Rachel Maddow Issues A Warning To Her Viewers (VIDEO)

Rachel Maddow issued a warning to some of her viewers on her Tuesday show, telling them that, just by watching her, they could wind up the target of conservative groups.

Maddow was reacting to a statement by the Mackinac Center, a right-wing think tank in Michigan which has been in the press recently for, among other things, filing a Freedom of Information request to gain access to the emails of any labor professors at three public universities in Michigan who have used the word "Maddow" in an email. Maddow covered the controversy after a report in Talking Points Memo about it appeared last week. On Monday, though, the center published a statement on its website, explaining why it was targeting Maddow:

We asked for these emails first because Ms. Maddow had recently criticized at length Michigan's governor and his labor-related legislation in a TV segment virally circulated on the Web, and second because...by including emails referring to Ms. Maddow, we were aiming to generate a more narrowly targeted set of emails.

More broadly, the center said, it was seeking to find whether the professors had used tax dollars improperly or even acted illegally. Unsurprisingly, Maddow reacted with some concern to this statement. She wondered why, if the center was seeking to "narrow its search" through her name because she had done stories about Michigan's governor, it did not also target the welter of other outlets, writers and websites that had also covered the governor.

Her answer seemed to be that she was being targeted for political reasons. The search, she said, "only applies specifically to professors...who saw something on this TV show hosted by this liberal." Maddow thanked her viewers for "watching this show in this year in this era of big intrusive government conservatism." And she warned that, in certain cases, if they mentioned her name, they could be targeted by conservatives who would try to "embarrass" them.

"Watching this TV show...should not be an act of bravery," she said. "The conservative movement is making sure that you know it is. You are on their list and they are coming after you. If it feels cold all of a sudden, if that gives you a shiver, it is supposed to. That's how they roll."

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Comments

[zetacplus]

03:34 PM on 04/10/2011

I love watching Maddow because she lets both sides have their say and then lets her audience decide who they believe and support. The brain dead conservatives think they can just spin lies and hate...because Fox News lets them. Maddow doesn't let them get away with that and they hate her for it. Whenever they're called out on their positions they become angry and combative. I love watching them squirm in their seats when she backs them in a corner and they can't even articulate why they support their positions. She's very good at what she does.

[ccm800]

01:17 AM on 04/10/2011

how many amongst the RW would use the blood of virgins to raise the dead Joseph McCarthy?

[Whinerbozo]

09:45 AM on 04/10/2011

Got your Internet privileges back? The authorities at the institution indicated that capability was suspended permanently. Oh, well!

[ninthraphael]

08:45 PM on 04/09/2011

the conservative- big- government--moral-crusading politicians and their allies should be put through the same microscopically detailed investigations they are putting other people who are in opposition to their agenda....fair! let us all be vigilant then in exposing these people for who they are!

[rep suck]

07:05 PM on 04/09/2011

So what happened to my posts?? Whats the deal HP?? I didn't say anything nasty or swear so where are they??

[tosc]

04:33 PM on 04/09/2011

democracy is being filtered for the wealthy business conservatives. We are loosing our rights by the very thing, Information Technology, that thrust us forward in time and provided us with a new life style. Infomation Technolgy is just that.....it provides those who have the means to extract the information they need to fabricate a case against whom they please. these Koch brothers are taking themselves a bit to serious.

[I Think]

01:45 PM on 04/09/2011

Look out, the righties are after your personal liberty, unless you toe their line, it is quite clear that the righties fear open discussion about many many things, and in the age of email and ecommerce big brother can easily watch you.

[dymytika]

09:05 AM on 04/09/2011

Beck, Hannity, O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Drudge, and many others have been "vilified" for years for their opinions, why should she be any different, she should wear it as a badge of honor. Unless she really thinks that an organization could really shut her down? OMG, she has to be living in mortal fear. Really, Maddow join the club, they have jackets you know (I hear they are supposedly straight).

[Commensality]

02:22 PM on 04/09/2011

You don't get it do you? People are going after people who WATCH Maddow. You can vilify Maddow or Beck or whomever you want, but to go after someone who watches or discusses them is fascist bullying.

[DevonTexas]

11:43 AM on 04/10/2011

Wooosh! It went right over dymytika's head.

[ninthraphael]

08:47 PM on 04/09/2011

...?..! :

[she343]

03:20 PM on 04/08/2011

except she has solid evidence and explains her positions---not just asks open ended quesions.

"Is he a Muslim? Not saying he is----but IF he is, how will that effect how he leads" .....Remember, this is how Beck started...............and because he said it over and over, the fact that he said it was used as proof that it was true! " Well ,as so many are questioning his faith--there must be something to it!!!

[dymytika]

09:07 AM on 04/09/2011

I love how too many people confuse all of what any of these "news" shows spout off as fact. Most of it is merely opinion, with very little fact to bolster one's position whether conservative or liberal.

