There are aspects of his shows that are very appealing, maybe even addictive.  He was just about the only news host that called Bush out on his lies about Iraq and WMD's.  That alone earned my respect for him as someone who had the courage to speak truth to power, and as someone who was genuinely concerned about the world we are living in. I loved his aggressive questioning tactics and the way he called others out "on the carpet" when they were peddling their snake oil.  I used to joke with my friends that, as they rush home to be with their wives or mistresses, I rushed home to be with my cable news.  

For example:

"Did you get a load of Lou Rawls's wife?" Matthews said as he left the spin room. Apparently the Rev. Jesse Jackson was introducing the widow of the R&B singer at the media center. "She was an absolute knockout," Matthews declared. It's a common Matthews designation. The actress Kerry Washington was also a "total knockout," according to Matthews, who by 1 a.m. had repaired to the bar of the Cleveland Ritz-Carlton. He was sipping a Diet Coke and holding court for a cluster of network and political types, as well as for a procession of random glad-handers that included, wouldn't you know it, Kerry Washington herself. ... She is a big Obama supporter and was in town for the debate; more to the point, she said she likes "Hardball." Matthews grabbed her hand, and Phil Griffin, the head of MSNBC who was seated across the table, vowed to get her on the show.

"I know why he wants you on," Matthews said to Washington while looking at Griffin. At which point Matthews did something he rarely does. He paused. He seemed actually to be considering what he was about to say. He might even have been editing himself, which is anything but a natural act for him. He was grimacing. I imagined a little superego hamster racing against a speeding treadmill inside Matthews's skull, until the superego hamster was overrun and the pause ended.

"He wants you on because you're beautiful," Matthews said. "And because you're black." He handed Washington a business card and told her to call anytime "if you ever want to hang out with Chris Matthews."

This snip shows his ego. Who in their right mind would want to kidnap Chris Matthews? Could you imagine being stuck with that guy for any length of time? You'd have to stock up on towels just to wipe away all the slobber!

As we approached the airport gate, Matthews mentioned that he and his wife, Kathleen, have been contemplating a trip to Damascus. It's something they have wanted to do for a long time. But he worries that he might make an inviting target for a kidnapper. "I can imagine getting some big-name media figure would be a big propaganda catch for them," Matthews said. "You can imagine what the neocons would say if I were kidnapped. They'd be like, `See, Matthews, terrorism isn't so funny now, is it?' " snip

At the end of the article there's a paragraph about his Obama interview and Abrams telling him the Clintons are going after Obama delegates and he makes it clear that he will not let that happen (at least that's my take on his comment) Why is he so sure they "ain't going through those tunnels?":

snip...

When I did get cable, for the first time, well, our country got a pre-emptive war in Iraq.  That gave me something to watch--grainy satphone images and lots of things going boom and very excited "embedded" reporters.  (That term sounds like they are "in bed" with someone, doesn't it?  What are they THINKING?)  And my husband and I spent a lot of Katrina-hours in front of 24-hour news channels.

But you know what?  It's mostly gossip and hype.  If there isn't a disaster of epip proportions going on, we just watch the PBS News Hour, which I call "the grown-up news".  I still surf CNN and Fox (my cable provider dropped MSNBC), and if someone I care about is being interviewed, I'll watch for a few minutes, but most of their schtick is just gossip.