Dick Armey To Joan Walsh: "I'm So Glad You Can Never Be My Wife" (VIDEO)

In a heated debate over the state of politics and the economy on Wednesday night, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey almost certainly crossed the line of acceptable banter, telling his fellow panelist Joan Walsh that he was glad she could never be his wife because of her "prattle."

Appearing on Hardball, the two guests went back and forth over the contours of the current debate on the stimulus package being passed through Congress. Towards the end, however, the conversation devolved into gender-infused insults.

"I'm so damn glad you can never be my wife because I surely wouldn't have to listen to that prattle from you every day," Armey told Walsh, editor-in-chief of Salon.com. "That's what I'm talking about -- she's making a political malarkey here."

"Boy...that makes two of us sir," Walsh replied. "That was really an outstanding comment."

"You're talking like a paid political hack here," Armey interjected, "trying to score political points."

The genesis of the debate, remarkably, was on who deserved blame for the current economic climate and whether opposition to the President's stimulus package was motivated by policy concerns are politics.

"Please stop saying 'give it a rest'," Walsh said at one point, after another Armey interruption. "Do you ever anything else to say? President Obama has a mandate for change. Your people have stood in his way. They are standing in his way on Capitol Hill right now and Rush Limbaugh is making ridiculous statements and Republicans are crawling to him and groveling. That's the state of our economy and our world right now."

Walsh found herself the target of similarly gender-infused insult on Hardball recently when Christopher Hitchens called the Salon writer 'Ms. Walsh' and she responded by deeming it condescending.

Later on Wednesday's Hardball, host Chris Matthews defended Walsh, saying: "Dick Armey... I like the guy but I think he went way overboard going after Joan."

Comments

[timbonotes]

05:21 PM on 01/31/2009

I remember Mr. Armey labeling Barney Frank with a homophobic epithet about a decade or so ago during another national live interview. It was out and out name-calli­ng which is about as clever as any of these clown neo-cons ever get! Prez Obama shouldn't close Gitmo - he just needs to repopulate it with "enemy combatants­" like Dick and his ilk.

[Tulka2]

04:57 PM on 01/31/2009

...and just because women have an equal brain, doesn't mean Chris Matthews should just lie down like a dog on his own show and allow her to be insulted like that. Chris Matthews likes to paint himself as a "tradition­al guy", but he came off as a high school jerk.

[Tulka2]

04:53 PM on 01/31/2009

I saw this exchange in real time. There have got to be some progressiv­es in his state and my sincere sympathy is extended to them. Armey is tic, tic, boom. He jerked, twitched, and this nasty little thing just fell out of his mouth. No impulse control at all. When did he get hit in the head? Or is it just garden variety dementia?

[Ann Rory]

04:42 PM on 01/31/2009

What's really going on is that these old, wrinkly, white haired Republican dudes have become irrelevant­.
The 21st Century has rocked their world and worldview and now they find themselves adrift without a clue and offer no solutions to our current crisis which, in part, was created by 30 years of "welfare for the rich" policies.
What then is left for them?????
Frothing at the mouth ....with insults.

[chalo]

04:41 PM on 01/31/2009

Hey, DICK!!! Don't flatter yourself!! You must think YOU'RE God's Gift to Women!!! Good Lord. Look at yourself in the mirror, you ugly, obnoxious, misogynist­ic toad!! And what woman in her right mind would want to be YOUR wife!? Good for you, Joan Walsh.

[coco51]

03:50 PM on 01/31/2009

My, My Dick, you're such a big boy!!

[MadeleineA]

03:38 PM on 01/31/2009

A good article on Armey and the larger issue he represents can be found at Salon, written by Glenn Greenwald 1/29.

[amcg50]

02:28 PM on 01/31/2009

Her questions of him should have been: What; do you prefer them du mb, barefoot and preg nant?
Oh and by the way she certainly had the better of the debate; that is why he went the se xi st route...

[amcg50]

02:27 PM on 01/31/2009

Her questions of him should have been: What; do you prefer them dumb, barefoot and pregnant?
and she certainly had the better of the debate; that is why he went the sexist route...

[WritusMaximus]

02:00 PM on 01/31/2009

Sad that the man had to go the sexist route. The lady was spewing party talking points, couldn't back her drivel but won the "debate".

[gevan]

01:48 PM on 01/31/2009

I'm just so glad that Dikk Armey can never be anyone's wife. His babies would look terrible.

[ammonman]

12:53 PM on 01/31/2009

Thanks to Armey, I now know what to call myself: an income redistribu­tionist. It has a nice ring to it.

[TotallyAmazed]

12:22 PM on 01/31/2009

I was watching HARDBALL during this exchange and I couldn't believe that a man of Armey's prominent stature would be so belittling­. He came across as a male S. Palin, only worse. At least Palin was running for an office; what's Dick's excuse? Joan Walsh always behaves respectabl­y toward people she's debating, yet I've seen her twice get rudely, verbally smacked by condescend­ing Republican­s. She must be doing something right to get them so riled up. Armey was beyond rude and snarky - I'm sure he made Sarah proud.

[sugarfree]

02:36 PM on 01/31/2009

I agree with you TotalAmaze­d, however i will not let Chris Matthews of so the hock, he could have
been a man and spoke-up to Dick Armey because they both were his guest on his show.
But he laugh as if it was funny, i was so upset with him. I just may not watch his one hour show
ever again.
Chris Matthews this week has shown no respect for his guest or the President Obama.
But he seem to think Rush Limbaugh is so funny its unbelievab­le and total unprofessi­onal.
Chris Matthews and Dick Armey should apologize to Mrs Walsh.

[SouthpawSass]

12:09 PM on 01/31/2009

Glad she's not his wife... jeez, like that's a big insult to any woman. Armey's first name basically describes him to a tee...

[Rharte]

10:50 AM on 01/31/2009

Just wondering if incense was lit as the GOP congressma­n knelt and kissed El Rushmo's ring. At least we now know who wears the pants in the republican party.