'The Atlantic' Promotions presents:
Rachel Maddow VS Rush Limbaugh
Conor Friedersdor does some Political Wrestling fantasy booking for the Atlantic. With all due respect to Conor, this proposal has 0% chance of happening as Rush knows his power lies in the fact that he's capable of constructing his own Matrix, his "Aura" is amassed by never entertaining challengers. Heck Rush rarely has guests on, I remember him once interviewing then-VP Cheney for a rare PR offensive. Otherwise Rush has always taken the stage on his own, he knows that as the undisputed Top Dog sharing it would only surrender his power.
Rush Limbaugh Should Be Shamed Into Debating Rachel Maddow
... Instead of apologies, why not demand that future Limbaughs submit to a public debate? Let the object be to hash things out, not to signal contrition that most people are going to doubt anyway.
In this case, I'd nominate Rachel Maddow as his interlocutor. She's smart, informed, and adept enough at the broadcast medium to hold her own on a stage with one of America's most technically proficient communicators. She'd need to be prepared, for this wouldn't be a one-sided inquisition.
STEWART: After the rally it—you know, whenever you go out there, whatever you put out, you can only control your intention. You can‘t control its perception or how people receive it. And you can control your execution.
So, when people are perceiving it as something—people that I respect are perceiving as something that we didn‘t perceive it as sort of either two or three things, one is we were inartful in the way that we conceived it and presented it, our intention was wrong or off, not clear. Or it‘s being misperceived. So, I guess—there‘s probably four. I don‘t know what that would be.
VIDEO: Bill Maher on The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear
HBOs' Real Time with Bill Maher: Ep 196
And finally, New Rule, if you're going to have a rally where hundreds of thousands of people show up, you might as well go ahead and make it about something. With all due respect to my friends Jon and Stephen, it seems to me that if you truly wanted to come down on the side of restoring sanity and reason, you'd side with the sane and the reasonable, and not try to pretend that the insanity is equally distributed in both parties.
Keith Olbermann is right, when he says he's not the equivalent of Glenn Beck. One reports facts, the other one is very close to playing with his poop.
As a blog dedicated to the analogy that American Politics is not unlike professional wrestling, one of the more favored threads is fakery in politics. More to the point how the fake can swallow reality and create a new a one. The fakery can at times be innocuous, nefarious or absurd. Consider the impact Tina Fey's Sarah Palin parody had on the real image of the Republican Vice Presidential nominee. Consider the credibility and gravitas of "Fake" news show 'The Daily Show' and "fake" pundit Stephen Colbert. Consider how pundits from Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter have detractors questioning if they authentically believe what they are saying, or if its just a lucrative act for attention.
Rachel Maddow expands on Fakery in Politics in this segment challenging the GOP's outrage.
VIDEO: MSNBC'S Rachel Maddow says GOP's outrage is Bullpucky
The Rachel Maddow Blog - Let them eat fake
RACHEL MADDOW: What we’re dealing with here is the unmooring of politics from facts. The activists pushing the ACORN scandal knew it was fake. After all, they faked it. But it made a political impact anyway, so they win, right?
The climate-gate scandal, not an actual challenge to the homogenous consensus of decades of climate science but it could have a political impact, so go for it. It might work.
If the triumph of fake politics or advantage gleaned from stuff that’s not real - and who cares if it’s not real or if it has a political impact?...
It’s made up. It’s bull. It’s bull. It’s not real politics. Let them eat fake.
These are not real problems to worry about and work on as a country, right? But there’s more bang for the political buck to make stuff up like this than to try to debate real problems in the real world. So just go with the bull.
Read Obama's first State of the Union address 2010
Transcript of Obama's State of the Union speech
Our Constitution declares that from time to time, the president shall give to Congress information about the state of our union. For 220 years, our leaders have fulfilled this duty. They have done so during periods of prosperity and tranquility. And they have done so in the midst of war and depression; at moments of great strife and great struggle.
The Republican response to Obama's State of the Union speech by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell
I'm joined by fellow Virginians to share a Republican perspective on how to best address the challenges facing our nation today.
We were encouraged to hear President Obama speak this evening about the need to create jobs. All Americans should have the opportunity to find and keep meaningful work, and the dignity that comes with it.
