Heated discussion: Fleischer, Matthews on the Bush legacy

Posted: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 9:14 PM by Cathy Finkler

On Wednesday, Former Bush Press Secretary Ari Fleischer talked with Chris Matthews showing his support for George Bush's presidency and legacy.

Watch the complete video below.

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Comments

Great Job Chris. You didn't let ari Fleischer push you around like he did to David Shuster. Still feel free to get more aggressive.If you noticed he said the same line over and over and over no matter what you asked him. I'M TIRED of Republicans saying the same lies over and over and most media people let them get away with it.
28 out of 35 Senators complaining and voting against Bill with "earmarks" had their own earmarks in the Bill.
Republicans vote against Stimulus bill but take the money.
Lindsey Graham is outraged by earmarks 37 earmarks in the legislation, including $950,000 for "a convention center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and over 1 BILLION in his career
We neeed to let the public understand that the people on their high horse are the same ones doing what they are against ( John Kyle against earmarks but his are ok... don't touch them ?? )

We allow the double talk (Lindsey Graham Contradicts Himself On Earmarks In Under A Minute on meet the press) and because Republicans POUND one message over and over, people assume it's TRUE

Keep up the good work and HOLD people accountable for their LIES !!

Robert, Chandler,Az. (Sent Wednesday, March 11, 2009 9:35 PM)

Ari Fleischer said that "everyone"--the President, the Administration, the U.N.--had bad intelligence about WMD in Iraq. But didn't Hans Blix clearly come out and state that he and his U.N. task force did not find any evidence of WMD? And didn't the Administration dismiss and ignore what he said?

Richard Adrouny (Sent Wednesday, March 11, 2009 9:43 PM)

Mr. Fleischer has excellent arguments in defense of President Bush and his legacy of a SAFE USA. Thanks for the chance to hear sound arguments.

TJ Huerena, Herndon, Penn. (Sent Wednesday, March 11, 2009 10:36 PM)

Wow Chris, congratulations on an informative and well handled interview! Absolutely keep it up! Thank you!

Bob, Vancouver, Canada (Sent Wednesday, March 11, 2009 11:00 PM)

Ari Fleischer is a dishonest, rude man living in another world. He criticizes Chris Matthews for interupting him, yet that is all Ari did during this interview. He failed to answer the direct questions. I'm sure it is because he would rather forget about all of the failures during the Presidency in which he served. He continued to back peddle about Irag issues, and claims that President Bush inherited a recession! I'd live during that "recession" any time. And, why does he repeatedly say how great it is that President Obama inherited a country without Sadaam. Please, give me a break. Go home Ari.

Lisa, Chicago, IL (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 12:18 AM)

Chris,
You were magnificient tonight with Ari Fleischer (sp).
Bravo!
What a fool he / they are. Such liars.
We are better and happier without these war mongering monsters
PB

Patty B, Carson City NV (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 12:27 AM)

Chris, after watching the interview with Ari, I wonder if he realizes how he looks defending the policies of G-Dub. He appears terribly uncomfortable in this role. Also, without the "we've not been attacked" talking point, they are lost for positive accomplishments.

Kelvin Houston, Sacramento, CA (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 12:30 AM)

Hooray Chris, Thank you for standing your ground.Notice how Ari Fleischer continued to blame Saadam for 9-11. Mentioning They didn't want "him' to strike again. What planet are they on? Keep up the good work. Don't let up on these people.It is refreshing at last for someone in the media to have the guts to speak the truth to the "old" power. Thank-You.

Patricia Watterwortth,Brush Prairie,WA (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 12:38 AM)

Hey Chris, I hope the rest of the media take a cue from you to make it clear to bush and his cronies that they cannot or will not be given credit for supposedly keeping the country safe since 9/11 without first accepting responsibility for dropping the ball under their watch. In all aspects, economic, security or otherwise, they left the country much worse than they met it leaving the "safe since 9/11" issue all they thrive on.

