I didn't know much about Chris Matthews before I started working on this video for our friends at Media Matters. I don't have cable, so most of what I knew of Matthews was from clips on Crooks & Liars, which usually highlighted some ridiculous, silly, or clueless thing Matthews had said. For the most part, he seemed to me like a friendly, if sometimes goofy, newsguy with an annoying voice. Even his past and recent sexism seemed more like something you'd expect from your nice friend who sometimes makes people laugh semi-uncomfortably by being mildly offensive, especially when drunk. It's not the best thing in the world, but not that big of a deal.

But I think I might've been wrong.

I started watching clips of Matthews and I soon came to a very disturbing conclusion: Chris Matthews is the friendlier, smarter version of Bill O’Reilly.

Here me out on this. When BOR screams something outrageous, dishonest, and offensive, people get angry and want to hold him accountable and discredit FOX. But when Matthews goofily says something outrageous, dishonest, and offensive, most people just laugh and shrug it off because Matthews seems like a nice guy, not a lying, blowhard prick like BOR. If Matthews’ statements are allowed to stand without anyone vigorously challenging them, those statements are accepted as truth, or at least a reasonable interpretation.

Matthews was originally hired for a CNBC spin-off network by none other than Roger Ailes, the media/propaganda consultant for Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George HW Bush and later the president of FOX News. Despite the low ratings for Matthews’ signature show, Hardball (which dwells just above Tucker territory), Matthews’ Sunday political talk show, the Chris Matthews Show, garners the second highest ratings of any Sunday political show for the Washington DC area.

What does all this mean? It means that a FOX News-approved personality is exerting a whole lot of influence over politicians and Washington’s media elite. Matthews is quite intelligent and has a somewhat folksy, friendly, regular-guy demeanor, which gives his opinions added weight. The media elite uses Matthews’ opinions to espouse what they consider to be “conventional wisdom” throughout the media, which influences what politicians think while also dictating what/how issues are presented to Americans through the media. This is important stuff. As the website tells us, media matters.

In comments I’ve been reading about the video, some people are saying that we should lay off Matthews and that he isn’t so bad. I disagree on two fronts. First, we should be closely monitoring ALL media to keep them honest. A democracy cannot function properly without an honest media to inform its citizens so they can make informed decisions. No media figure should be considered beyond reproach. That is why Media Matters and other watchdog sites are so important. Second, Matthews is bad enough. He would be an excellent fit for FOX. And if Keith Olbermann keeps stealing his thunder, that's very well where he may end up.

Check out MatthewsMonitor.com. It’s time to play Hardball…