Many -- many of us here tonight -- and many of you watching -- have family or friends who have lost their jobs. In fact, 1 in 10 Americans is unemployed. That is unacceptable.
Read and listen to the Pundit response to President Obama's State of the Union
Laura Ingraham's State of the Union response
Laura's 'State of the Union' Address - January 27, 2010
LAURA INGRAHAM: The State of our Union is imperiled because we knowingly went down the path OF Obamanomics, Obama's approach to foreign policy and basically an absentee approach to the culture - where life is dispensable, Hollywood is coddled and its party time USA every Wednesday night at the White House. The State of our Union is imperiled.
VIDEO: Rachel Maddow's State of the Union response
Rachel Maddow- Building on the State of the Union
RACHEL MADDOW: The list of pecific proposals the President made tonight. A lot of them are very conservative ideas. Ideas that have been auditioned politically in recent years by Republican politicians. Things like off-shore drilling, capital gains cuts, business tax cuts, the spending freeze, so-called "clean coal". Terminology that makes me just want to cringe. Singling out earmarks...
VIDEO: Rush Limbaugh's State of the Union response
My Letter to President Obama
RUSH LIMBAUGH: I penned a message to Obama that I would like to deliver now. Because Mr. Obama, I think it's time we had a heart to heart talk. Let me be the father that you never had or never really knew, because I think you need some guidance. It's time to man up. It's time to grow up. That speech last night was an embarrassment. You couldn't focus, you lashed out in all directions, you refused to accept responsibility for your own actions, and you were angry.
And he was, folks! He was mad. Being president is a big job. It's a big responsibility. You wanted the position, Barack. You campaigned for it...
The most recent episode of CNN's 'Reliable Sources' had an illuminating panel discussion that reiterated many of the same points that I have made in my analogy that American Political Punditry is not unlike Pro-Wrestling. The panel comprised of Michelle Cottle, Michel Martin and Amanda Carpenter discussing Lou Dobbs, Glenn Beck and the theatrical nature of punditry.
VIDEO: Beck's "racism" charge hits Howard Kurtz's outrage meter
Michelle Cottle in particular made a salient point about how theater and a captivating persona are the keys to Cable news success, being responsible and informative are peripheral.
MICHELLE COTTLE: Two words: crazy sells. I mean, if you're talking about political punditry, it does not serve you well to go out there and talk nuance and whatever, or at least it doesn't get you the big audience. And more than that, the committed audience.
I mean, normal people have lots to do with their time. What you have with Glenn Beck is, the crazier he gets, the more obsessive he draws. And these people sit and watch every word and buy every book and go to every speech, and it's great for him and it's great for Fox, so they're not going to do a thing about it.
Michel Martin introduces another analogy that also captures the dynamic of mutual benefit and "all-in-a-day's-work" nature of the Pundit feuds - a "Hip Hop beef". I myself have used the wrestling analogy and have also likened it to the wolf/sheepdog cartoons.
HOWARD KURTZ: The average person must be watching this and saying "this is like a high school spitball fight"
MICHELLE COTTLE: You know O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann would go at each other like this. This isn't the first time this has happened. Cable news hosts decide that they need a nemesis. And it actually jacks up their ratings. If you can have someone on the other side that can get your followers fired up about being ticked off.
MICHEL MARTIN: This is like a hip hop beef, where they sell records by beefing on each other
A Hip Hop beef is described thusly:
Hip Hop Beefs
A beef is a term used in the hip hop culture to describe a grudge between two individuals...
Beefs in hip hop were created with two purposes in mind. One being that two artist with legitimate gripes between each other would be able to settle their differences while at the same time promoting their respective albums...
The Hip Hop beef is a more apt analogy than wrestling because whilst the dynamics are similar, the hip hop beef has real consequences to the careers of the individual feuding rappers. In wrestling, whilst the theatrics acted on screen may reflect real hatred or circumstances backstage, ultimately the feuding parties are on the same payroll and have the ability to pre-arrange their fights. Whilst "Hip Hop beefs" are more organic, both analogies reflect the art of theatrics for the sake of generating interest and creating dedicated rival camps (fanbases).