DJ, Pheonix, Arizona (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 4:06 AM)

It is always amazing how every right-wing conservative who comes on to Hardball start talking non-stop so as to not allow the host to get any word in edgewise. Fleischer did this today, the other day, Ken Blackwell also was and endless stream of incessant drivel-this is because they KNOW that they can't win an argument on any merits or debating skills (because they are WRONG) so they try to simply drown out any opposing viewpoint by fillibustering.
Very very frustrating. Not only is it incredibly rude, but it is also incredibly pathetic. Especially given the fact that all he could say was that Obama should be thanking th former president for the fact that we now no longer have Saddam Hussein in the world.

christine pinney karkow (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 4:56 AM)

I thought you were admirably self-controlled in the face of Ari Fleischer's blatant lies and bluster. It is beyond belief how mean and sarcastic he was. I have always been a fan of yours--keep up the good work.

Janice Wiley, Indianapolis, Indiana (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 6:39 AM)

Fleischer said (paraphrasing) that it was right to take out Saddam after the 9/11 attack so he wouldn't attack again. Was he trying to reiterate the original myth that Saddam was responsible for 9/11? That was the first myth in making the case for the invasion, one of several. And Fleischer was arrogant..and rude...its a tactic to not answer questions.

Susan Gibbons, Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 7:33 AM)

Fleischer and the rest of the smile and lie bunch should at least be charged with perjury. To continue to claim that Saddam Hussein attacked the U.S. is revolting at best. Thank Chris Matthews for ending the discussion with Fleischer and maybe helping to hold public figures accountable for false statements.

Ken Nesvig, Buxton N.D. (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 7:39 AM)

I want to commend Chris Matthews on his composure and restraint during the Ari Fleischer rant/interview. I have never seen a more pompous or rude guest. It's one thing to disagree with Chris, in fact that is why Mr. Fleischer, I'm sure, was invited on the show. But he took disagreement to a personal almost name calling level. Of coarse, that's what people do when they are losing the arguement. But Chris got him at the end, and he was right. We are all "thankful that we no longer have an administration with that kind of thinking." Way to go Chris.

Jennifer Gordon, Winter Park, Florida (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 8:02 AM)

This no-holds barred exchange is what we really needed during the Bush administration, when so many were silent. Thanks Chris!

However, at the very end of the exchange, Ari Fleischer stated that we should all be grateful that Saddam can't attack us again. WHEN will the Bushies concede that Saddam didn't attack us in the first place? The terrorists were almost entirely Saudis, and not on Saddam's payroll!

After 9/11 when my conservative west-Pennsylvania cousins added me to a mailing list of incessantly right-wing blasts about the unpatriotic Left, I finally responded by telling them if they believed all that, why not train with a rifle and take up the cause around the world, defending an American-style democracy, which they boasted the Iraq war guaranteed.

Fact of the matter is, unless we are truly committed to the transfer of our national treasure to the rest of the world, by way of endless warfare and imperialism, "George Bush's Way" will never work. All you have to do is look at every other failed empire -- Spain, France, England, to name three, to see what could become of the USA, should this reckless path to ruin be followed.

Richard Cochran, Big Rapids, Michigan (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 8:45 AM)

Ari Fleischer did not talk WITH Chris Matthews! He talked AT him and OVER him. He never answered a direct question, and he resorted to bully tactics whenever he was asked about the Bush legacy! Please don't ask this hypocritical has-been to be on the show again.
Thank you.

Elizebeth St.Louis (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 9:16 AM)

Chris, Fleisher did not answer your questions. He just barreled through with his masterful spinning and aggressive personal attack on you. I don't think the media should give him a platform to distort the truth. We all know that Iraq was a mistake. With his logic we should rid the whole world of dictators to be safe. The Bush administration had their turn to make the world better or worse and most of us have decided that it was worse. Enough.

marilyn sullivan, pittsburgh pa (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 9:21 AM)

Chris was much too much of a gentleman to Ari Fleischer who seemed determined to insult him personally rather than disagree with him politically. Apparently that is the only strategy that Republicans like Mr. Fleischer can use to defend the indefensible Bush administration.

