I didn’t get a chance to see columnist Michelle Malkin on Harball with Chris Matthews last night, but I hear Chris really ambushed her. The transcript is here and Oliver Willis has posted a video of the exchange.

I honestly like Chris Matthews because I think he asks tough questions and tries to cut through a lot of the spin. At the same time, I think when Christ Matthews gets an idea stuck in his head, he hammers away at it, no matter how foolish it might be, until it becomes clear that he’s not interested in being told otherwise. He constantly shouts at this audience and rarely gives his guests a chance to offer substantive explanations for their positions. He wants his program to move at 90 miles per hour, which is great sometimes, but it’s hardly a way to get to core of any issue. I used to talk with his producers, including Dominic Bellone, and they seemed like good people trying to produce good television. But the constraints of cable news make the whole thing a circus, as the Michelle Malkin demonstrates.

I can’t believe Bill O’Reilly gets so much grief, but Matthews doesn’t get touched. They are the opposite sides of the same coin.