If you've seen the trailer for Bruno, you might have taken a double take at the 2 minute mark and thought aloud "Hey is that former Presidential Candidate Ron Paul?". You'd be right.
VIDEO: Ron Paul punked by Sacha Baron Cohen in the new Bruno Movie
RACHEL MADDOW: Mr Cohen and his crew were able to trick Ron Paul into filming a scene with Cohen. A 5 minute scene where the character Bruno tries very unsuccessfully... to seduce Dr Paul, there's reportedly some dancing and some pantslessness.
Read about the "Bruno/ Ron Paul sex tape here" from the official 'Bruno' site
Bruno and Ron Paul Sex Tape
In a five-minute scene, Bruno tries—and fails—to seduce the Texas congressman and former Republican presidential candidate in a Washington hotel room. The scene, filmed in early 2008, occurs about halfway through the movie, after Bruno gets the idea that you have to make a sex tape to become famous.
Cut to a nondescript hotel suite where Bruno sits across from Ron Paul. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, a light blows out on the set. Bruno apologizes for the technical difficulties and suggests that he and Paul wait in the other room while the crew fixes the light.
Its quite ironic that Sacha Baron Cohen is capitalising on the popularity of Ron Paul. In a previous post I wrote how Ron Paul was the uncredited spiritual leader of the Tea Party protests, which you'll remember was crudely dubbed as the "Tea Baggers" protests by its detractors. Poetically Sacha's new character Bruno, the faux homosexual Austrian Fashion presenter is attempting make a sextape with Ron Paul.
SACHA BARON COHEN: That is really my objective, when I get in the room is to convince these guys that they are now going to be interviewed by someone who is totally ignorant and totally arrogant...
I think the power of television is amazing, when they're in the room with me somehow because there's a camera there, their guard is down and they'll answer basically almost anything just to make sure that they end up looking good on camera
Sacha Baron Cohen in his many "ignorant" incarnations has visited many Red States and interviewed several independent conservative leaders, Pat Buchanan as Ali G, Alan Keyes as Borat and now Ron Paul as Bruno.
Meghan McCain has been interacting with influential APF pundit women lately. After calling out Ann Coulter, she sat down with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow to talk about it. This prompted Laura Ingraham to talk about Meghan, inserting snide comments regarding the young McCain's weight in her rebuke of her. Listen and download Laura Ingraham's smackdown of Meghan McCain
This led to a counter by Meghan on the 'Daily Beast' on the "unecessary" dig on her weight
Quit Talking About My Weight, Laura Ingraham
Recently my not-size-0 body has come under fire again by the conservative pundit Laura Ingraham. On her radio show recently, she sarcastically commented that I was "too plus-sized to be a cast member on the television show The Real World" and needled me about my weight with a comment about Barbie's 50th anniversary. Instead of intellectually debating our ideological differences about the future of the Republican Party, Ingraham resorted to making fun of my age and weight, in the fashion of the mean girls in high school.
However it is this line by Meghan that I will be following up on
At this point, I have more respect for Ann Coulter than I do for Laura Ingraham because at least Coulter didn’t come back at me with heartless, substance-less attacks about my weight.
Ann Coulter, if she is anything like the wrestling heel (villain) I've claimed her to be will see this as a challenge. Unlike Rush Limbaugh who downplays his villainry ("I'm just your harmless, lovable little fuzzball", Ann has has built her reputation on her gleeful and gratuitous villainry. As Meghan said herself of Ann
My Beef With Ann Coulter
I straight up don’t understand this woman or her popularity. I find her offensive, radical, insulting, and confusing all at the same time.
Update:
Laura Ingraham has returned fire at Meghan, telling her to "toughen up" and inferring she was a "useful idiot".
Meghan McCain, daughter of estranged "independent" Republican and 2008 GOP Presidential nominee John McCain has picked a fight with the fearless Ann Coulter. Writing for the Daily Beast, Meghan writes:
My Beef With Ann Coulter by Meghan McCain Coulter could be the poster woman for the most extreme side of the Republican Party. And in some ways I could be the poster woman for the opposite. I consider myself a progressive Republican, but here is what I don’t get about Coulter: Is she for real or not? Are some of her statements just gimmicks to gain publicity for her books or does she actually believe the things she says?...
