Rachel Maddow Still Can't Bear to Mention That Bernie Sanders is, Psst, a Socialist

July 4th, 2015 4:39 PM

Rachel Maddow neglecting to state on her show that presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is a socialist -- surely an oversight. Maddow not mentioning this again the following night -- must be a coincidence. Maddow not doing it three nights in a row -- is there a pattern here?

Once more from Maddow and it's clearly a trend.

It comes as little surprise that Sanders is the fave candidate of the moment among the ardent redistributionists at MSNBC. What remains puzzling is why its smarmiest host, with her unbridled enthusiasm for Sanders, can't bring herself to publicly state the most distinctive thing about the man, and that which makes him singularly appealing to the left -- that he is an avowed socialist.

Maddow's peculiar penchant for this was first noticed on her show June 30 during which she made eight references to Sanders and to people inclined toward supporting him as "liberal," all in just under a minute.

The following night, there was Maddow again gushing over Sanders (first part of embedded video), this time avoiding mention of his politics entirely --

But with all of this going on it remains the case, Beltway media notwithstanding, it remains the case that quantitatively speaking the biggest news in presidential politics right now, the biggest deal on the ground, the most manifest enthusiasm, the most visible support for anybody on either side of the partisan divide continues to be for Vermont senator Bernie Sanders.

Tonight, right now in Madison, Wisc., the event that's going on there is unlike anything else that has happened to any other candidate this year. In Madison, Wisc., today people started lining up hours in advance to get in to see Bernie Sanders give his campaign speech. This is not like a special speech, this is just a regular campaign event he's doing, another day on the campaign trail for Vermont senator Bernie Sanders. But it was a very long line, many hours before it was due to start, people just psyched to be there, psyched to hear him speak.

The venue itself in Madison is also a huge venue, a 10,000-seat venue. Bernie Sanders is drawing enormous crowds who are super, super-psyched to see him, really, really, genuinely enthusiastic that he is in this race. Nobody else is turning out numbers like he is, Republican or Democrat.

So there's a lot going on in politics today. There's a lot of other news going on in the world today too. But Bernie Sanders turning out 10,000 people in Wisconsin right now is a bigger story than the Beltway would have you think. Do you feel the bern? I feel the bern. I do.

That she clearly does was evident from Maddow's insipid description of Sanders the next night (second part of embedded video) --

Today this incredibly counterintuitive news coming out from the fundraising numbers, Ben Carson having these huge numbers, right? And all the other Republicans not saying what they, there's this fascinating stuff every day, there's this kinetic, day to day, breaking news every day about what is already an amazing presidential race. And who's in and who's out and what they're trying to get away with and what people are not letting them get away with, it's just rollicking, it's great. (See it all here on MSNBC!). That's at this level. At a deeper level, just below that though, there is this legitimate, manifest, real enthusiasm which defies all Beltway explanation, it defies all pundit explanation, this huge enthusiasm for the really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really liberal guy in the race, for Bernie Sanders.

For those who lost count, that was "really" times eight -- really (not to worry, only once here by me). And how about that, Maddow on her show Tuesday night referred to Sanders and those inclined to support him as liberal -- eight times. Strikes me as a heckuva coincidence -- or Maddow's winking acknowledgment that she reads NewsBusters.

Seeing how Sanders is on such a roll and Maddow swoons upon mere mention of his name, how long can she go without reporting to her viewers the most relevant fact about him?