Rachel Maddow Confuses Allegation With Fact in Covering for Former Air America Chum Al Franken

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Most recent unintentionally hilarious moment on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC cable show -- her interview with Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie over the upcoming recount in the Senate race between incumbent Republican Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger/reformed court jester Al Franken.

The interview on Wednesday night's show began innocuously enough, with a news caption at the bottom of the screen identifying Ritchie.

Ritchie described the mechanics of the looming recount, which is triggered by state law for margins of victory less than one-half percentage point. The next news caption read, "Sen. Norm Coleman (R) Has 206 Vote Lead Over Challenger Al Franken (D)" (albeit all in capital letters, as with all the captions).

Then came this eye-opener of a caption, presented as fact as with the preceding two when it is an allegation and a kneejerk one at that -- "Before Recount, GOP Trying To Smear Minnesota Secretary of State."

Says who ...? All that was needed to make this bird capable of flight were two more words ... "Democrats allege."Adding that, however, might convey an attempt by MSNBC to appear fair and balanced, the last thing its goo-goo viewership wants.

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What made the caption even funnier was its placement beneath a breathless "BREAKING NEWS" headline and Maddow at that moment appearing more Truly, Madly, Deeply Concerned than ever (not to worry, she'll be more concerned about something else today).

Then came Maddow's tentative foray into a substantial question, which Ritchie flicked away with a banal non-answer, seeing how a candid response might have meant  tip-toeing through a minefield of awkward follow-ups, were Maddow so inclined.

MADDOW: Mr. Secretary, have there been any irregularities or signs of potential tampering that you have been worried about yet thus far in the counting process?

RITCHIE: Not yet, but keep in mind, we have not started the recount. The recount is triggered by the state canvassing board if an election is within a half-a-percent. Because we are within that half-a-percent we will be ordered by the state canvassing board next week to start and we will begin the morning of the 19th. So that counting process will begin totally in public. There'll be challengers from both campaigns. Any ballot that the challengers do not agree with the election officials' determination of the intent of the voter go (sic) into a challenge piles (sic) and all of those come back to the state canvassing board in December.

Gee, Mr. Secretary, if the state of Minnesota has "not started the recount," as you claim, why has Sen. Coleman's initial lead of 725 votes plummeted to slightly more than 200? You mean the recount hasn't "officially" begun, right?

What about these "newly discovered" ballots that keep popping up after the election? For example, the 100 votes discovered in Pine County -- all going to Franken -- and another 100 votes found in Mountain Iron -- again, all to Franken -- as described by Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten. Gosh darn, what are the odds of that?

Franken also gained 246 votes in Two Harbor, supposedly since local officials were off in their initial tally. Yet "none of the other contests" in the liberal enclave "recorded any changes in their vote totals," as pointed out by an editorial in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal.  

How odd indeed that during the recount before the recount, nearly all "newly discovered" ballots are breaking Franken's way. Erick Erickson at Red State blog elaborates --

I spent six years as an elections lawyer. I handled a lot of very wacked election canvasses and recounts. One thing they all had in common: when new votes were found, they generally went both ways -- a few for one candidate and a few for the other candidate. It didn't quite follow the polling, but then close races only happen at the 50-50 margin.

Here's something that never happened: the votes did not all go 100 percent for one candidate except in the two instances where there was only one misplaced ballot discovered.

In Minnesota, though, the votes are all going for Al Franken — pretty much all 600 of them. That defies statistical probability.

 ... Not in the Age of Obama, when anything is possible and the laws of physics -- and elections -- must be adjusted accordingly.

As for that alleged "smear" of Ritchie posited as fact by MSNBC? Maddow made the claim based on the Republican National Senatorial Committee releasing a three-page list of reasons "no one should trust Secretary Ritchie." Among the reasons, Maddow chortled, was "an unsourced claim in a Minneapolis Star-Tribune article that the Communist Party USA wrote encouragingly of his candidacy" in 2006.

Left unmentioned by Maddow, but pointed out by Star-Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten,  is that "Ritchie gained office with the help of the Secretary of State Project (SOS), an independent 527 group co-founded by former MoveOn.org leader James Rucker. SOS is based in San Francisco, and is funded in part by ultra-liberal kingmakers such as George Soros."

Not surprisingly, Coleman questioned why so many post-election votes are going to Franken, especially seeing how the recount -- the official one, anyway -- hasn't even begun.

This led to the bizarre spectacle of Ritchie accusing Coleman of wanting to "win at any price" -- and later that same day denying he said it.

Was Maddow obligated to tell viewers that she and Franken are former colleagues at Air America Radio? Arguably so, but considering the negligible difference in editorial content between Air America and MSNBC, such a disclosure risked stating the obvious.


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Crippingly Patriotic

Crippingly Patriotic.

