Joan Walsh comes amazingly close: We’d have to say that, on last night’s Hardball, Joan Walsh came amazingly close.

Can you imagine a country in which liberal intellectual leaders actually know how to argue? (How to “message?” How to “push back?”) In your lifetime, no such country has ever existed. But we could see that country coming into existence as Walsh squared off with Terry Jeffrey last night.

We’d like to suggest that you read the full transcript. But it seems the reliably pitiful MSNBC has simply stopped posting such things. (Last postings: August 13. Click here.)

That said, you can watch the entire segment from last night’s show. We suggest that you do so: Click here.

We have some complaints about Joan’s performance—and about that of her loathsome host. For one thing, Joan remains utterly blind about the era known as the Clinton-Gore years. Aaarggh! She missed this era when it occurred. In this post from Friday morning, she was disappearing it still:

WALSH (9/4/09): Where to start to explain this hysteria? Since the height of Sarah Palin's dishonest and divisive campaign last September, I've been alarmed by the unique way in which Obama's opponents paint him as "the other." For the life of me, I can't think of another American politician—not even Hillary Clinton, although it's close—who has spurred such visceral, irrational hatred. (Tell me if I've missed anyone in comments.) Sure, John Kerry was "French" and Michael Dukakis was Greek (and looked like a pinhead in that dumb helmet), but only Obama is a Marxist Communist who pals around with terrorists and wants to harm your children.

Dear Joan: You missed Bill Clinton. And you missed Al Gore, who was savaged for two years by the Hardball host whose ass you have incessantly kissed ever since he did it. We liberals badly undermine our own brief when we pretend that those years simply didn’t exist—the years of the Clinton murder lists and the endless non-lie lies by Gore.

We have no idea why Joan keeps saying things like this. Her history there is simply amazing—amazing for its omissions. (Question: Does lying about Democrats only count if it can be hammered into racial/gender/ethnic frameworks? So it sometimes seems.) That statement represents howling ignorance. It undermines the strength of the fully accurate claims liberals can, and should, be making against people like Jeffrey.

That said, Joan was very strong last night. We’ll let you watch the tape to see the things she said and did. But these are the things liberals should be saying to pimp/hustlers like Jeffrey. Joan came amazingly close:

This is pure crap—and you know it’s pure crap.

You and your movement have been inventing this crap for the past twenty years. You did the same thing to President Clinton with your goddamn murder lists.

You are disrespecting—and using—average Americans when you get them to believe this pure crap.

Something keeps Joan from that second statement. Due to our own treasured disrespect, we liberals often can’t bring ourselves to make the third statement. (We kill our interests in the process.) But Joan punched Jeffrey around the ring last night, exhibiting fully appropriate scorn; we rarely see liberals push back so hard. And she stressed her American values as she did so. Good for her!

Jeffrey was making it up again, feigning silly pimp/outrage. He represents an aggressive, well-organized political movement—a movement which has been making up, and peddling, crap over a period of many years. In the 1990s, “liberals” ran off and hid in the woods while these assaults were going on. They wet their pants, shed tears of fear. George Bush ended up in the White House.

Last night, Joan punched back quite hard—and quite effectively. Liberals need to create a new world—a world in which average citizens see and hear such things on a regular basis.

They’ve heard the other side’s bullshit forever. Last night, someone pushed back, rather hard.

Our advice? Go watch the tape. Get mad when others don’t do this. As you should have been mad in the 1990s, when your “leaders” ran off to the woods. Chris Matthews sent George Bush to the White House—as your “leaders” cowered.