Rachel Maddow Explains What Hillary Clinton's Official Email Policy Should Have Been

When people ponder Hillary Clinton's very tedious email "scandal" (and isn't the very word tedious, when attached to Clintons particularly?), if they're not being knee-jerk defensive, or knee-jerk offensive, they might ponder "why?" Why would the official way be undesirable (assuming there wasn't anything particularly nefarious intended, which I realize, many people would never, ever assume)? For the first time that I'm aware of, we have an explanation, courtesy of Rachel Maddow.

And don't get all, "well of course Rachel's shilling for Hillary," since she's just as likely to get criticized for being on Bernie's side, or even for allowing a Trump speech during her show, and just listen.

[Excerpt]

Clinton e-mail report illustrates antiquated IT system

Rachel Maddow looks at how a new inspector general's report on Hillary Clinton's violation of State Department e-mail rules describes the archaic archiving system Clinton was supposed to have followed.



Kinda nuts, right? But apparently, the rest of the MSNBC crew doesn't watch Rachel's show, because the Morning Joe crew seemed absolutely baffled at why Clinton wouldn't done this "for convenience." Maybe for the same reason her predecessors did? Nah, had to be nefarious, right?

Joe Scarborough Admits GOP Won House Through Gerrymandering

Image from source, Think Progress.

Well, the fact is obvious, but it's nice to hear a prominent Republican admitting it.

[Excerpt]
 
Joe Scarborough: Republicans Only Kept House Majority Because Of Gerrymandering

MSNBC host and former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough admitted on Sunday that Republicans only kept their majority in the House of Representatives as a result of gerrymandering, noting that the GOP received less votes than Democrats in the 2012 election. Scarborough argued that Republicans must prevent radical ultra-conservative voices from dominating the party’s message and pointed out that the GOP is already losing electoral ground among voters who view it as too extreme and out of touch with middle class Americans. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

In Case You Missed It: Joe Scarborough on Guns

Joe Scarborough was a US Congressman for four terms before he was a cable news personality. He was one of the NRA's favorite members of Congress at the time. He's changed his mind. Check it out.

Michigan Gov. Snyder: "Right to Work" Law is Not Anti Union

Image from source, Mediaite

By now, we're so used to politicians lying to us, we barely notice anymore. We can watch while Newt Gingrich flips from skewering Mitt Romney in the primary, to being one of his biggest (no pun intended) supporters just weeks later. And in many of those instances, he was flipping to an opposite position. Somewhere he was lying. We'll shrug our shoulders while President Obama "evolves" on gay marriage, knowing all along that he was most likely for it all along, but being politically careful with his answers. Still a lie. This is one area where we can probably safely say, everybody does it in politics, and quibble about who does it worse.

But when it gets ridiculous is when they lie brazenly, obviously, stupidly. How Michigan's Gov. Snyder could pretend that the "Right to Work" law he signed--after it being rammed through the legislature--is pro-union, pro-worker? It's just insulting.

[Excerpt]

Morning Joe Panel Stunned As Gov. Rick Snyder Asserts ‘Right To Work’ Is Not ‘Anti-Union’

Gov. Rick Snyder stopped by Morning Joe on Wednesday following Michigan’s passage of controversial “right to work” legislation and defended the state’s move. It’s not anti-union, he said; it’s “pro-worker.” Not everyone on the panel was convinced, pressing Snyder on his assertion. . .

Read more at: Mediaite

In Case You Missed It: David Frum on Fleeced and Exploited Conservatives

David Frum was a speechwriter for George W. Bush. As such, he is regarded as a douche by a whole lot of liberals. He kinda is, in some ways, but he's also one of the only (sometimes) sensible conservatives in the talking head universe. Watch this video, and see what I mean. Frum understands what happened to conservatives in this years election. But do they?

Ann Coulter Calls John McCain a "Douchebag" on MSNBC

A) Why was Ann Coulter on MSNBC, isn't she a FOX "News" contributor? B) Why does even FOX give this long-in-tooth, skeletal she-beast a platform? C) When somebody does give this androgynous ectomorph a platform, why are they surprised when she is a bitch?

