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Chris Matthews has always puzzled me as a talking head. There's always been this strange disconnect between his embarrassingly slavish adulation of political figures (please, don't make me repeat the glimmering GWB, the manly-smelling Fred Thompson, etc. We've groaned through them enough) and their actions.

But the always brilliant Jon Stewart--after reading Matthews' new book "Life's a Campaign"--calls it for me: for Tweety, it's all strategy. It doesn't matter if you're doing right or good. It doesn't matter if you are sincere...all that matters is that you play the game. As Stewart has said, that book has been written already. How unintentionally revealing of Chris Matthews.

MATTHEWS: I'm listening to you... STEWART: No, you're not... MATTHEWS: Of course I am, you're trashing my book. STEWART: I'm not trashing your book, I'm trashing your philosophy of life.

Kudos for the best interview from The Daily Show in a long, long time.