Wah, Wah, Wah

There are two periods in a child’s upbringing that can strike terror into actual or potential parents’ psyches. One is the terrible teens, complete with acne, puberty and the attendant hormonal thunderstorms.

And the other is the terrible twos. Both though do have one thing in common which is that neither offspring wants to listen to the parent while the difference is that the latter will have you branded as “the worst parent ever” with all their friends and anyone else who will listen.

But there is good news which is that the former will just go to their room and slam the door. The latter, however, will need yet another diaper change just after he or she lays face down in the middle of the produce aisle of the grocery store with fists and shoes drumming their protest.

I shall leave you to draw upon your own experience or instincts when I turn to little Chrissy Matthews on MSNBC and ask you to decide if he, little Chrissy, is a teen or a two.

Gallup conducted a poll just in time for President’s Day, which attempted to rate presidents according to American voters.

And, here’s how it came out;

Ronald Reagan: 19%
Abraham Lincoln: 14%
Bill Clinton: 13%
John Kennedy: 11%
George Washington: 10%
Franklin Roosevelt: 8%
Barack Obama: 5%
Theodore Roosevelt: 3%
Harry Truman: 3%

For the anally-retentive, the poll does not define the choice of the remaining 14%

In other words, Ronald Reagan was number one and Obama was not going to win a medal.

Now that was more than enough for little Chrissy to lose it, which he did a couple of nights ago . And I quote.

“Well, today's George Washington's birthday, by the way. You can call it President's Day if you're buying a mattress. Otherwise, forget it. A new Gallup poll rates which presidents the American people think are best. By the way, this is a memory quiz more than a historic quiz. ………… The greatest president in history, according to the American people with their limited memory, is Ronald Reagan.”

Then he continued, “Keep in mind, these are not historian rankings. These are people's. By the way, they should insist before anybody participates in one of these ridiculous polls, "Please list the presidents and then pick the best." Don't just go with the ones you can remember. It's like the greatest movie of all times was the one I just went to.”

By the way, note the less than immaculate use of the English language and this from someone who sometimes claims to be a journalist but at others wants to be known as a commentator. I personally would deny Matthews either label. Try rabble-rouser or Obama cheerleader instead.

Isn't it interesting though, that Matthews had no problem with Obama being listed even though he's been in office for only two years and currently is the only president besides Roosevelt to have an unemployment rate above eight percent for this many months?

Beyond this, given the "Hardball" host's adoration for Clinton, would he have groused if one of the two presidents in our history to have been impeached took top honors?

As for the memory issue, Matthews must be ignoring the appearance on this list of presidents long gone such as both Roosevelts, Truman, Eisenhower, and especially Lincoln, Washington and Jefferson.

Does it really appear folks have memory issues when Abraham Lincoln comes in second in this kind of poll?

This seems especially absurd as according to Gallup, "Reagan, Lincoln, or John F. Kennedy has been at the top of this 'greatest president' list each time this question has been asked in eight surveys over the last 12 years."

As such, Matthews' anger has nothing to do with people's memories or their intellectual capacities. He just can't stand the idea that Reagan ever comes in first at anything.

Pretty juvenile for a man that hosts an American cable news program, wouldn't you agree?

But is he a teen or a two?