Maddow on Mourdock Another Example of Her Rhetorical Vandalism
Ever wonder why so few Republicans appear on "The Rachel Maddow Show"? Its namesake would have you believe they are deterred by her hypercaffeinated cerebral intensity. Instead, it's because they find Maddow's frequent lies, reliance on half truths, glaring omissions and paraphrasing of what they say beyond recognition inherently repellent.
On her MSNBC program Friday night, Maddow waded into the controversy that resulted after GOP Senate candidate Richard Mourdock's remarks about abortion during pregnancies resulting from rape. (video after page break)
Here's what the network's aspiring kultural kommissar had to say --
MADDOW: As soon as longtime Indiana senator Dick Lugar lost his seat in a Republican primary to a tea party guy named Richard Mourdock, soon as that happened everybody knew that the Democrats had been given an opening to potentially take that Indiana Senate seat from red to blue. And that was before Richard Mourdock cited God's will to help him explain why he would force a rape victim to give birth against her will.
MOURDOCK, IN DEBATE: Even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.
MADDOW: He later clarified that God didn't intend for you to be raped, he just intended (Maddow repeatedly jabbing finger for emphasis) that once you were being raped it would result in your pregnancy.
Wow .... Mourdock said that? Of course he didn't -- this is another example of Maddow's shabby habit of paraphrasing what political opponents say in a manner more to her fringe-leftist liking, regardless of whether it bears any resemblance to what was actually said.
Keep in mind this is an MSNBC mouthpiece who claimed two years ago that a Republican congressman "received advance notice" of the Oklahoma City bombing. Maddow apologized on her show the following night, no doubt after a candid chat with MSNBC lawyers about defamation, litigation and potentially ruinous costs from character assassination against those with the wherewithal to fight back.
This from a refugee of the now-defunct leftist fever swamp Air America who misquoted former frequent guest Pat Buchanan in such an obvious, malicious way that he never came on her show again, long before the network tired of Buchanan's propensity toward contrarian opinion and banished him from 30 Rock.
Just last week, Maddow made one of her frequent appearances on "Late Show" to schmooze with soulmate David Letterman when the unthinkable occurred -- Letterman calling out President Obama on his deceitful claim in the third debate that Mitt Romney wanted no government intervention to help struggling automakers when the economy was in freefall in late 2008. Maddow's response? Repeat the lie and claim lack of sufficient "nuance" prevented dullards like Letterman from correctly deciphering Obama's unambiguous remarks.
She did it again on her show Friday, fulminating about Romney's alleged lie in claiming that Chrysler's Jeep production may eventually move entirely to China -- even though one of the sources she cited, a story from Bloomberg, stated exactly this in its lede paragraph.
On that same show, Maddow paraphrased Romney saying this in Ohio about Obama -- "he saved everything here and that's why you have jobs and everything." You can just hear Romney saying this, right? It sounds so familiar, at least to Maddow at her most delusional.
But her paraphrasing of what Mourdock said in clarifying his remarks crosses a line from reckless to malignant. Notice how Maddow doesn't quote a single word in what Mourdock said in his clarification (while she dishonestly gave the appearance of doing so by looking down at notes).
Mourdock's remarks to clarify what he said are linked here, recorded during a press conference on the day after his debate with Democratic opponent Joe Donnelly. (A seldom-seen pro-life Democrat, though you'll rarely hear that mentioned on MSNBC). The press conference ran more than eight minutes and I won't transcribe in its entirety; instead, I quote below what Mourdock said in reference to his remarks during the debate --
I believe life is precious. I believe that to the marrow of my bones. I believe that life itself is the greatest gift that God can give us. And I know because polling shows it, at least 80 percent of all Americans and I'm sure at least that many Hoosiers think that God is the author of all life. And I stand firmly on that belief. ... I absolutely abhor violence. I abhor any kind of sexual violence. I abhor rape. And I am absolutely confident as I stand here that the God that I worship abhors violence, abhors sexual violence, and abhors rape. The God that I worship would never, ever want to see evil done. That is an element of my faith and God doesn't want evil, but occasionally it happens. Sadly, it happens. ... I am a much more humble person this morning because so many people mistook, twisted, came to misunderstand the points that I was trying to make. And if because of the lack of clarity in my words that they came away with an impression other than those that I stated a moment ago, that life is precious and that I abhor violence and I'm confident God abhors violence and rape, if they came away with any impression other than that, I truly regret it. ... I will say unequivocally, Jim (responding to reporter's question), I don't think God wants rape. I don't think he wants that at all because rape is evil. I abhor evil. ... I want to assure every woman who hears this, who reads the stories of this, that I abhor it and I'm confident God abhors it. But to twist and suggest that somehow I was saying that God approves of rape is the wrong thing because it's not what I'm saying and certainly not what I intended. ... I believe life is precious. I believe God abhors violence and He abhors rape. ... I was suggesting more, you know, as we've seen Mr. Donnelly go up and say that his God doesn't condone rape. Well, neither does mine. ... I think life is precious. I do to the marrow of my bones. I think that God can see beauty in every life. But certainly I did not intend to suggest that God wants rape, that God pushes people to rape, that God wants to support or condone evil in any way, because that goes against the strongest base of my faith. ... I believe God controls the universe. I don't think that, you know, I don't think biology works simply in an uncontrolled fashion. I think God is in control of the universe. ... You know, I've come to realize as frankly, quite honestly, quite candidly, as my faith has deepened, as I've done things with my church, as I've worked in the jungles of Bolivia as a missionary, I've come to realize life is incredibly precious. It is that one thing that God gives us as a gift. ... (in response to reporter's question) When I've seen Mr. Donnelly already twist this to say that somehow I was suggesting that God condones rape, it tells me that it's certainly possible. (referring to politicization of his remarks). ... Very humbly I stand here to say that I think life is precious, I think any kind of sexual violence is wrong, and it's not something God would condone.
So much for Mourdock saying, as Maddow claimed he did, that "God didn't intend for you to be raped, He just intended that once you were being raped it would result in your pregnancy."
Left wingers love to label opinions they don't like as "inappropriate", "offensive" and their current fave, "racist," the better to shut down debate they dishonestly claim to encourage. Yet here's an example of something genuinely offensive from one of their own, offensive not just to Mourdock, but to all Christians who believe life is sacred from conception, regardless of how it occurred.
Far more offensive than anything Mourdock said is the willingness of liberals like Maddow to perpetuate honor killings against unborn babies they malign with a scarlet R.
