Rachel Maddow 2.0 is speaking out for pro-democracy.

[Irish_Dem]

In a brilliant way. A spokesman for the Democratic Party.

This week Rachel has been all over MSNBC, appearing on other talk shows, speaking out.
Her tone, demeanor and presentation have shifted.

Rachel Maddow is of course one of the intelligentsia of the progressive party, an academic powerhouse, with a PhD in political science from the University of Oxford, London.

Her astute and spot on commentary has always been marked by her doctoral training. At times to a lay audience she could come across as a bit dry, pedantic, repetitive, an objective observer. This is how PhD's are trained to think and talk.

That is all gone this week, she has morphed into Rachel Maddow 2.0.

Focused, very clear, very simple message: Democrats are the pro-democracy party.
The GOP will install an anti-democracy, fascist government.

Rachel repeated this message over and over, with evidence to back it up.
She also spoke of her optimism and belief in the American people to do the right thing.
It is a personal message from the heart.

It was a message clearly crafted to appeal to everyone, not just policy wonks and political junkies.

This is all objective fact. People can review the videos of her appearances this week on MSNBC shows and see
for themselves.

Now, my subjective opinion. I think Rachel, like many of us, has been scared shitless about what
is unfolding in front of our eyes. We stand to lose our democracy. Perhaps her friends, family, colleagues
all talked to her about upping her game. About taking more direct action and appealing to all Americans.
I think she has had some coaching and help to get rid of the academic verbiage, and streamline her
communication with a simple message. To lose the academic persona and come across from a heartfelt position.

Rachel is doing her part to save our democracy and our country.

[Joinfortmill]

1. Good. Someone needs to say the truth out loud.

And, the young voters need to hear it, understand it, and vote. We need everyone to vote.

[Blaukraut]

2. The problem is that Rachel is preaching to the choir

Anybody who watches MSNBC is already firmly in the Saving Democracy camp. Rachel needs to find a way to broaden her reach. Have a weekly mini podcast on Tik Tok and Instagram, for example. Not sure if her contract with MSNBC allows for that, though.

[Irish_Dem]

4. I disagree. Rachel is deliberately talking to Democrats for a specific reason.

She can see the Democrats are stunned, all over the map, and scared.

Rachel is taking a leadership role and organizing and managing the party's political junkies.

So she is unifying them with a very simple message. A message they can then
carry to others.

But yes I agree, Rachel should try to be an online influencer.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Dems have more brain power, Rethugs have Trump and Mike Johnson

Our star power surrogates may win the war. I hope Cheney targets battleground states because I suspect fewer old time GOP will vote than in 2020 when they cast for Biden and for their GOP ticket.

[Irish_Dem]

5. "Star power surrogates may win the war."

I agree 100%.

[lastlib]

6. And that's why we'll never get through to the MAGAts....

They RESENT brainpower (largely because they don't have it, I think). They thrive on anger and negative emotion, generated by the idea that people who are different from them are "taking" what they believe is theirs. TSF and speaker johnson (I don't waste capital letter on him) validate their anger and hatred, so they follow along like the sheep they are.

[BonnieJW]

7. I am 74

My father was in the US Army during WWII. He was among those troops who liberated the concentration camps after Germany surrendered. To say the experience marked him is a gross understatement. He spoke about his experiences in a careful and edited way because they were stories of horror.
Seeing dead people laying on the ground only to see them move and know they were alive, and then die with a smile when he tried to help them, because help had come at last.
I am horrified that some people in this country are willing to elect another Hitler to destroy this beautiful country. I'm glad my father did not live to see it.

[Irish_Dem]

9. Most of us are very glad our WWII fathers are not alive to see what is happening.

Yes my father was in WWII flying the Burma Hump. A very dangerous job.
Uncle was US Navy killed at the Battle of Guadalcanal in WWII.
Mother a USAF nurse during the Korean War.
Brothers both US Army during the Vietnam war era.

We really cannot even imagine what your father went through as he liberated the camps.
He must have had PTSD after what he witnessed.

It is unfathomable that our own elected officials have sold us out to our enemies.
And are determined to install a Hitler like fascist government.

[Trueblue Texan]

8. Rather than pedantic, I've always thought Rachel Maddow is a great story teller.

When I first started watching her, I didn't understand why she included so much background information. What I didn't understand was she was like a progressive and better educated version of Paul Harvey, "The Rest of the Story." She gives context to events that help viewers understand why things matter NOW. We are very lucky to have such a brilliant communicator who gets it. I wonder how long she's wanted to let loose like she finally is. I'll bet I'm not alone in that I've worried about the exact political situation we're now in for at least 20 years.

[AverageOldGuy]

10. About time . . . stop it with the policies and programs . . . call these TRAITOROUS BASTARDS what they are

No one -- except a few -- pays attention any longer to policies and programs. It's all short, to-the-point words or phrases that voters listen to.

Back in 1990, Newt Gingrich published a memo to Republicon members of Congress titled "Language: A Key Mechanism of Contol." Newt understood what other dictators and would-be dictators understood: NO ONE GIVES A FART IN THE WIND ABOUT YOUR POLICIES, THEY WANT TO HEAR THAT THEY ARE SPECIAL AND THE OTHER SIDE ARE ALL THE ENEMY.

Newt published two lists of words:
-- GOOD WORDS -- use these to describe Republicons.
-- BAD WORDS -- use these to describe Democrats.

Newt produced training videos that GOP House members were required to watch and practice. He coached them on how to speak.

Meanwhile, we Democrats just kept on talking about policies and programs.

Read these two articles. Memorize the GOOD words and the BAD words -- from today forward use the GOOD words to talk about Democrats, the BAD words to talk about Republicons. And when you write, always write Republicon -- that's "con" as in "convict."

[link:chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.transcend.org/tms/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Newt-Gingrich-Language-A-Key-Mechanism-of-Control-1990.pdf|chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.transcend.org/tms/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Newt-Gingrich-Language-A-Key-Mechanism-of-Control-1990.pdf]

https://fair.org/home/language-a-key-mechanism-of-control/

Here's a minor but important point:
-- The word DEMOCRAT is a NOUN -- "I am a Democrat." "Joe Biden is a Democrat."
-- The word DEMOCRATIC is an ADJECTIVE -- "Biden is the Democratic candidate." "I am a member of the Democratic Party."
-- You will NEVER HEAR A REPUBLICON USE THE WORD "DEMOCRATIC" -- It's always "Democrat" with emphasis on the "rat". Listen to a Republicon sonofabitch when s/he is speaking -- it's never "Democratic", always "Democrat" --listen to tonight's response to Biden's State of the Union address if you don't believe me.
-- The worst part is that Democrats have adopted this phrasing -- listen to CNN and MSNBC -- you will hear Democrats saying "Democrat Party". NO, FOOL, IT IS DEMOCRATIC PARTY!!!

MEANWHILE: Buy this book, read it, study it, and do it.
Rachel Bitecofer, Hit 'Em Where It Hurts: How to Save Democracy by Beating Republicans at Their Own Game

[FailureToCommunicate]

11. Very glad that there are some in the Media seeing our democracy burning around us, and...

saying "This is NOT fine!"

[Bumbles]

12. She is a national treasure . . .

. . . and may she be one of the heroes who helps to save our democracy, our country and our sanity. We all need to do our part and vote, and educate and encourage others to do the same.

[flying_wahini]

13. Wish all our people would approach the press in the same way she does.

We need to speak up and get loud. That’s what Republicans respond to.
I’m so upset that Faux News and Murdock continue to get away with their lies and innuendos. WTF?

You think at least some of the people on Faux News see it coming and would refuse to spew their garbage.
If we could get CNN to do it along with every regular News channels.

Maga folks think this is an exaggeration on our part. They don’t even know what they vote for.

[Doc Sportello]

14. I like Rachel being interviewed

Not so much handling her own show. The interview with Nicolle was brilliant for all the reasons you listed. I tink she is giving the message to Democrats that they need to give to the few undecided voters.

You're right, she does come across as a grad student on her own show (also think her time as a radio host plays a role in her approach), but the problem is I'm not a grad student and don't need her take repeated to me three or four times. I also lived through some of the history that she provides and know that reading about the past and delivering her take is not the same as my own experience. If some get something out of it, that's fine. But I don't watch her show anymore. I would watch more interviews with her.

[Irish_Dem]

19. Yes the dynamic is very different when she is on someone else's show.

And I think she made a decision to be quite different right now as she hits the other shows.

Yes the show with Nicole was amazing. Even Nicole was mesmerized by Rachel.

The PhD training is very difficult to overcome.
It is ingrained deeply. And it becomes a challenge to talk to a general audience.

However usually she is addressing policy wonks and political junkies so it is fine.

But now she is making a big pivot to all Americans.

[Prairie_Seagull]

15. Rachel, if you read this site and are out there.

You have been very well respected around here for many years. I too have detected a difference in you since ST and suspect you have something up your sleeve. Maybe it has been hidden in your tackle box for a time Our country needs your sage wisdom and advice. No pressure. haha

I for one among many love ya kiddo. You may very well be the pointy end off the light saber.

[Bobstandard]

16. I bet she has her go bag packed

Any journalist who has spoken out against Trump should be worrying about what will happen to them if Trump takes the Presidency. Keith Olbermann jokes that he’ll be meeting up with the other Trump critical journalists in one of the detention camps the MAGats have promised. I don’t think he really thinks it’s a joke.

The rest of us need to be thinking about what life will be like for us if Trump gets power. It’s reasonable to imagine declines in quality of life in just about every aspect of our lives. Trump will favor the billionaire class in tax and economic policy at the expense of you and me. He’ll let a knee-capped EPA roll back environmental protections at the expense of our air and water. National Parks will shrink, be underfunded, and deteriorate while fees will be raised making them less accessible. Obama Care will finally be repealed. Social Security and Medicare will be privatized out of all recognition. You think there’s a homeless problem now? The Trump solution will be to criminalize homelessness even more than they are now. The police will become more of an occupying force to keep citizens in line than a community service.

Final food for thought. What typifies strong man dictators? A thirst for war. What military action are the trump extremists already talking about? Going into Mexico to solve the immigration and drug problems. Won’t that be great, having a hot war on our southern border and every American of Mexican descent or sympathy in our country radicalized.

[Irish_Dem]

21. Yes the American standard of living with sharply decline under the GOP and Trump.

Every aspect of our lives will be degraded.

Education, healthcare, basic services, safety net, all of it.
Police will be used to control and punish.

The courts will make it legal for us to be forced to follow church doctrine.

Air, food, water will be more contaminated.

National financial assets will be distributed to the oligarchs, the dictator and his family and cronies.
Corruption will be rampant.

Yes the journalists speaking out will be targets.
They are very brave.

[shrike3]

24. Exactly. I've said all along prominent people will be fleeing the country if he's elected.

It'll be dangerous for her to stay. It'll be dangerous for more than a few to stay.

It won't be exactly dangerous for me: I'm nobody. But I still have an exit plan in place.

[Mr.WeRP]

17. Rachel is a National Treasure!

[Irish_Dem]

22. Yes she is a very valuable asset.

So is Nicole Wallace.

[Upthevibe]

18. Irish_Dem.........

I've been listening to Rachel since she was on Air America radio back in the early 2000's. I loved her then and have watched her rise through all of these years.

I was fortunate to have seen her on her latest book tour in October of last year. Her podcast Ultra is fantastic and I've started her book (Prequel) on my Audible.

I've always felt she's an amazing storyteller and we have greatly benefited by her brilliance!

[Irish_Dem]

23. Wow that is neat you saw her on a book tour.

She is indeed a force of nature.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

20. The future of our democratic form of government is on the ballot

Link to tweet