Chris Matthews believes his job is to make Obama's presidency successful

I just about fell out of my chair when I saw this video from MSNBC's Morning Joe show. 

Joe Scarborough, the show's host and former Republican Congressman from Florida, discusses with Chris Matthews the possibility of Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) taking the job of Chief of Staff in an Obama White House. Matthews has never been one to hide who are his favorites, but he took things to a whole new level on Morning Joe by effectively saying it is his job as a journalist to make Obama's presidency successful.

Most know Matthews from his loud and boisterous antics as host of MSNBC's Hardball, but he has supposedly been angling to be the Democratic party's candidate for US Senate from Pennsylvania in 2010.  When Scarborough starts to ask probing questions about why information about Emanuel's candidacy was potentially leaked, Matthews states, "I want to do everything to make this work, this new presidency to work."

Scarborough then retorts, "is that your job?  You just talked about being a journalist?"  Matthews quickly responds, "yeah that is my job, my job is to help this country... to make this work successfully because this country needs a successful presidency more than anything right now."

I agree all of us as Americans should want to see our President be successful, and our country as a whole be successful.  If Chris Matthews wants to make such a statement as a private citizen supporting Barack Obama, I would take no issue with it whatsoever. However for him to suggest that as a journalist he should be supporting Barack Obama and helping him be successful is ridiculous.  This is no different than how the mass media supported the Bush administration in 2002 during the run-up to the Iraq War, effectively helping the administration make the case why there were WMDs and why Saddam Hussein was a threat.

It is the responsibility of journalists to ask the tough questions, no matter who is in power.  After Matthews' comments, Richard Stengel, the managing editor of Time Magazine, joins in the conversation by quoting Walter Cronkite.  Cronkite once said, "journalists are skeptical so the public doesn't become cynical".  Stengel then notes that we as Americans want Obama to succeed, but that "as journalists we have to hold his [Obama's] feet to the fire, that is our responsibility".  He followed on by saying, "frankly, it is our Constitutional responsibility, that's why the press is protected in the Constitution".

Matthews' viewpoint comes across as highly unprofessional and unbecoming of someone who would truly consider himself dedicated to journalistic integrity.  No matter, Matthews is far more entertainer and provocateur than he is thoughtful investigative journalist.   Maybe he's attempting to position himself as an option as Obama's press secretary, as some have suggested.