Grace Cannavo, Pennsville, NJ (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 9:45 AM)

Mr Matthews, congrats on your interview with Ari. You were both well prepared, but your prosecution was brilliant, reducing Ari to childish phrases. It seems like the Bush office will try to lie even in it's afterlife... And you caught them once again. Keep it up!

Doug, Los Angeles (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 9:49 AM)

Bravo, Chris. Saw the show last night and could not believe the outrageous comments from Ari Fleischer. It's one thing to spin a view defending Bush but that was an attempt to rewrite Bush's legacy when every book I've read from Bob Woodward's to Thomas Ricks is evidence of a failed presidency. The comment that President Obama should be thankful that Bush got rid of Saddam Hussein was the most idiotic statement I've heard so far. Glad you took him on and challenged those ridiculous words especially enjoyed your parting shot because we are happier.

Jody, Iowa (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 9:49 AM)

Ari -Still Dillusional after all these years.....

Louis Vierra, Boise ID (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 10:09 AM)

Did no one pick up Ari's last comment he made on the show??? Basically saying that we took Saddam out so that "He couldn't attack us again"?????????

They are still selling us a load of Crap!

Lori, Oconomowoc, WI (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 10:17 AM)

I'd have liked hearing Chris land on Ari's assertion that linked Saddam to 9/11. Because it is a fiction still perpitrated by the Bush administration that Saddam had something to do with 9/11.

Chris, thanks for starring the propaganda in the face and not backing down. Our country needs to set the records straight and call out the habitual liars.

Dava, Berryville, AR (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 10:36 AM)

After the first attack on the WTC on Feb. 26, 1993, Bill Clinton kept this country safe from another terrorist attack on US soil for 7 years and 11 months before George Bush took office. The difference between his means of doing so and Bush's tactics is that Clinton did it without trampling on the Constitution, without violating the Geneva Conventions, without 4,251 dead and 32,00 wounded American soldiers, without untold hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded Iraqi civilians, without a war debt that may well reach a trillion dollars befor it's over, and without the deterioriation of our country's moral standing throughout the world. And lastly, on November 12, 1997, Ramzi Yousef was found guilty and imprisoned for life for masterminding the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. As of this date, Osama bin Laden is still "Wanted. Dead or Alive" for his role in masterminding the 2001 attack.

Elaine Fogler, Ventnor, NJ (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 11:05 AM)

HEY CHRIS, THANK YOU FOR CALLING ARI OUT LAST NIGHT. THIS WHOLE IDEA THAT BUSH KEPT US SAFE AFTER THE BIGGEST TERRORIST ATTACK IN AMERICAN HISTORY IS CRAZY. THANK YOU

MATTHEW DOWELL (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 11:06 AM)

I watch as I always do, but yesterdays 'performance' by Ari Fliescher was nothing more than an aggregious attempt to cover for a disgusting Bush Administration. Matthews was well within his bounds to ask about the idealology of taking credit for a 'safe America' but never taking responsibility for blowing 9/11, even after the PDB stating Bin Laden's determination to attack America. Fliescher, ever the good soldier, defended the failed decision to preempt war with Iraq even though it cost more American lives than 9/11 itself. These guys are blinded by thier incompetence! Fliescher has nothing on Michele Bachmann!
Try as they may to sell Americans this charade of revisionist history no one is going to buy it. the fact remians George W. Bush will be always regarded as one of the worst Presidents America has ever had. Chris was right to state this at the end of this interview.

dave NJ (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 11:08 AM)

