If You're Not Watching Rachel Maddow...
Look, I'm not going to force anything on you.
All I'm saying is if you were to go to MSNBC.com, found the MS-NBC tab, clicked on "The Rachel Maddow Show", played the selections "Drill, Dems, Drill?" and "Friendly Fire?", I would bet you'd be entertained in some way. You may end up hooked, maybe not.
Rep. Louise Slaughter (D)NY: I wanna tell you, I am so taken with algae. Did you know...How am I doing so far?
Maddow: Whoa-waitwait I do want to hear why you're taken with algae, that's the best lead in ever. But - hold on - [Ms. Maddow gets back to the point.]
Ms. Maddow is the face of your friendly neighborhood tough journalist.
posted by the beige one @ 11:53 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Forgive me for saying but I find journalism like this to be so irresponsible. If anyone watched the debate (I'm a C-SPAN addict) and read the details of the bill, and watched the ridiculous nature of how the people in Washington conduct themselves, ensuring nothing ever really gets done, I think it would be obvious that the Dems have not been scared into drilling...it may look like they support drilling but with so many restrictions that it pretty much guarantees no additional drilling will take place and for this reason, was considered a joke by the Republicans...and will be vetoed by Bush...and then they'll blame the Dems yet again for not listening to the American people...forget all the rest of the goodness that comes out of the bill. Sorry I was really hoping to be more entertained by this episode. Maybe next time. :) However, I AM enjoying the http://www.savvyextremeidealist.blogspot.com/
MoC, thanks for saying so re: SEI, I'm pretty proud of what the three of us have done so far, and I'm particularly obsessive over the quality of what we do and hope that it somehow gets conveyed. I've been enjoying your site as well, and really liked the piece about understanding why the Right is against universal health care.
About last night's Maddow: I think I get what you're saying, that this action by congressional Dems just adds to the perception that Dems in congress are do-nothing-gold-brickers stopping in the way of any kind of progress, especially as mandated by the people.
Rep. Slaughter herself doesn't help with this perception; and in watching her speak you're getting a surprising number of revelations as to how Congress works, or doesn't work, depending on your POV.
I just don't know that I'd call what Maddow and Olbermann are doing strict journalism; there's a personal angle mixed in with the news delivery...It's like what the Right does on FOX News and elsewhere, except with facts.
Which brings us back to Maddow's point on that piece: In this instance, the voice of the people is wrong, so why are Dems not only looking like they're caving in, but doing so in such a manner that makes them seem ludicrous?
Which gets us back to your reaction, entirely appropriate here, with the exception that I think Maddow was not only responsible, but also dead on.
Lastly, no apologies necessary. As long as you're not trolling for a flame war, differences of opinion are more than welcome.
I guess maybe I should clarify my point because it might have gotten lost in my 'rantyness' as well as my attempt at diplomacy (if that makes any sense at all)...I absolutely do not feel Rachel was dead on, I felt that she was irresponsible in perpetuating an image of the democrats caving in...when in reality, anyone watching what took place yesterday would see that it was a just a much needed slap in the face to the Republicans...it was like saying, ok here babies, here's your drilling, except you can't do it here, here or here, or without jumping through these hoops. They've essentially made it impossible to drill, knowing that many do NOT want drilling, despite the made up numbers the Republicans are throwing out saying that people do want it...the do-nothing part of the congress is the Republicans refusing to let go of archaic ideas. If you watch, they spend every minute of every other debate trying push their drill baby drill agenda, instead of bothering to focus on whatever issue is being discussed. They put off passing anything with constant recesses and recounts and before you know it the day is over. People think that because the Dems have the majority, they are controlling what takes place...when in reality they do not hold enough seats to actually pass anything because (correct me here) something like 2/3 is required and they have just over 1/2 the seats. And the Republicans will not allow anything to pass that does not contain a provision for more drilling. What the country does not need is perpetuation of ideas that aren't accurate...because we know and the media most certainly knows that people easily latch on to the latest accusation whether it's true or not. I'll shh now. :)
Please don't shh. Thank you for correcting me on what transpired during the debates on off-shore drilling.
Maybe there's some digging to be done on the other matters that are being perceived as cave-ins (particularly FISA) to see if it matches the pattern you describe.
I will say that FISA was a sticking point for me, so I easily bought into the perception Maddow brought to the table.
That said, the bit on Pakistan opening fire on US forces should they try to cross its borders was something that needed spotlighting.
Trust me, I am the last one I thought would ever promote the ever-so-entertaining C-SPAN, but it's just simply a camera on what takes place. You get to watch and discern for yourself. I nearly fell off my chair watching the discussions of the Republican party as they formed their platform and ask why aren't news agencies showing this? Why aren't Jon Stewart's writers pointing this out?...I provide the link to the junk I'm referring to here:
party platform & plan comparison
We rely on so-called respected sources for interpretation of what goes on in Washington when really, we can all figure it out for ourselves...it's a little time consuming, but you don't even need to be a university graduate (I'm not, by US standards) to watch for yourself and form opinions and make informed decisions.
C-SPAN ARCHIVES - they're worth searching.
Jon Stewart's commentary from last night (09/17/08) on the energy bill...so eloquently makes the point that i was aiming for here. :)
http://www.hulu.com/watch/35027/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-wed-sep-17-2008
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