MSNBC Suspends Joe Scarborough for Political Donations

Image from source, Politico

So, is this going to be a biweekly thing? It's nice that MSNBC is being consistent, at least. And if they didn't suspend Joe Scarborough, I'm sure that Keith Olbermann and his fans would be mightily pissed. Still, this will gain them few new viewers, and the people that loathe MSNBC will continue to do so. 

[Excerpt]

Joe Scarborough suspended from MSNBC for campaign donations



MSNBC said Friday that it is suspending “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough for two days after he acknowledged giving eight previously unknown $500 contributions to friends and family members running for state and local offices during his tenure at the network, a violation of parent NBC’s ban on political contributions by employees without specific permission from the network president. . .


Read more at: Politico

Morning Joe on Sharron Angle: This Race is Over

One last video (at least for now), this one from Morning Joe. Though the show is on MSNBC--often derided as the flip side of FOX "News"--it is helmed by conservative former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough.  And somehow Joe missed that Nevada's Sharron Angle (Harry Reid's Opponent) had suggested "Second Amendment" solutions to things voters don't like in Washington.  And he makes no excuses for her. Good for you, Joe.

Is It OK to Use Profanity on Cable if You're Right?

Actually, since the FCC has no jurisdiction over cable television, you could probably say most anything you want to. In fact, Joe Scarborough and others have dropped F-bombs on occasion. And does "blow job" count as profanity anymore? I don't know. But Marcy Wheeler was absolutely right in her analogy.

Rachel Maddow Show Mini Review

Image from source (believe it or not), NewsBusters

Rachel Maddow has been a mainstay here on the blog for most of its history. I've heaped superlatives on her so many times, that I won't go into that too much here. But I wanted to at least say something about her new show, now that it has aired on MSNBC for the last two days.

Clearly, The Rachel Maddow Show is being marketed as something of a spin-off of Countdown with Keith Olbermann, which is unusual in the world of cable news. He's been there for the hand-off on both episodes, and she has in turn appeared in the last segment of his show. They have an obvious respect for each other, and the interplay is natural. More so than when Olbermann used to throw to Joe Scarborough, to be sure. And infinitely more so than the days when he had to introduce the hideous Rita Cosby.

As fate would have it, Olbermann interviewed Barack Obama this week, so MSNBC is clearly pushing for extra coverage. Thus, Olbermann's presence on Maddow's show has been higher than it likely will be. But Maddow does not suffer from the long shadow cast by Olbermann. She hasn't lost any of her personality, interacts very well so far with each guest, and has approached the stories from a different angle than most other TV talking heads.

It's too early to give a rave review. I'm sure there are kinks to work out, probably segments to shuffle and tweak. Kent Jones doesn't play as well on TV as he did on radio, but he might grow into his portion of the show as well. But TRMS will have a place on my schedule for quite a while, and even after only two days is my second favorite show in all of cable news. It's better than its predecessor, The Verdict with Dan Abrams, better than recent time slot holder, Scarborough Country, and infinitely better than who had the slot a couple of years ago: Rita Cosby, Live and Direct!

Not everybody feels the way I do, as the excerpt below shows. The only reason I'm linking to it is to show how ridiculous the right-wing blogosphere is. Newsbusters is sometimes quoted as though it is a real news source, but it isn't really. Take this story, where Rachel Maddow is derided as "hard-left Air America host" and "radical-left lesbian." Maddow in actuality is left wing, but not radical or hard-left. She is a lesbian, and you will find very few right-wing write ups that ignore that. I'll let you check out FreeRepublic.com yourself to see just how nasty they get on that subject.

[Excerpt]

MSNBC's Newest Leftist Face: 'Affable and Erudite'?

On Monday, The Boston Globe greeted the debut of hard-left Air America host Rachel Maddow’s new show on MSNBC with a bouquet of praise. She’s not only "a key face of the new, feisty, ratings-boosted [?] MSNBC," she’s "affable and erudite," she’s "cripplingly patriotic" and has a "yen for national-security issues." MSNBC brass added she "often isn’t expressing an opinion as much as laying out facts," and claimed MSNBC is a brand for "high-powered intellects...an appetite for really smart discussion of the news. . ."