Man, what an arrogant little ex-presidential spokesman the new contact-lensed Ari is. Chris, if you read these, I just want to say that you handled that exchange very well, very professionally. He was going out of his way to be insulting, most likely because, what else did he have? "World is a safer place without Saddam..."...Saddam and his what, WMD's?? "Obama is lucky to inherit a world without Saddam..." He also inherited a world with 4,500 less U.S. servicemen thanks to Dubya Bush. Same old tired rhetoric. I used to respect Ari, and would have thought that since his gig is over, perhaps he could acknowledge a few facts at least, if not some collosal mistakes by his ex boss. Not to be. An in your face, true believer....pathetic.

dave hinman annapolis, md (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 11:33 AM)

It seemed like Ari Fleischer had one agenda last night. He was going after you to discredit you. I have a few observations.
1. Saddam did not attack us on 9/11. Ari Fleischer seemed to try to alter facts through out his interview. It was Osama Ari,and he is still out there!
2. The economy did grow during Bush, but at what price? There was no one in his admin. that watched and dared to do anything about all the criminal behaviors that got us into the mess we are in today.
3. 911 did happen on Bush's watch! Had they paid attention to the intel. perhaps it might have been avoided.

B. Scozzafava, West Chester,Pa (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 11:44 AM)

Way to go , Chris!!!!! You really hit this one out of the park. You appeared to be the only adult in the room. Thank you for standing-up to that.....that.....bag of wasted air.

Debra Jones, Portsmouth, Ohio (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 12:30 PM)

Chris Matthews took Fleischer to the matt. It was beautiful. Bushies are rewriting history like we don't know what really happened. How stupid do they think the American people are. He outright lies and warps the truth. What a pathetic attempt to make Bush look like a good President. He was perhaps the worst ever. They should all be in jail!!!

Maggielou (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 12:31 PM)

Where Bush was lying or deceitful was he knew that the intelligence on Irag may not be accurate. He knew this at the time of the vote to invade Irag. But he did not tell congress the intelligence may be wrong. I never here anybody make this point and it is the one thing that puts Bush totally in the wrong, whether it was a lie or deceit it amounts to the same thing.

Renny Caldwell (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 12:40 PM)

Chris,
Though I don't always agree with you,I want to thank you for standing up to Bush crowd's "Talking Points",which are nothing but outright lies in their sick attempt to rewrite history.Though their #1 thug continuously talked while you were stating the true facts,your message got through.

BD

BD,Erie,Pa. (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 12:44 PM)

Bush and his cronies must really think the American people are stupid for wanting to re-write history. They were there for the last 8 years. Bush was a dud!!!!There is no defense. But then again Bush was voted twice. Hmmm! maybe Bush and his cronies are right...at least those who voted for him.

AJ, Columbia, Missouri (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 7:58 PM)

Hello, Mr. Matthews I was looking at your interview with Ari Fleischer, this man is so full of Mr. Bush brain washing that he doesn't even know what he is saying or believe anymore about 9/11’s attack. Mr. Matthews I would really wish you and you staff would investigate the time that Bush father was in office and the conflict that Old man Bush had with Saddam Hussein. If I am remembering correctly didn’t Ssddam threaten Bush’s father when he was a sitting President! I truly believe that young Bush went after Saddom to show his father he would avenge his fathers name because of that personnel threat to his father. As we all know young Bush was in a some what of a competition to show old man Bush he could be as good or maybe better in running this country than his father and other before him. I truly believe that he wanted to offer the head of Saddom and his sons to his father as a good will offer to show him he took care of Saddom for his father that didn’t have this chance to so during his Presidency. Yes Saddom Hussein was a very evil man but he was not the one who attack us on United States soil on 9/11 and could not have been the one we lost so many life over just to fulfill Bush‘s personnel agenda. I knew this was a form of vengeance when he aimed for Saddam Hussein instead Osama bin Laden the leader of the Al-Qaeda's.

Dee, North Carolina (Sent Thursday, March 12, 2009 7:58 PM)

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