Once again, from the New York Times, a video/transcript so cool, you’ll watch to watch it again!
Rachel Maddow changes the media (here are a few excerpts, but do read the whole thing!):
She is liberal without apology or embarrassment, bases her authority on a deep comprehension of policy rather than the culture warrior’s claim to authenticity, and does it all with a light, even slightly mocking, touch. [...]
Maddow’s immersion in facts rather than in opinions has helped shape her on-air persona. When Pat Buchanan, who joined Maddow on MSNBC’s election-night panel throughout the presidential primary, claimed that the expansion of the health-care program S-CHIP would give money to already well-off families, Maddow quickly pointed out that 8 million children in the very income group he claimed could afford insurance don’t have it. And in another segment, when conservative MSNBC host Joe Scarborough said John McCain had not backtracked on previous support for immigration reform, Maddow was ready with examples of how McCain had reversed himself on the issue during the primary campaign. [...]
Maddow’s wonkery, however, is leavened by a light, sardonic touch that keeps her commentary from veering into the pedantic. Unlike so many televised liberals, who seem almost physically pained by the combative cable-news format, she obviously enjoys herself. A good example came during an election-night panel discussion of Obama’s victory in the Nebraska and Idaho primaries, which Buchanan tried to delegitimize by saying that Obama could only appeal to liberals. Without missing a beat, Maddow responded, “In what kind of a world do Idaho and Nebraska represent the left lane?” She had the entire panel laughing outright. A chastened Buchanan could only manage a wan joke about Marxists.
She’s been on less than a month, but already she has created a large audience for her show, which airs weeknights at 9pm, opposite Larry King’s juggernaut.
An animated dissection of political events and offbeat news, punctuated by the host’s sardonic humor, “The Rachel Maddow Show” has debuted with a strength that surprised even MSNBC executives. An average of 1.64 million viewers tuned in since the show launched on Sept. 8, more than double the number who watched the same hour in the first eight months of the year.
In her second week on the air, Maddow beat CNN’s “Larry King Live,” a cable news institution — quite a feat for a self-described television novice and former AIDS activist who doesn’t even own a TV.
If you haven’t checked her out yet, here’s a sample from a recent show:
Here’s the awesome interactive video and transcript of Senators John McCain and Barack Obama debating in Oxford, Mississippi on September 26th, from the New York Times.
Even if you have already seen the debate, this is a cool way to target points in the transcript you want to rewatch — find them in the text, click, and you’ll be taken to that point in the video! How cool is that?!?
The campaigns, 527s, news channels, volunteers and comedians have been spewing video like an open hydrant lately and I’m going to try to round up the last week’s worth here (wish me luck!).
Obama: McCain’s Lobbyist Campaign, Community Organizing, Education, On Letterman, 1982, What is Change?, On Tax Plans, What Economy Are You Talking About?, McCain’s Fundamentals, Another four?, Equal Pay, Old Boys Network, Hope
Biden: America Needs More
McCain: Bloodthirsty Warmonger, On GOP Diversity, Bush-McCain Republicans, Hot Blooded!, The First Family of War, Going for the Pedophile Vote, Squirming, Protecting Sex Offenders, John McCain’s Lies, Recycled Bush, Lies exposed, Women’s Issues, Out of Touch, McCain’s Honor, On Palin’s Experience, Subtle Racism, Rove: McCain has gone too far, Rape Kits, Medical Records, Romney on McCain, Who’s better off?, Fall From Grace, McCain is a Republican, Carly Fiorina, Buh-Bye, Carly!, Stay the Course!, Invented the Blackberry, Lying Their Way to the White House, ABC: McCain Flip-Flops, WHAT? Spain is in Europe?!?
Palin: Forced Gestation, Pentacostal, Wolf Hunting, Sound Familiar?, Bridge to Nowhere, Palin is a Liar, Book Banning, Charging Rape Victims, Hardball: Who is She?, The Bush Doctrine, Drags Out an Old Canard, Pork is Yummy!, On Special Needs, Pray For Us, Sarah!, The Todd, Her First Ad
Rachel: Lipstick, The Fundamentals Are Strong, Commissions
Palin spoofs: Palin in Four Minutes, Vlog, Palin is a Liar, Gina Gershon, The famous SNL skit
Stewart: McCain 2008 = Bush 2000, John McCain, Reformed Maverick, McCain’s Acceptance Speech, Palin is the Bush Doctrine, McCain’s Change?, Generic Off
Colbert: Repo Man, How Dare You?, McCain Attacks Obama
Bill Maher: New Rules (Republican Convention), New Rules (Cities vs. Small Towns), With Paul Begala
Craig Ferguson: Cut to the Chase
The Young Turk: It’s Not Just George Bush
9:00pm — It’s the first night of the new Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC!*
*And don’t let them de-dyke you, Rachel! We love you just the way you are — always the smartest one in the room and dancing circles around Pat Buchanan! 
This video clip was posted by Norm at One Good Move because the crowd was chanting a colorful phrase about Fox “News” — but I think the really funny (scary?) part wasn’t the crowd, but the half-witted reporter sent in by the supposed news channel. Griff Jenkins, in Denver to see the protests, said he “got ahead” of — no kidding! — the “marching thing,” and then proceeded to dance around in the crowd with his Fox “News” microphone, asking the protesters, “what are you upset about?” And when people reacted with predictable hostility, he exclaimed, “he refused to speak to me! These people say they believe in freedom of speech but I got roughed up a little bit trying to get some questions in there.”
Watch the video. I’m not making this up! The Republican “news” channel actually showed up to do a story about how everyone at the Democratic convention hates Barack Obama,* threw a blockheaded reporter into the midst of a crowd of they called “leftist protesters,” and then they pretended to be surprised because these people didn’t want to talk to him! And as protester after protester uttered the same phrase in response to his shrieking, the reporter asked them “do you not believe in freedom of speech?”
Since when does believing in free speech mean you’re required to talk to every idiot who pushes a microphone in your face? I’m not sure where poor Griff was educated, but apparently he skipped a few classes along the way… There’s a fundamental misunderstanding there, and to expose it, let’s strip it down to the bare bones:
Fox Dude: Hello. Will you answer some questions?
Protester: No!
Fox Dude: Ack! You don’t believe in free speech!!!!
It’s a non sequitur.
Putting guys like this on TV is one reason Americans are getting “stupider.” Is Fox leading the charge in this effort?
*OK, that’s an exaggeration, but does every Republican love John McCain? No (hello, Huckabee). So, why do they think it’s breaking news if a few Clinton supporters aren’t wild about Barack Obama?
No sooner did I go offline on Tuesday to deal with server issues, and there was big, long-awaited, breaking news: Rachel Maddow is getting her own show on MSNBC! She’ll follow Keith Olbermann, who’s on at 8pm — instead of Dan Abrams, we’ll get an hour of Rachel at 9pm every weeknight — starting on September 8th! Yippie!
This story cracked me up so much I decided to give it its own post. It’s a great illustration of how John McCain has become a pandering blockhead — a maverick no more (unless you consider a maverick to be someone who will do or say anything to get elected). The really silly (scary?) thing here is the way he once again demonstrates that he has no memory of the past. But just because he can’t find an on-ramp to the Internet doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t check on his record.
One of the questions in the Saddleback forum last night was which current Supreme Court Justice would not have nominated. McCain, predictably, in an effort to prove how conservative he really is, listed these four:
Justice Ginsburg, Justice Breyer, Justice Souter, Justice Stevens.But here is the funny part.
McCain voted to confirm three of them: Ginsburg, Breyer, and Souter.
And the only reason Stevens did not receive his vote was because Stevens was a Justice before McCain became a Senator.
It’s too bad we don’t have an intelligent, independent media to report on these kinds of things (well, when McCain does them, anyway — the compliant press is all over every stupid little talking point the GOP puts out there about Obama).
Just a few interesting places I’ve come upon recently…
- Infamous East TN Moonshiner (via A wonderful yarn on moonshining)
- Check your Internet speed — you locals can get a measurement while you’re still on Comcast, so that you’ll have something to compare to once EPB’s fiber is rolled out! (via AmericaBlog) (three tests I did [down/up]: 8512/1223, 10,207/1545, 14,018/1611)
- Jonathan Alter on McCain: “For a man who will turn 72 this month, he’s a surprisingly immature politician”
- Garfield minus Garfield (via A Free Man). Here’s a sample:
And then there’s this…