More so than my ideological differences with Ann Coulter, I don’t like her demeanor. I have never been a person who was attracted to hate or negativity... But controversy sells and Coulter is nothing if not controversial. Everything about her is extreme: her voice, her interview tactics, and especially the public statements she makes about liberals. Maybe her popularity stems from the fact that watching her is sometimes like watching a train wreck...
The Rachel Maddow Show - Wednesday, March 11 MADDOW: John McCain‘s daughter, Meghan McCain stepped into the political pundits Thunderdome this week when she took some shots at a person named Ann Coulter. Guess who inherited the maverick gene? Meghan McCain joins us next—my first ever McCain interview...
Meghan McCain talks about the chain of events she's set off with Ann Coulter
MADDOW: ...it must have been and it must continue to be hard to see your dad criticized, especially with the sort of gloves off criticism that you get in a presidential campaign. But yet, in your career, you‘re picking a fight with Ann Coulter. I wonder if your reaction to seeing your dad in the arena, in the political arena in that way made you sort of want to be the one having those fights yourself—because you picked a fight with somebody who‘s definitely going to fight back.
MCCAIN: Yes. Well, if it was, you know, if it was too hot in the kitchen, I‘d get out. I know what I‘m doing. And I know that I‘m creating she probably will respond. She already has. But I‘m sure she‘ll respond harder...
Liberal Television and Radio talker, Rachel Maddow made her first appearance on 'The View'
The ladies talked about Obama's handling of the economy, Republican messaging and her transition to television.
VIDEO: Rachel Maddow on Rush Limbaugh's challenge to President Obama
RACHEL MADDOW: I think Rush Limbaugh is very successful and very smart. The idea that the President would actually debate him is hilarious. The idea that I would ask somebody on the Republican Party to debate me and demand to debate me -- of course it would be great for me but it would be stupid for any politician
Find out more about Rush' challenge to Obama. As to Maddow's assertions that it would be stupid for a politician to take the bait, it's happened before.
- Hannity was unsuccessful in booking a debate, but was at least acknowledged by President Obama
- Mark Levin successfully goaded Democratic politicians, Congressman Maurice Hinchey and William Delahunt to appear on his show
In a pleasant conversation with MSNBC and Air America Radio's own Rachel Maddow, Jon Stewart used television show 'The Munsters' to describe the NBC Roster. Maddow was kindly referred to as 'Marilyn Munster', quickly adding "but everyone else on there is F*cking nuts". Jon Stewart expanded on his analogy describing MSNBC host Chris Matthews as "The Dragon that lives under the stairs". Describing MSNBC's conservative contributor Pat Buchanan as "Grandpa Munster - in the lab making things you wouldn't want to drink".
Jon notably didn't mention MSNBC's biggest name, Keith Olbermann, but one could infer who Jon regarded as his analog with the line "I'm not going to tell you who Herman Munster is". Incidentally the "Keith Olbermann as Herman Munster" meme has long been popular amongst Olbermann's internet detractors.
Of all the pundits in the APF, Stephen Colbert arguably has the most universal appeal. Being comedic and having assumed a faux pundit persona, Stephen benefits from not being entirely culpable for his outrageous actions.
Stephen has a unique crossover appeal, voicing a caricature of a right wing pundit whilst personally being left-leaning. Interestingly Bill O'Reilly, the pundit template Colbert is fashioned after describes himself as an 'Independent'. With the shield of comedy, Colbert is caustic yet innocuous. It's the best of both worlds and an enviable license.
Below are a selection of Stephen Colbert interviews of the APF pundits:
Hugh Hewitt April 2006 Hugh Hewitt thinks the Republicans are aiming at an electoral iceberg and they need to turn the ship around quickly
Rachel Maddow in a discussion with the always interesting Bill Maher. Whilst Bill came of a little too condescending and sloppy for his message to work, Rachel did some polishing by offering a more persuasive take on Bill's argument.
But the underlying problem we have in this country is that the people are too stupid to be governed. They are - they are too dumb to get it. So how do you explain complex situations like terrorism, like the environment? You don`t. The public is like - it`s like a dog. It can only understand inflection. It can`t understand any sort of rational argument.
...So I don`t trust them to make the right decisions.
MADDOW: Well, the dynamic has been, not necessarily, I guess, maverick versus complex smart idea, but rather weak versus dumb. And the American people, I think, have said, "You know what? We understand the Democratic case that the Republican guy is dumb, but we don`t mind dumb so much as we hate weak." And that Republicans haven`t argued that they are smart. They`ve just argued that Democrats are weak, effete, foreign eggheads, intellectuals, somebody you couldn`t trust in a fight. And they`ve almost made being smart a liability in an election.
Expect some laughs on her show as well, and not off the snide variety that Keith Olbermann does so well. She has enlisted the help of Kent Jones to provide some comic relief. You may have heard the funnyman on the late Marc Maron show and Rachel's own radio program.
Quite possibly the youngest of the APF Pundits, Rachel Maddow gets her own show on MSNBC. This is a stratospheric rise for Maddow, a Rhodes Scholar. She got her first radio gig after impressing at an open audition for her local radio station, she later successfully lobbied for a spot on the fledgling Air America Network where she quickly rose through the ranks.
She co-hosted the now canceled Unfiltered with Chuck D and Lizz Winstead. She began hosting her own two-hour-long program in 2005, The Rachel Maddow Show. The show was later expanded to three hours earlier this year. She became a regular panelist on many news programs, for Tucker Carlson's now defunct MSNBC show and CNN's Paula Zahn Now. She was a frequent contributor to Countdown with Keith Olbermann and has been tapped as a fill-in host for the show.
Her mega-push continuous with the announcement that she will have her own show on MSNBC.
APF pundit Keith Olbermann informed fans and welcomed Rachel by writing a diary post for the DailyKOs . As well as being glowing of Rachel, Keith's piece provides as much insight into Keith's character as it does of Rachel's.
Rachel Gets Her Own MSNBC Show by Keith Olbermann
Happy Now?
The network will be formally announcing this tomorrow, but I am pleased to inform you in this fully authorized leak, that as of Monday, September 8, our mutual friend Ms. Maddow will become host of her own show...
Let me answer the key questions in advance:
1) No, she will not be serving as a VeeJay introducing music clips or cartoons...
4) Yes, I had something to do with it...
5) Yes, you had something to do with it...
6) Yes, this is why I never really responded to any of the 41,754 comments that all pretty much read "And get Rachel her own show, nitwit."
8) Yes, I did like the description of her in The Nation: "Everything about her radiates competence and a deft, bright careerism."...
10) No, this actually happened pretty quickly. Less than five months between first paid appearance and own show is pretty fast. I believe I still hold the MSNBC record: I came back to guest host for three days in 2003 and 39 days later I had a contract to do the 8 PM show. With people as talented like Rachel, getting it locked down quickly is a good thing...
It's not uncommon in life (but especially in politics) to embellish a story to make it more compelling for the immediate audience. Whilst this may be par for the course for the average Joe, this can be particularly damaging for a politician. With the ubiquity of media and the premium voters place on honesty and trust its a risky game playing fast and loose with stories.
This was the case for Michelle Obama and John McCain.
Michelle Obama in addressing the DNCs Gay & Lesbian Council audience tried to show off her husband's credentials as someone who "wins over unfriendly audiences". This was done at the expense of Texans
"Barack has the courage to talk to skeptical audiences, not just friendly ones. That’s why he told a crowd at a rally in Texas that gays and lesbians deserve equality. And you can imagine in Texas that that crowd got a little quiet."
We'll overlook the irony of touting "tolerance" by disparaging a state, stereotyping them as intolerant. Conservative talker Hugh Hewitt challenges Michelle's account of the event by playing the exact audio of Obama's speech with the accompanying audience reaction in context. It's clear Michelle was embellishing, the crowd did not act the way she depicted. To Hugh's credit he gives Michelle a slight benefit of the doubt, for possibly not having been in attendance to know firsthand.
this is my comment on Michelle. She has a habit of exaggerating grievance. Remember "the bar has moved", "we didn't have any money". It's always about exaggerating the grievance she has or that she believes other people have. It's a rhetorical device but its also a way of thinking and it's troubling because the world doesn't owe anybody anything and the world's done pretty well by Obama...
