Rachel Maddow Finishes Blagojevich's Poem (VIDEO)

As if declaring his innocence when America knows that Patrick Fitzgerald has tapes of him sounding like Tony Soprano weren't bizarre enough, Rod Blagojevich decided to make his press conference even more uncomfortable today by reading a portion of Rudyard Kipling's poem "If." Rachel Maddow pointed out that Blagojevich showed diplomacy when to choosing how much of the poem he would read. Video can be found below, along with the full text of the poem.

WATCH:

If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you But make allowance for their doubting too, If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

Comments

[NETarrant]

This woman irritates me. I guess I know how the left feels about Rush now.

[harpen1]

I have been following Rachel's programs for years. She is one of the most informed, interesting talk show personalities . Her insight, and thoughtful analysis delivered in an upbeat fashion makes really holds my interest. I appreciate how she doesn't invite guest that merely rubber stamp her position, yet she manages to have a conversation with them without bitter arguments or trying to make them look totally ignorant.
In regards to Rick Warren, come on if Warren had made his statements directed at any other group of persons, such as jewish people, or Latin Americans, or African-Americans, or practically any other group,
he would not have been allowed on the stage. Why can't Rachel voice her outrage, when Warren's words may have been hurtful to her. Why is it okay to throw gays under the bus, to make the Christian right feel included?

[Nonamnesiac]

Rachel's obsession with Blago is the first serious error I've seen her make since she's elevated Cable News with her brilliant, superb show. I realize she has to genuflect to MSNBC corporate if she's going to remain. But she's joined in the lynch mob to throw Blago out without due process, allowing the howl of the opportunists (Madigan, Obama, Illinois pols, etc.) and the apparently inept (in this case Fitzgerald, whose complaint I've read and has nothing that would lead to Blago being convicted of a crime) to influence her to become a screamer for his removal.

In this day of GITMO justice, guilty-unl­ess-we-say­-you're-no­t, no-presump­tion-of-in­nocence, Rachel should be slowing down the screaming until Blago is given his due process. He was elected by the people to serve a term and (at least for now) is innocent. To allow a lynch mob led by very powerful forces to throw out an elected politician who proclaims his/her innocence simply further erodes civil rights and civil liberties.

I'm surprised about this as Rachel should know better. But she is still the best thing that's happened to the US media in generations, maybe ever.

[Ramirez]

Like Keith Olbermann, she has developed a shallow-minded, partisan audience that demands ridicule and attack of public figures. Unfortunately Bush and Cheney are on the way out and new targets must be found.

Blago is a safe one. He has no supporters and he provides easy laughs.

[jerzyjc16]

Isn't it possible that some public figures actually deserve ridicule? Future generations will judge the reader of "MY PET GOAT" and the person who dismisses the distress and outrage of a vast majority of people who disagree with his policies with a "so what?". It will be wondered why Olberman, et. al. were actually so few in number during the past 8 years.

If you're not outraged, you've not been paying attention.

[jalowe1957]

Rachel Maddow: A breath of fresh air in a world populated by hot-air balloons with a microphone and a radio syndication deal.

[susou]

She needs an in-studio audience :)

[SteveDenver]

I would so be there.

[Einstein44]

Rachel is such a gorgeous charmer.She makes me really think and I strongly admire her wits.

[drzoon]

she has become way to flippant and snarky to watch now. it was helpful during the campaign because she was part of the "push back" we needed against Fox News... but now she just seems to think everything is a joke. Jon Stewart is more serious about the news that she is.

please, can we use that set for NewBreaks or something now?

it's time to "turn the page"

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

Please, can we turn the page on disrespect for grammar now?

I think she can go on like she does for roughly ten years before there is a danger that the quality of her journalism hits the levels of Fox news. If, however, in 2018, her choice and emphasis of subjects is still the same, then there is a real danger that she is not up to the job. Unless, of course, there is a reason in 2018 to talk about the same subjects. (Hopefully not Blago).

[johnnygoodwud]

wish she'd play for our team, she's hot. intelligent/good looking women, double wammy

[Genius]

So, as an athiest, will my opinion ever be respected?
Simple solution is to have a justice of the supreme court reside over the ceremony.
Problem solved.

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

interesting proposal - salomonic.

But this post is about Blago's less-than-smart invocation of the poem 'If'.

[Choicelady]

Of course. It already is. If you're being 'dissed' by people of faith, well, you're just hanging out with the wrong crowd. Progressives in the faith communities care only that you believe in justice. If you don't believe in God or anything like God, that's fine. If you believe in justice, then we believe in you.

Happy New Year!