Read more (if you really want to) at: Newsbusters

MSNBC Scales Back Olbermann and Matthews

Image from source, New York Times

There has been a lot of talk lately about cable news, and the increasing partisanship that is skewing it from standard journalism. I think it's a little like shutting the barn door after the horses have escaped, but hey, whatever.

FOX "News" has been very clearly and obviously (if not admittedly) skewed to the right for its entire existence. Even hosts like Brit Hume, their long-resumed, pedigreed anchor has displayed his bias regularly. FOX "News" Sunday host, Chris Wallace is scarcely better. But MSNBC's relatively recent skew to the left (consisting almost entirely of Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and starting tomorrow, The Rachel Maddow Show), has sent right wingers into apoplexy.

So, MSNBC has apparently felt pressured enough to change their tactics. Whatever. Will FOX "News" ever follow suit? I doubt it.

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MSNBC Takes Incendiary Hosts From Anchor Seat

MSNBC tried a bold experiment this year by putting two politically incendiary hosts, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, in the anchor chair to lead the cable news channel’s coverage of the election. . .

Read more at: New York Times

Jon Stewart Rips on MSNBC for On-Air Tiffs

There seems to be some level of discord over at MSNBC, as I've noted here previously. Either they all hate each other, are extremely competitive, or are just like a typical "family" that gets on each others' nerves a lot. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart captured it all, and comment on it in a way I can't even aspire to, so just watch and I'll shut up.

David Shuster vs. Joe Scarborough on MSNBC

Zowie! Fireworks flew on MSNBC between commentator David Shuster and Morning Joe host, Joe Scarborough, over party affiliation. Scarborough seems to be irritated with MSNBC's "liberal" reputation, or maybe he's irritated with being labelled a Republican? It's hard to tell which, maybe a little of both?

Truth is, Joe Scarborough is a Republican, but he doesn't seem to follow his party's marching orders. I kinda sorta like him sometimes, and just as often am irritated by him. His biggest fault is not his politics, but his arguing style. He takes on a condescending, sing-song air, and comes off as a whiner. Even if he's right (pun intended) in this argument, he loses the argument with his demeanor.

The Young Turks, Penn Gillette and Hillary Clinton

I'm really glad that The Young Turks is making its broadcasts available on YouTube, because host Cenk Uygur has a real talent for expressing some of the things I feel in easily understandable ways. One of those things is "faux outrage" by media personalities.

This case has to do with the hosts of Morning Joe on MSNBC, but the masters of "faux outrage" are undoubtedly on FOX "News." If there were a country called Faux Outrage, Sean Hannity would be running against Bill O'Reilly for president of it, OK? OK. In both their cases, whatever topic of the day has them red-faced and finger-pointy, you know they're not really outraged. . .they're delighted. It gives them drippy bloody red meat to throw to their audience.

But I digress. Check out Cenk's reaction to Morning Joe's hosts' reaction to Penn Gillette's reaction to his audience's reaction to a Hillary Clinton joke. Um, it's better than it sounds.

Somebody Peed in Joe Scarborough's Wheaties

Photo from source, Huffington Post

I've often described Rachel Maddow as "affable," because whatever she talks about--even when it's very serious--she still manages to be likable. On MSNBC recently, it would seem that Joe Scarborough disagrees with me. If you follow the link in the excerpt below, there is video of a confrontation between the two, showing Scarborough interrupting Maddow. She refuses to be cut off, and then Scarborough has a snit fit. And then walks off the set? You be the judge.

[Excerpt]

Joe Scarborough Walks Off MSNBC's "Race To The White House" After Exchange With Rachel Maddow

Did Joe Scarborough walk out of David Gregory's show "Race to the White House" Thursday night on MSNBC? It seems that way by the video below. Joe was a panelist on the show along with Air America's Rachel Maddow, CNBC's John Harwood and former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Tucker Carlson is Still a Twit

I've said it before, but it bears repeating. He proves it toward the end of this video, after recounting his own "Larry Craig moment" in a public restroom. While I will not attempt to defend the behavior of Tucker's assailant (assuming his story is true), reacting with violence is definitely the wrong way to go. As is thinking it's funny, which apparently Tucker, Joe Scarborough and Dan Abrams seem to. Watch: