A Toast to MSNBC for serving themselves and us with Rachel Maddow

[Mira]

We are fortunate. We are blessed. We have more than just one spokesperson out there whom we can trust, and who is reliably on our side.

The powers that be at MSNBC are not just mouthing about wanting to be on top of the election coverage. They just proved these intentions by putting Rachel Maddow on for a full week to cover for Keith Olberman while he is on vacation.

He is their many million dollar a year front man when they position themselves as the best network for the election of '08, he's earned that place with his courage, and they have shown their own by letting him keep driving home his points and not taken his vehicle away.

Nothing, ever, will take the place of Keith's special comments. They, and his other excellence, are why he forever should stay in his job, in my opinion.

By choosing Rachel, they showed additional courage, because there could be problems with a person who is possibly as good as, or, in her own way, even better than Keith. She razor sharp while being utterly charming.

I laud that in these very tricky times, where any potential misstep needs to be carefully calibrated ahead of time. They ran a risk by putting her on as the Main Woman, and they won, and we won.

There is lots of room for Rachel to have her own place within that network, while, as she says "she is wearing her lesbian running shoes hidden under the desk" .
Not only does she have a quick wit, and the most brilliant analysis, she presents it simply and her demeanor leaves lots of room to also find her completely loveable.

MSNBC has recognized her massive talent and knowledge and is using it to our advantage.
Who would have thought it possible just a couple of years ago to see her on the air in prime time .

We can also pat ourselves on the back; we have made inroads against great odds. Sometimes I wonder if the marching, the persistence and the signatures matter, but today I think it has alerted people who can do something like put Rachel on the air to that we are out there watching, and need more representation.

[Flying Dream Blues]

1. I agree...she's wonderful and so glad she's found a larger audience! nt

[patrice]

2. not much of a drinker, but I WILL raise a glass to Rachel Maddow!!

:toast:

[hlthe2b]

3. Plus I love seeing Joey Scarborough squirm and shrink

whenever he has to go up against her... Say what you will about Pat Buchanan, but he has clearly come to have great respect for Rachel and is not too much of a weenie to show it.

[vanlassie]

4. Kicking for Rachael

[calimary]

5. I think Rachel is wonderful! I'm so glad to see her being used more. Somebody at MSNBC

is not asleep at the switch.

They may be grooming her for something bigger - I certainly hope so! I think she's charming, brilliant, funny, and quite lovely, too. And she's one of us.

It IS a good sign when management somewhere in there finally recognizes the need and attempts to fill it - as you noted in your last paragraph here. SOMEBODY realized there's a huge, unserved audience of progressive/liberal/Democratic/left-of-centers who need and deserve representation. After all, OUR money spends every bit as well as the CONS' does.

It does give me hope. A few years ago, a Rachel Maddow wouldn't have had a chance. She was a "decoration" on tucker carlson's show at one point but that wasn't a good venue for her. Nobody paid any attention to tucker, and she disappeared for awhile. Glad she's back, and higher-profile than ever! And if she's part of the Olbermann team, well, his star is rising at MSNBC and NBC in general, and she'll float upwards along with him.

I really enjoy listening to, and watching, Rachel Maddow. She's SO smart! SO smooth! So clever and insightful! So witty! So pleasant and appealing on the air! And she photographs well without having to be blonde, heavily made-up, or with fancy inflated bumper-lips. AMAZING she even got face time. She's actually a woman on television who doesn't look like a blow-up doll (which I believe is somewhere in the job description of all females who work on-air at Pox Noise).

[gateley]

6. She can bring so much to MSNBC's lineup. I hope she gets a show. nt

[Captain Hilts]

7. Keith jumped the shark, as 'they' say in television....nt

[immoderate]

8. Rachel fan here.

I even stopped listening to the Rachel Maddow Show this week so I could see her on Countdown. :)

But can MSNBC let Rachel be Rachel?

[GaYellowDawg]

9. I really wish she wasn't a lesbian...

...because that rules me out. :-(

[Buns_of_Fire]

14. I have grown to love her platonicly, for her mind, her style, and her wit...

Which, since Raquel Welch and Cheryl Teigs haven't been answering my love letters either, is probably just as well.

[Maureen1322]

10. One more reason why MSNBC doesn't annoy me like the other two.

[cascadiance]

11. I was just saying to someone that the media's achille's heel is that they have to make money...

Up to this point, they've "used" this need to drive moving to infotainment and not just carrying news, so that they have the excuse of not dealing with or resourcing honest and objective newsgathering, since "it doesn't make money". And the stuff they do cover as news in between the stories on Britney Spears and Michael Jackson, they can twist the way they want, since they don't have as much of a critical audience watching that crap to care one way or the other.

But I was telling someone that if we get some news shows and a network like MSNBC that recognize there is money to be made by having some decent news and commentary that is filling a void out there that GETS THEM RATINGS and MAKES THEM MONEY, then it's hard for them to be heavy handed in controlling that content, etc. Now, we still have a ways to go before MSNBC has a fully resourced world network of news gathering with investigative reporting and a lot of other things to get us real news and more than some decent punditry and analysis, but MSNBC is at least a start in the right direction. If the audience of these shows are very critical and constantly telling MSNBC if and when they cross the line on issues, that hopefully MSNBC will never do anything again like they did when they fired Phil Donahue. And then perhaps at some point if they get enough ratings, CNN might feel some pressure from its advertisers saying that they have screwed up their content too much and have lost too much of their earlier audience to MSNBC, that will pressure them to change their gears the right direction later too.

Ultimately I think we'll need another telecomm act to help break up the media oligopoly, but I think MSNBC is a place to show CNN and Fox that they will not only lose credibility, but also lose audience and money, which their investors won't like if they continue the corporate serving propaganda that they are doing now.

[Mira]

12. I'm finding informative and thoughtful comments to my post

that makes me glad I made it. Thanks !

[asdjrocky]

13. Here, here.

[ray of light]

15. She's great. But I wish they'd stop the Republican liars.

[LawyersGunsandMoney]

16. She's 10X smarter than Olbermann.

I don't care if he never comes back from his vacay.

[windoe]

17. Powerful women are so truly underrepresented, Rachel fills the void.

I hope this sets a precedence-- I am holding onto a good dream for the future!! :)

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

18. Hear hear

Rachel is the ideal substitute for KO. She is whip-smart, a quick thinker, funny, charming and entertaining. Rachel, you rock!:loveya: :toast:

[liberalla]

19. I love Rachel and she did GREAT this week!

I'm hoping for her to have her own show soon.