[RussellH]

Kipling's verse, "If," has been a favorite for years, often handed out at high school commencement exercises---of course, when girls were not really recognized except for home ec acheivements. Sadly, it lost meaning for me, even though I knew that the poet had lost a son in WWI, when I learned that Kipling was a devout anti-Semite. I am NOT suggesting either Blago or Ms Maddow are, also, but knowing his bent makes me respect the poet less.

[thankulord13]

Thomas Jefferson and George Washington had slaves and one was raping his does that take away from the fact that they were great Americans? Just because he didn't like Jewish people and probably others doesn't take from the fact that he was a great poet. Times were different the world allowed discrimination in the public square. Now if it was today it would be a different story.

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

It's sad to learn that Kipling was anti-Semite. So were Eliot and Pound, and it does take away from their standing. But it doesn't devalue the poem any more than slavery in Athens devalues democracy (which thankulord13 has already pointed out.)

I would differentiate between the sexism of the poem and the anti-semitism of its author. To find the sexism reprehensible is a bit over the top because there certainly is tons of regret in the poem about what it means to face 'a man's world' - more than enough to fill a football stadium with couches. It would seem to me to defeat the purpose to turn that against the poet.

[Choicelady]

She was just pointing out Blago did not read the whole poem since it makes the narrator appear quite - QUITE - egotistic! So she was just letting those of us who'd forgotten it all remember that if Blago likes this poem it is because it appears to exonerate him! It's origins in this instance are not the issue. The gist of the poem in all its arrogance is!

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

May I respectfully disagree? It's also possible that I don't understand your point, but you seem to me to claim that the father talking to the son in the poem takes an arrogant or egotistic point of view. That, I think, is false. Quite likely that you end up counting myself among the arrogant crowd, but I'll have to take that risk.

Just a few comparisons: the poem was written more than 100 years ago. At that time, a father who would even think of saying such things to his son would have been considered weak by many accounts. The voice is utterly critical of himself and of (then) common perceptions of 'what it takes to be a man'.

To call the advice of not giving in to the cycle and mechanism of victimization 'arrogant' seems asking a lot too much of society 100 years ago. I think it is even wrong today to call it that. You could call it too idealistic, too moralistic. It's also self-centered, but it's supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime conversation between father and son - how could that not end up being self-centered? It still is not arrogant.

To quote it after being caught red-handed is indeed arrogant, but it is so arrogant that the effect instantly turns into stupidity.

[buckbuck11]

Rachel Maddow gets better and better each week. Her presentation is literate, reasoned and also interesting to listen to. Her natural and spontaneous reactions to her guests shows that she's listening and interacting with them. Her wit is biting and usually spot on, yet she doesn't at all come across as arrogant or condescending...in fact, at times she's self-deprecating. I look forward to seeing what Rachel has to say each night.

[Trill]

RACHEL MADDOW is absolutely my favorite, very sophisticated and often hilariously funny, commentator. However, if we are all HONEST with ourselves and carefully listen to Rachel, it is obvious that she is showing the kind of INTOLERANCE that she is berating the Rev. about.

For god's sake....the Invocation is really an introduction and PRAYER. Don't most Christians and others PRAY. So many are just stretching this matter to the nth degree and showing their INTOLERANCE.

To all of us who love President-Elect Obama: Dust off your memory machines and recall that Senator Barack Obama SAID that at times WE would disagree with him. Frankly, I don't really understand the fuss. What IS important is that people are made aware of the bigoted and intolerant remarks made by the minister ('cause I was not aware of these remarks) until all of this came out with the bitching about the Invocation.

Let the PREACHER speak. If you know in your heart that what you do and how you live is God's will or whomever you pray to, then fogit about it! It is just ONE DAY... historical day written in the history books and debated for years.

Get a grip! Love you Rachel, but settle down. This screaming and screeching does NOT become you. You are an intelligent woman. We all know that. Pastor Warren DOES NOT diminish you or ANYONE. He just shows how much he has to grow to sit on the "right hand" of you know.

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

IF one day I will manage to overcome the impulse to use CAPITAL letters to SHOUT in an online post, then I will feel a LOT more mature. Might be a LONG way for me as WELL.

Here's the clue: content matters and you have no reason to shout. Unless you like graffitti just for the fun of how it looks.

Yes, it absolutely is about tolerance. And it matters a lot that Warren is not a right-wing extremist, only a man with outdated views - but one who is seeking reasoned disagreement where reasoned agreement is not to be had. This is key. Reason: reasoned agreement IS (oops! I did it again...) to be had.

There's no way Warren can maintain his comparison with pedophiles. It's slightly less clear with incest, but that's also quite hopeless, when you look at it - unless you are gay and believe your shrink, that is. Reason wins out any time. So why close the door? There is zero chance that he will abuse his appearance at the invocation for hate-preaching against LGBTs. Not after this little sequence of events. Case closed.

