me to think he has a lot of soul searching to do.

In the mean time, I would not be surprised to see a lengthy and telling investigation take place, during which there may be revelations about the leadership of the Democrat Party attempting to hide the truth about Massa and then smearing him beyond reason once he began to go public with his issues.

Much more discussion about Eric Massa can be found at Memeorandum, including articles at Politico and Hot Air that describe Speaker Pelosi's "Member Services" department was informed about Massa's bizarre living arrangement in October of 2009.