EPISODE NUMBER: 10003 (October 2, 2013)
GUEST: Chris Matthews
SEGMENTS: Intro - 10/2/13 | 1995 Shutdown Survival Bunker | Government “Slimdown” & POTUS Meeting | Blood in the Water - Bill O’Reilly’s “Killing Jesus” | Sign Off - Shutdown Survival Bunker
SUIT REPORT: Dark Suit | White Shirt | Yellow Tie
VIDEOS: Wednesday, October 2, 2013

One has to feel for poor Coolio, major recording artist of the 90′s who brought us such time-honored hits as “Fantastic Voyage,” only to be brought back in 2013 as the febreezed remains in Stephen Colbert’s 1995 Shutdown Survival Bunker. Nobody can make fun of the 90′s better than Stephen. Just give him an iMac G3 and he’s good to go.

I *think* what O’Reilly was trying to say on 60 Minutes was that he was listening to his intuition to write a book about Jesus, but throwing the Holy Spirit in the mix definitely made him sound like, as Stephen put it, a “crazy narcissist.” My Catholic self likes to evaluate these things dogmatically, which is to say that technically yes, we believe that the Holy Spirit can give counsel, so, from a spiritual perspective there is some credence to the theory:

Like prudence, counsel allows us to judge rightly what we should do in a particular circumstance. It goes beyond prudence, though, in allowing such judgments to be made promptly, “as by a sort of supernatural intuition,” as Fr. John A. Hardon writes in his Modern Catholic Dictionary.

Source: About.com - Beliefs and Teachings of Catholicism

However, in order to ascribe this sort of supernatural significance to one’s intuition, one must be considered to be in “a state of grace,” which generally means completely abstaining from any mortal sin, and generally rocking out on keeping up with all the pertinent sacraments. One’s state of grace is a very personal thing to determine, so not sure if Papa Bear falls in that esteemed category. That’s between himself and his priest.

I am sure my fellow Hubsters have a lot of opinions about Mr. O’Reilly’s motivation$; however, please note that the idea is actually steeped in a theological basis.

Sitting in the wings enjoying all of this was Chris Matthews, who undoubtedly giggled throughout “Blood in the Water’s” skewering of his favorite frenemy O’Reilly. I enjoyed the conversation about Matthew’s impressions of the Reagan administration versus Obama. It does seem that Obama doesn’t seem to possess that grumpy-dad, austerely authoritative persona of Reagan’s, but rather an aloof, professor-like calm, and sometimes condescending tone. I still believe, judging from his unprecedented Obamacare legislation and his history-making overtures to Iran, that he will close out his presidency with a lasting legacy. Whatever your political stripes, Americans will always love the Gipper for his unique governing qualities.

What did you think of the ep? Join in the conversation in the comments.

Great intro, the first joke really nails it:

Intro

• Tonight! How to end the government shut down. I think if you hold down Texas and Maine at the same time, it automatically reboots.

• Then, can Fox News pundits talk to God? Well, he is the same age of their average viewer.

• …incidentally, “Hardball” not covered under Obamacare.

1995 Shutdown Survival Bunker

• Most importantly, ladies and gentlemen, to heal a divided nation with the power of music, I packed away the number 1 recording star of 1995, please welcome, Cooliooooo!!!! Coolio? (horrified) Oh God, Coolio. I should have punched some air holes in this thing.

• Yes, a government shut down is no more damaging to the economy than a pin prick. For instance, here’s the economy (holds up balloon) here’s the shutdown (holds up pin). (balloon pops)

Government “Slimdown” & POTUS Meeting

• That’s CNN, the Most Trusted Name in Reading Other Network’s Websites.

• The point is the slim down is a good thing, and it’s all Obama’s fault.

• [On Bachmann] That’s right, not blinking. In fact, Michele Bachmann has been training her entire life for this.

Blood in the Water - Bill O’Reilly’s “Killing Jesus”

• As a Catholic, Bill O’Reilly believes in the Holy Trinity. In this case, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghostwriter.

Interview - Chris Matthews

• Stephen: Do you think Reagan was a better president than Obama is?

• Matthews: In the end, yeah. Because he ended the Cold War. Hard to beat. It’s hard to beat that, baby.

• Stephen: How do you think this is going to end, the shutdown?

Matthews: [Referring to the debt ceiling debate] For the first time in our history, we don’t pay our interest. Think of an airline. Would you get on airline that had a 95% safety record, or would you get on an airline that had a 100% safety record? And for 100 years now, the world has looked on the United States and they have said, “they’ve got a 100% safety record if we lend them money.” We won’t have that, if this thing defaults. That’s what scares me. We will not be the currency of the world. We will not be the store of value. We will not be anything. We will be the country that became a deadbeat country in October of 2013. And that scares the hell out of me. And that could happen by the end of this month because of these right-wing jackals. Am I clear?!

more to come