Lessons in Framing: Typhoid Tweety

Yesterday Chris Matthews brought his good ol' PFFFFHHHILLLY-it's-a-tough-town-PHILLY friend Ed Rendell onto his Hardball Show to address the controversy of those "alabamans" between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Seemed to me they did less addressing a controversy than having a conflation conversation. Rendell injected Lancaster as an example of an area where the Dems are more liberal within a Red area. He and Matthews did a nifty two-step from seemingly talking about likely primary voting results that could favor Obama vs. a historical "conservative white" pattern that may hold in a general election in a conservative part of the state.

Maybe Chris is feeling like a Typhoid Tweety these days, between the temporary suspension of one of his "reportorial" minions and the blogosphere's buzz about Rendell's ham-tongued explanation of voting patterns in Pennsylvania.

Perhaps his friends and allies wouldn't find themselves in such a stew if Matthews would temper his own tongue. Less "there's Philly and there's Pittsburgh, and in between there's ALABAMA!!!" more presenting issues and events and how they would have impact on real people's lives.

But oh, that's hard. So much easier to catapult the horserace and the Big Number and the sleazy smarmy comments about women...and working people.

[h/t to reader Melody for the framing request. We plan to offer Lessons in Framing—the spin, p.r., hype, fearmongering, half-truths, faux-truths, untruths, and sins of omission that comprise the whole stew as often as the politicians and the media make necessary. ]