[rep suck]

06:48 PM on 04/09/2011

Ya Granny your a little off base. You must not watch her show very often or you would know she would more then likely fact check and debunk then promote just a theory. While a little annoying at times, she is one of the few to call people on anything and everything and I like that about her. Most reporters or news anchors don't ask the hard questions or ask for proof or even bother to fact check anything, like Fox news is famous for. It sounds to me like anybody who thinks like this is drinking the Right's kool-aid and to lazy to check things out on their own and then make an intelligent decision or comment with the correct info. Spewing crap like this is one of the reasons we are having the problems that we have.

[Happyexpat]

02:21 PM on 04/08/2011

MaddowMaddowMaddowMaddowMaddowMaddowMaddowMaddow-------from now on this will be the signature for all my emails.

Proud to be on the Mackinaw List. I was on Nixon's too.

[RockyMissouri]

06:52 PM on 04/08/2011

Whiner is a bozo

[RockyMissouri]

06:55 PM on 04/08/2011

Maddow Maddow Maddow Maddow Maddow Maddow Maddow
There are several 'groups' on Mackinac, that are interesting....

[Whinerbozo]

10:43 AM on 04/10/2011

...even more crackers.

[Fein]

12:22 PM on 04/08/2011

The term 'right-wing think tank' is such an oxymoron.

[Joey Call]

05:31 PM on 04/08/2011

Lol. Well said

[CaraTaylor]

06:29 PM on 04/08/2011

Precisely!

[NewRiver]

10:15 AM on 04/08/2011

Very dramatic. yawn...

[ninthraphael]

08:50 PM on 04/09/2011

IT HURTS TO THINK?

[Opening Shares]

02:48 AM on 04/08/2011

Dear HuffPo,

In order to attract people of the vertical posture persuasion I would suggest providing a few (at least) more facts in your stories.

Facts relevant to this story that I would like to know, but not enough to look them up for myself since I will probably encounter them on other sites, are-

1.) Were the professors informed of their potential loss of privacy by school policy?

2.) Why were these particular schools targeted?

3.) How is it that a private group such as this think tank is privileged to this information? The linked article says that they are seeking the emails through the FOIA, which only applies to the federal government. This is a particularly stinky red herring about all of this.

4.) While I would assume that the requested emails were sent with "from" addresses suffixed with the universities' domain name, ie; [e-mail] I would appreciate clarification to be certain. I consider it fear baiting to not have made this clarification.

Disappointed to see the decline in quality of content,

Opening Shares

[Peace Walker]

04:53 AM on 04/08/2011

Gee, are you actually asking them to think about the kind of questions that real journalists would have been trained to ask, if they went to say... J school?? How radical of you.

F * F

[EcnelisDoogod]

11:33 AM on 04/08/2011

Noticed your old comments were deleted too. Mine from August thru February.

[Patriot Games]

02:43 AM on 04/08/2011

These people will talk about freedom of speech all night long as long as it is their free speech. Remember the Dixie Chick's overnight they went from redneck darlings to pariahs for saying they were ashamed Bush was from Texas. O''Rielly has a segment of Patriots and Pinheads. Guess who the Pinheads are? Everyone O'Rielly disagrees with. If you don't toe the line on religion or home schooling or what ever, you're against them. You are not allowed to have an opinion only obedience. Lockstep is an apt name for their dogma. I can assure anyone who cares about such things as truth, compassion, progress that Miss Maddow has engaged all due diligence in her research and communication. One of the things I can say with confidence is I can trust what Rachael says. I can not say the same thing for the likes of Megan Kelly.

[Fein]

12:22 PM on 04/08/2011

X2

"If you don't toe the line on religion or home schooling or what ever, you're against them."

I'm quite okay with that. I'll fight any Repug proposition I can. I seriously haven't heard of Repug
legislation local or national that serves the interests of any but the rich.

[TC Ragstix]

04:46 AM on 04/09/2011

Thank you for reminding me of that. I keep hearing rightwingers complain that they are victims of censorship, and that the left is killing their freedom of speech; but they seem to making millions upon millions of dollars with the most incendiary speech possible. On the other hand, one hotheaded two-word phrase ("we're ashamed") uttered by a lead singer from the stage at a gig, and the band suddenly loses about two-thirds of it outlets, with throngs of mobs in the streets burning their CD's. Regardless of what they say on rightwing radio, it is still more difficult in this world for people speaking from the left than it is speaking from the right.

[PrincessAnnie]

01:34 AM on 04/08/2011

I'm crapping my pants in fear as we speak.

[she343]

03:24 PM on 04/08/2011

me too---but nobody is trying to put my career in jeopardy!

[signgrrl]

02:55 PM on 04/10/2011

that you know of . . . .

[Neets101]

08:28 PM on 04/07/2011

Here, spy on this!!!!

(virtual bird enabled)