Keep an eye, listen very carefully. If they make stuff up like she did about this reaction of silence among the crowd in Texas, they'll make other stuff up. Get the fact-checkers out in full force..."
John McCain finds himself in similar strife by changing details of a story he often tells about his time in Vietnam. McCain talks of being tortured and being forced to divulge the names of his squadron team, he recounts that he cleverly cited the names of the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive line in place of his fellow airmen. The Problem - McCain has recounted this story many times, most notably in his book Faith of My Fathers where he sources The Green Bay Packer's offensive line for his decoy names.
MADDOW: The McCain campaign is claiming that the Steeler story is an honest mistake. One of many, it would seem. So our choices here appear to be a) Sen. McCain’s memory is so bad that he can no longer be counted on to remember much of anything; or b) he will say pretty much anything to be President, even pander on the very issue that’s supposed to define him: the years he spent in a prisoner of war camp. Which one of those options is politically palatable here?
There was an interesting duel last night between Jon Stewart and MSNBC talk show host Chris Matthews. Chris appeared on the Daily Show to promote his new book, 'Life's a Campaign: What Politics Has Taught Me About Friendship, Rivalry, Reputation, and Success'. Instead what Chris got was a public dressing down where the host destroyed the entire conceit of his book.
If you're interested in seeing more interviews with pundits that didn't run so smoothly. Click to view my post on 'Shoot Fights'.
What's troubling is, I fundamentally agree with Chris Matthews' premise that to succeed you need to put on a show. Heck this whole blog is about that very notion. Presentation does matter, to achieve success there is a certain amount of schmoozing and butt kissing that needs to be done. How overtly its done can mean the difference between charm and artifice. I think where Matthews went wrong is that he doesn't have the gravitas and charisma to deliver his message credibly. He comes off like a greasy car salesman selling a book on 'integrity', Stewart wasn't buying it. Matthews has the appearance of a devious politician who doesn't realise he's not fooling anybody. It's quite ironic really.
This reminds of a similar episode involving Air America talker Rachel Maddow. Rachel does a regular video feature called The Campaign Asylum where she focuses on particular topics, in this instance presidential hopeful Fred Thompson. Rachel makes a compelling argument that Fred Thompson is an empty suit with little to offer but charisma. If YouTube replies are anything to go by, she wasn't convincing enough. For her message to be effective Rachel has to be able to convince Thompson-type supporters who are enamored by charisma. Ironically the only way she can break that spell is to at least be as captivating as Fred for people to take her seriously.
To be fair Rachel faces an uphill battle with her medium. 'Talking straight to camera' has an awkward aesthetic. The most successful of these are usually solemn and humble, like a presidential address or a fireside chat. The excitable delivery Rachel employs without the benefit of another person to bounce off appears 'smarmy' (to quote a YouTube commenter). In fact the only other time you see this aesthetic is with amateur myspace/YouTube users ranting from their bedrooms. Presenting with a buffer rather than direct to camera brings a feeling of earnestness and humility, even when delivering the material the same way.
Tell me what you think? Do you agree?
Just to make the circle complete. How do you think Fred Thompson comes off looking in this?
Mark Levin is a conservative radio talk show host. He formerly served as adviser to several members of Ronald Reagan's cabinet. Mark is the president of the Landmark Legal Foundation, "a public interest law firm fighting for conservative principles in America".
Prior to getting his own show, Mark was a frequent contributor to The Rush Limbaugh Show providing legal opinion. His Landmark Legal Foundation famously nominated Rush for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
Mark has often worked with Sean Hannity appearing frequently on each other's shows. He hosts a 2hr radio show on the WABC network (The Mark Levin Show) on the timeslot after Hannity's. Mark has a comprehensive fan site.
He has written a book on his pet topic of judicial activism, Men in Black: How the Supreme Court Is Destroying America.
Rachel Maddow is a liberal talk show host on Air America Radio. Originally co-host of the now-cancelled Unfiltered with Chuck D and Lizz Winstead. She now hosts her own 2hr program The Rachel Maddow show. Rachel also has the pleasure of having a comprehensive fan site.
She was a regular panelist on Tucker Carlson's show on MSNBC. Rachel is the only openly gay pundit on the APF roster.