Actually I personally think that Rachel Maddow knows all this. And I am not calling her bigoted for complaining that Saddleback doesn't approve of gays - duh! I think it's all some kind of joke.

And what does all of this have to do with Blago's poem?

IF only I KNEW..

[buckbuck11]

Add sexism to your homophobia....a woman disagrees and she's "screaming and screeching." Better take a look in that intolerance mirror yourself!

[break]

You're right, this is all about tolerance. Have you heard the stuff this guy has said about homosexuality? Can you imagine someone like Warren, who has tremendous religious, political, social and economic clout calling your love, -the way that you show your love to someone - equivalent to someone abusing a child? or incest? and then imagine having one of the most important days in presedential history be led by that man. It is bad enough that Obama keeps insisting that he "vigorously" supports gay rights - as long as they don't want to be married. (God forbid that those degenerates wanting to pledge their love for one another). But that's fine, you don't have to support marriage equality. You can go around imagining judgement day when God will surely smite all those who dared to love in a different way. Whatever. But lay off Rachel for being brave enough to sound the alarm when Obama chooses to sacrifice the support and dedication of the gay community when he has counted on their support when it mattered. I guess now he's onto bigger and better things. I hope she continues to mention this outrage more often, because everybody else seems to be content to say "oh, well at least he's not being bigoted against any REAL people".

[gblair]

I think "INTOLERANT" (your emphasis, not mine) is unfair. Hurt and disappointed feels more accurate to me. What disappoints me about Obama's choice is how insensitive it seems to his gay supporters; we who were eleated by his victory but crushed by the passage of Prop 8 at the same moment. Hope and despair.
His inauguration will be historic for so many reaons; his choices matter.

[BSERIUS]

Yikes Blago and Rachel have the same hairstylist

[RussellH]

Since I find most if not all of what you post here to be tripe, this misperception is too apt! Either you have a rare form of myopia or are simply stupid. I suggest the latter. I and others cannot take you seriously, B!

[ashb]

Rachel's show is great, and it has gotten even better since the election. Regarding Rick Warren, she's absolutely right. For those who disagree, or say "enough, we get the point," I'd like to know how you would feel if someone said you were like a pedophile. Be honest -- if Warren made similar comments about any other minority, the outrage would be tenfold. Actually there would be no outrage at all, because Obama would have never asked him to do the invocation.

[iswideopen]

ashb:
It's my turn to vent. I, as an African-American female found it highly offensive when Rachel had the gall to show Rev Wright's picture and do her "so called comparison" on air. All of you are missing the point, as well as the "big picture". You are starting a fight with the wrong person. Just ask Hillary about continued PE Obama bashing. He, himself, is very forgiving. However, sometimes, the African-American community has a very long memory. We are the most loyal voting block of the democratic party. We, before anyone else should be offended most by Rick Warren, but even though we may be, there will be no Obama bashing in public. If you liberals think you can ever win the white house on your own, good luck with that. Given our present set of circumstances in this country, we all should be lifting Obama up and giving him our support, not tearing him down and making demands. Please don't disrespect the African-American community anymore with your anger. You do not want to pick a fight with us, trust me. The democrats have an enormous chance to keep the white house for many years to come. I have heard rumors about disrupting the inauguration ceremonies by "outraged LGBT groups; don't ruin Obama's moment. This is not about you; it is about America getting a clear pathway to get things done. You all have jobs and are secure; many of us do not and are not.

[ashb]

How exactly did I disrespect the African American community?

[Trill]

Ashb....read my earlier post. To EVERYONE: Just because someone says you are like a "pedophile" or any other vile comment...that DOES NOT make it TRUE. Think people...stop knee-jerking and grow up!

[repugnicansfearme]

The most condescending pundit on cable, the most boring show on cable TV. Maybe even in the history of cable TV. Maddow yapping on and on and on---with a couple of boring guests per show--is now being piped into Gitmo. Confessions are up 75%.

[Genius]

As apposed to whom?
I give you credit for watching the opposition and trying to make an unbiased decision.
Keep trying, because this sure didn't work.

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

I sincerely do hope you have not made sure that you can back up your claims about ALL of the history of TV with personal experience. Otherwise you would have wasted amounts of resources that can never be repaid.

The good thing about huffpo is that it does the cherrypicking. If you sit down and watch TV waiting for something important or interesting or worthwhile showing up, you are throwing away yourself. Don't (do that at home).

[break]

ah, I see where the "repugnant" is doing in your screen name. Very fitting.

[longislandlol]

Rachel is miffed on Warren-- she needs to see the political side to this as well as the moral-- and her outrage will then lessen--