Just as I was gearing up for a calm July 4th weekend, Joe Scarborough raised my blood pressure to a high boil. Coming in 20 minutes late to "Race for the White House" on MSNBC, my son informed me that Maddow was arguing with Scarborough in a discussion about Obama's Iraq withdrawal policy.
Shortly after I started watching, Scarborough -- in a direct steal from Romper Room - said, "Whoever agrees with Rachel, raise your hand." The conversation continued in circles, with Maddow reiterating her points. In frustration, she started to laugh. Scarborough's response was, "Gee, Rachel, for an Obama supporter, you sure have the Hillary cackle down." This may not be verbatim, as I don't have TiVo. However, "the Hillary cackle" phrase is a definite, and is now burnt into my brain.
In that moment, Scarborough epitomized every boorish, condescending male that ever tried to diminish a woman... whether it be a family member, a co-worker, or a presidential candidate.
It appears that going forward into the campaign coverage, one of the media's "talking heads" has learned absolutely nothing from the previous months of discourse on appropriate coverage and dialogue. Let's hope that the producers at MSNBC get enlightened sooner rather than later, before they choke on the next offensive sexist soundbite.
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I most especially don't think it's fair that you make us listen to this trash when Rachel isn't even on it. It's not so bad when she moderates, but let me just tell ya, as soon as I heard Scarborough moderating it last week, I changed the channel. Got that, Mark? This idiot is driving down your ratings on AA. As if you need the ratings to be driven down any further.
Dump Race To The White House! Free The Rachel Maddow Show!
PS: Mr. Olbermann, it's wonderful that Rachel is now your fill-in host. Thank you so much for giving this brilliant woman a chance. She smokes everyone else who has ever sat in that chair, except you, Sir.
MSNBC President:
phil.griffin@msnbc.com
letters@msnbc
Funny Scarborough should make a derogatory remark like that about his "girlfriend" as he referred to Hillary during her primary run against Obama.
I heard the exchange between Rachel and Scarborough and as I stated I fired off an email to Phil.
How many people know this about Slick Joey another republican adulterer passing judgement on Clinton:
http://www.americanpolitics.com/20010808Klausutis.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Scarborough
He ALWAYS tries to put Rachel down like he does Mika but Rachel is too smart and too quick. Mika is very shakey--maybe she wants to keep her job. Joe is a true chauvinist and a know it all.
Rachel came to the aid of a fellow female panel member (black woman) when Pat Buchanan yelled at her to "shut up." Oh, Rachel took Buchanan to task for his blatent disrespect showing that she is not afraid to dance with the big boys.
She should continue to stand up to Slick Joey.
A graduate of Castro Valley High School in Castro Valley, California, Maddow later obtained a degree in public policy from Stanford University in 1994. She then received a Rhodes Scholarship in 1995 and used it to obtain a D.Phil. in political science from Lincoln College, Oxford University.
Her political activism has focused on AIDS and prisoners' rights, especially the prevention of the spread of HIV and AIDS in prisons. She is gay, and is an outspoken advocate for gay and progressive issues.
JOE CAN'T TOUCH THIS!!!
Rachel is no one's sidekick, and that's what he can't handle. He can't dominate the conversation with her and it makes his brain shut down. Ha ha! Whenever they are on together it's like he's bringing a knife to a gun fight. He knows he can't win, so he just goes BiIl-O on her.
Honestly, I think I could hold my own with him on his show. I only studied Poli Sci at a 4-year Christian College , debating with Conservative professors. Hardly the stuff to take on Maddow or anyone else on MSNBC, but he just looks bad the minute he starts talking to women. It would be ova' quickly!
Obama did not "flip-flop" on the war, now nor ever. Do a little light reading, like BASIC RESEARCH.
I'm glad that you write and speak your feelings.
I would rather that you study, and display your (soon to be acquired) wisdom.
I felt sorry for Mika for a long time, but now I cannot stand to watch either one of them.
Mika won't take a stand on anything and is the only human I have ever heard laugh "hee, hee, hee."
Scarborough is just a big redneck bully. Scarborough and Pat Buchanan together finally
drove me away from Morning Joe. I can catch Chuck Todd on the next MSNBC segment.
They should give the show to Mike Barnicle and one of the other MSNBC women. The black
woman from Chicago seems quite competent,
I, too, turned off the TV when he accused her of being dense because she insisted that Obama had not changed his position on Iraq. Instead of discussing the meaning of what Obama actually said to determine whether the flip-flopping charge was warranted, Scarborough chose to try to win his argument by trying to present Maddow as an idiot. Only a fool would try to diminish a reasoned professional like Rachel.
Rachel Maddow is one of the best and smartest political analysts on the air anywhere. She can talk politics, but she understands policy and its implications as well. And she is inherently fair. Scarborough sees everything through a political lens only. Some action is either a smart political move or a dumb one. To hell with whether a policy makes any sense or is damaging to the public. If it can garner votes, it's a good policy. Does this thinking sound familiar?
Just like our government, our media needs a new direction. Now.
Her biases take away from her arguments, regardless if she may be correct. She comes across as not as willing to listen to the other side's argument, not unlike "Pat Bookanun" (as Ali G would call him) and many of the babbling politicos, Scarborough included.
That's fine at home, but when you want to be taken seriously in front of millions of viewers, then you must discuss the issues seriously and leave the biases at home.
And I agree with most of what she says.
The fine gentlemen of Faux Noise would beg to differ.
She's the best we've seen in decades!
PS - the haircut comment was bigoted in the extreme. Pay attention, folks!
We do know Murdoch is an extreme right-winger whose TV news was the primary propaganda wing for the Bush white house, reportedly getting memos every day telling them what Rove wanted them to say. Nothing's changed about that. We also know that Murdoch wants to take over all the major TV and newspapers in the country so he can control and restrict all the news available to Americans. Just think: if the only candidate allowed to advertise was the one Murdoch chose, it would be kind of like he was the dictator of the entire country. Golly gee.
Murdoch is in the process of trying to take over all the financial news (WSJ) and is desperately seeking to destroy nbc, including cnbc and msnbc. The Clinton supporters did not miss an opportunity to attack nbc. I thought maybe that had finally ended when Hillary lost. I guess not.