Would it be wrong to

Would it be wrong to compare Maddow to Sandra Bernhard?

I mean, I know they're both lesbians, and they both have forceful personalities and definately hate the GOP and any associated ideologies.

Is that labelling somehow??

Well, Maddow isn't as

Well, Maddow isn't as unpleasant to look at as Berhhard, but otherwise they are birds of a feather.

On the subject here, though, Maddow's definition of "smearing" apparently is: 1: pointing out facts about a liberal Democrat or 2: quoting a liberal Democrat accurately.

 

In the Bag for Franken

I am afraid this one is in the bag for Franken.  Appeal will go to a Democratic State Judge who will uphold the new vote totals.

Does this mean a filibuster

Does this mean a filibuster proof senate for the Dems?

Food frief!

Obama is not mein fuhrer 

In the car just now I heard

In the car just now I heard Jason Lewis filling in for rush, and he said they are going to be looking at "undervotes" and "the intent of the voter."

Does any of this sound familiar?

Oh, but a Democrat judge ruling for a Democrat is only coincidence; it's the facts that matter.  Whereas  SCOTUS putting the brakes on a renegade State Court is stealing an election.

I think a FRanken win would give them 58...and Stevens is up in the air.  We'd better hope he wins, if he does then resigns, Gov. Palin could name a replacement, I think.  He was slightly ahead last time I saw anything about it.

But they would still be close enough to peel off a few RINO's (shocking, no?)  and have their way.

if he does then resigns,

if he does then resigns, Gov. Palin could name a replacement, Todd Palin?  Man think of the stink, it would be fun but would most likely hurt her chances at the Presidency.  Only because she is GOP.

Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.

new at Whole Foods Market:

Minnesota bananas!

No

No, that would not be a fair comparison. A fair comparison would be with MR Bernhard, if he existed. 

Maddow just talks about a

Maddow just talks about a bunch of crap, while Bernhardt talks about a rape of another woman as a good thing.

One is annoying so that you just want to turn her off, the other one you want to make sure she has the FBI following her every move.

“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” ~ Winston Churchill

I'd compare her to...

somebody's little brother.  I stopped watching Joe Scarborough some time ago because the powers that be insisted that she appear on his show on a regular basis.  Now Scarborough has moved to a different time and she is in his old slot.  Never watched her show yet and have no desire to do so, but what do I know, I voted against Obama.  Jim Webster

"...she is in his old slot."

so many snarky comments, so little time....

MN Seat

When does the election end? 

JDW

DAILY WAVE

  • GOP: A new start with a new team
  • Who will the libs attack after inauguration?

When the Democrats scrape up

When the Democrats scrape up and/or invent enough votes for Franken to win.

msnbc being fair and

msnbc being fair and balanced...oh please that is never going to happen, agenda driven station is going to get what they want with their continual omissions, exaggerations and lies...period.

Minnesota dems are going to get the POS Franken in come hell or high water...with the constant aid from the majority of the msm.

Jack, I do not know how you can watch that critter...hope you are paid well...lol.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

RAchel Madcow...

I still think she's icky.

That is putting it mildly

She makes my skin crawl every time I see her.

(shudder)

Be like me...

and don't watch her.  I understand what you mean, though.  Jim Webster

And they call this Cable

And they call this Cable News??  MSNBC should do their viewers a favor and just move to HBO or Show Time! 

Perfect democrat..

Franken is the perfect democrat hero. He steals money from a childrens charity, doesn't pay his taxes, and believes in murdering babies. What else can a democrat ask for?

Old, Retired and glad of it.

Maddow as a kid? Could it be??

Mica, I've said it before,

Mica, I've said it before, but "Rachel", I'm convinced is a dude.  Have you seen "Rachel's" Adam's apple?

Liberal: a power worshipper without power. George Orwell

I think so, Trix

I do detect some motion in the neck area.

I'd like to see her drink something on the air.

Glug, glug, glug. Oh, lookee here? What is that thing bouncing up and down, Rachel?

Where is the outrage?

Think about this- after the election hundreds of democrat votes are discovered uncounted. Where are the charges of vote suppression? Disenfranchisement? Vast right wing conspiracy? Oh, you found more votes? Isn't that nice. If I needed any proof the fix is in that is it.

Something to ponder.

 Is it me or does Maddow have an adam's apple?

“I've spoken to all of them that are living.  I didn't want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about, you know, doing any seances" B.H. Obama

With Al Freaken in the Senate......

they will truly be what I have long suspected.......... A bad comedy skit.

Another "tingle up the leg"?

Another "tingle up the leg"? She should rename herself: Radical MadCow

nice haircut

i'm not of fan of this guy richard maddow.  this guy doesn't know what he's talking about, and he has a wierd haircut.