Better than Machiavelli!

That's what Chris Matthews told Jon Stewart on The Daily Show about his new book, Life's a Campaign, which sounds like a self-help book of life lessons based on politics. Stewart had what sounds like a reasonable response to that idea, which is that it would basically be a recipe for disaster. This was one of the most pointed (yet entertaining) interviews I've seen in a while. Matthews called it the worst interview he's ever had.--when he accused Stewart of trashing his book, Stewart replied, "I'm not trashing your book, I'm trashing your philosophy of life." Check out the video at mediabistro's FishbowlDC.

But that's not all! Matthews had another odd situation at a fete celebrating ten years of Hardball last week. He addressed the crowd, claiming he wanted to "make some news." He pointed out that the Clinton administration had never used heavy-handed tactics to pressure MSNBC to reign him either Matthews or his show and then made a vague reference to attempts by the White House and/or the vice president's office to do just that. "They've finally been caught in their criminality," he said, although it wasn't clear exactly what he was referring to. Don't worry, though, he "clarified" his statement the following evening on Hardball, and it appears that he was making nothing more than a reference to Scooter Libby. STOP THE PRESSES! FishbowlDC has the disappointing transcript.

Perhaps providing a little hint about Matthews's mindset at the Hardball party, examiner.com also mentioned that he was overheard gloating over his coming out on top in his Jon Stewart encounter. Keep thinking the good thoughts, Chris!