Rachel Maddow Turns 40

Image from source, AfterElton

I've long been a Rachel Maddow fan, since her Air America Radio days, as part of Unfiltered with Lizz Winstead and Chuck D. Unfiltered was political, but was also part comedy show which is sort of what Rachel still does, having a knowing, impish snark layer on top of serious topics. I miss some of her old bits, like Poking the Underbelly (doink!), but I've remained a fan through her rise on MSNBC to becoming their top star. I know that FOX "News" fans* look down their noses at Maddow and her network, and I kind of get it. They see the flip side of their favorite "news" source. I emphatically don't see it that way, but I get it.

What I don't get is having any affection for, or kinship with media figures like Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly. They have prickly (ahem) personalities and confrontational, irascible styles. Plus, Hannity is a moron, but that's not my point. My point is that while I don't feel any loyalty for a corporate entity like MSNBC or Comcast, I do feel a great deal of affection and kinship for Rachel Maddow. She's the kind of person I'd love to have as a friend. So, happy birthday, Ms. Maddow! May your next 40 years bring much more success!

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Happy 40th Birthday, Rachel Maddow! Here Are A Few Great Clips Of Her Greatness
Happy 40th birthday to Rachel Maddow, the one person who makes talk show hosting seem like an awesome, important extension of the Fourth Estate. We can toast her for her fabulous commentaries and consummate sense of class, but let's take a moment to remember she has been totally out of the closet since the minute we'd first heard of her, and she's remained stalwart and smart about LGBT issues ever since. . . 

Read more (with video) at: AfterElton


*On a side note, I'd like to make a suggestion to FOX "Fans" who comment on stories about Maddow. Get some new material. Virtually any internet story about her--if it gets right-wing commentary, and they usually will--contains these types of comments: a) she looks masculine and/or is a guy ("so why is a guy named Rachel?") b) calling her Mad Cow or Man Cow, c) making a crass lesbian joke. Seriously guys, you always act like you're the first one to crack these "jokes," and you also seem to think you're hilarious. It's tired, it's unoriginal, an it comes back around to that meanness that seems to radiate from Right Wing World, the same meanness that makes O'Reilly and Hannity so unlovable.