What's NewsBusters' Fascination with Rachel Maddow?

I have a few topics on this blog that appear more than others. A quick perusal of my archives will find many posts of or about Rachel Maddow. I've followed her career since mid-2004 or so, when she was one of the hosts of Air America Radio's Unfiltered with Lizz Winstead and Chuck D. She's a unique voice in the ever-growing roster of cable news/commentary talking heads. Whether you like her as much as I do or not, it would be difficult to label her as the flip side of a Bill O'Reilly or a Sean Hannity. . .she's just totally different. That's how I can tell when a critic of hers doesn't really watch her show.

So what's the deal with NewsBusters? I have my Google Alerts set to flag anything on Maddow, and it seems rarely a day goes by that one of them are from this conservative site. They seem to have a critique ready for whatever she's talking about, whether it's big story or a trifling one. Sometimes, I struggle with finding out exactly what their objection is, since they usually give a little synopsis followed by a transcript. I'll get to the transcript and say, "yeah, so?" Often times, if Newsbusters is crying fowl about an actual error Maddow has made, she's already aired a clarification by the time the critical post has appeared. Oh, and it should be noted that Maddow often employs snarky humor, and that sites like NewsBusters rarely "get it."

It's no surprise that the comments section--as is often true in right-wing world--is littered with foulness. Most of the comments do not address anything of substance, aiming instead to make jr. high school level "jokes" about Rachel being a lesbian. Wow, guys, that is cutting edge stuff. As for the main site, I don't really disagree with there being a "watchdog" site for news commentary shows. It just seems with garish, bleating FOX "News" stinking up the airwaves night after night (now with more Palin!), trying to clamp down on Rachel Maddow seems kind of like. . .I don't know. . .bullying? Here is an example.

[Excerpt]

The Uncivil Rachel Maddow



A brief (and humorous) hypothetical: What would the reaction of the mainstream media be if Sean Hannity took the video of President Obama’s obeisant greeting of the Japanese Prime Minister, and turned it into a video loop to be played in the corner of the screen whenever Obama was the subject du jour?

Read more (if you dare) at: NewsBusters