Rachel Maddow

George W. Bush spoke out repeatedly during his term for the spread of democracy throughout the Middle East. He said it was insulting to assume that Arabs or Muslims were incapable of democratic reforms. Bush overthrew dictators in Iraq and Afghanistan and allowed elections to proceed. But NBC's chief foreign correspondent, Richard Engel, was adamant on National Public Radio on Friday: You cannot credit Bush policies for the "Arab Spring."

NPR Fresh Air host Terry Gross seemed to be hoping Engel would help her out and denounce Bush:

Nice to see Rachel Maddow come around on this.

Maddow has pontificated lately that tax cuts during wartime are not only ineffective but immoral -- which makes her inexplicable change of heart all the more puzzling. (video after page break)

As NewsBusters previously reported, MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Thursday admitted that Social Security is technically a Ponzi scheme.

Less than 24 hours earlier, in numerous post-debate discussions, the "Hardball" host criticized Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry for saying the same thing (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Those crickets you hear? Her fellow left-wingers responding to Rachel Maddow referring to then-President Elect Obama as a "boy king" on her MSNBC show last night.

Yes, hard to believe. Even in an era when the president of the United States is a man of color, as is our attorney general, as is the governor of Massachusetts where Maddow lives, Obama must be subjected to such vile disrespect -- a black man at the pinnacle of achievement described as a mere "boy," albeit of the monarchical variety. (video clip after page break)

Just when you thought Rachel Maddow could not get more cloyingly annoying, she outdoes herself again.

There she was on her MSNBC show last night, talking about about how she must interview Dick Cheney about his memoirs, seeing how he'll be appearing on "Dateline NBC," "Today" and "Morning Joe" (video after page break) --

The hypocrisy of Rachel Maddow knows no bounds.

On Tuesday's "Late Show," the MSNBCer scolded Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for meeting with Libya's Moammar Gaddafi in August 2009 while completely ignoring the fact that President Obama met him at the G8 summit the month before (video follows with transcript and commentary):

As government spending supporters in the media press for a new, bolder stimulus plan to get the economy going, they love to refer to the Depression Era Hoover Dam as a shining moment in Keynesian economics.

When this surfaced on ABC's "This Week" Sunday, George Will marvelously noted, "You couldn't build the Hoover Dam today because they'd discover a snail darter in the Colorado River and would stop it" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Liberals like Rachel Maddow and former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell often express their deep and abiding concern for the well-being of children. Well, most children anyway. Providing they aren't "hideous".

On her show last night, Maddow was talking about New York Times' columnist Paul Krugman suggesting that Americans should respond to our economic malaise as if threatened by invasion from outer space. Much the same idea has been expressed before, Maddow pointed out, citing an episode of the '60s TV show "The Outer Limits" and the graphic novel and movie "Watchmen" as precedents. (video after page break)

Chris Hayes, editor at large with the leftist-in-perpetuity Nation magazine and host of an MSNBC weekend show that starts in September, made an illuminating comment on the Rachel Maddow show the other night.

Hayes and Maddow were talking on Thursday about Texas Gov. Rick Perry's imminent jump into the presidential race and Perry's record as governor of Texas over the last decade. All that talk about prosperity in the Lone Star State during Perry's stint at the helm is so much hooey, Maddow and Hayes agreed (video after page break) --

Ever-garrulous curmudgeon Barney Frank was memorably expressive during an appearance on MSNBC last night.

The high-ranking House Democrat was talking with Rachel Maddow about Standard & Poor's downgrade of US credit, with Frank criticizing rating agencies for claiming mortgage-backed securities were "wonderful stuff" prior to the financial collapse in 2008 when the investments were "crap." (video clip after page break)

As NewsBusters previously reported, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow was rewarded for lying about Rush Limbaugh on her program Thursday by getting a guest appearance on Sunday's "Meet the Press."

The top brass at NBC should be pleased with their decision for Maddow proceeded to thoroughly misrepresent the reasons Standard and Poor's gave for downgrading America's debt Friday (video follows with transcript and commentary):

As NewsBusters reported Friday, conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh caught MSNBC's Rachel Maddow in a bald-faced lie about him.

Later that evening, Maddow apologized for her error but blamed it on- wait for it! - the conservative website World Net Daily and then accused Limbaugh of racism (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh on Friday exposed Rachel Maddow for lying about him on her MSNBC program.

On Thursday, during a lengthy segment about Barack Obama's birth certificate, Maddow said (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Huffington Post's Howard Fineman veered into left-wing heresy on the Rachel Maddow show the other night. Fortunately, another leftist was on hand to point out Fineman's apostasy, which he duly renounced.

You see, over in MSNBC land, nothing is worse than the tea party -- or "teabaggers" as more unhinged guests such as ambulance chaser Mike Papantonio still like calling them. To MSNBCers, the tea party represents all that's bad in America -- racism, greed, xenophobia, bad fashion, poor spelling, the works.

So it was a bit of a shock to hear Fineman on Friday comparing tea partiers to previously venerated -- at least on the left -- protesters who occupied campus administration buildings way back in the swinging '60s, man. (video after page break)

Tulane professor Melissa Harris-Perry, guest hosting on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show last night, could hardly contain her mirth at the specter of an elected official actually praying for guidance while Congress struggles over the debt ceiling.

Here's Harris-Perry describing tea party Republicans facing the wrath of House Speaker John Boehner for not supporting his debt plan (video after page break) --

Bradlee Dean, a Christian ministry founder, conservative radio host, and rock drummer has sued Rachel Maddow for claiming he advocated execution of gays on his radio show in May 2010.

Dean is seeking "in excess" of $50 million in damages and stated in his lawsuit that reporting by Maddow and the Minnesota Independent's Andy Birkey has harmed his reputation, hurt his livelihood, and led to death threats against him. Dean is also suing MSNBC, the cable network's parent company NBC, Birkey and the Minnesota Independent.

Maddow first criticized Dean on her program Aug. 9, 2010 after describing how the ministry created by Dean, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International, received money from Minnesota GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer. Maddow quoted Dean saying this on his radio show May 15, 2010 and played an edited excerpt (video clip after page break) --

You can already see the apologia coming on this one -- Rachel Maddow never actually said that seven towns in Wisconsin are named Union in homage to labor unions.

Which is true, she didn't. Instead, it could not be more obvious that Maddow implied this, with trademark smarm, and more than once at that.

Maddow did so for the first time on her MSNBC show back in February, during the battle over a proposed state budget, since enacted, that would limit collective bargaining by public workers. This was happening, Maddow said, in a place that has long epitomized labor rights. As evidence, Maddow showed a map of Wisconsin with arrows pointing to seven towns named Union (video after page break) --

At least five MSNBC anchors since Tuesday have promoted a cherry-picked House Democratic Caucus video that distorts President Ronald Reagan's position on the debt ceiling, inaccurately asserting that President Barack Obama is more in line with Reagan than the Republicans.

If any of the anchors had played the entirety of Reagan's 1987 radio address, instead of giving free air time to the Democratic Party's deceptively edited spot, they would have heard Reagan articulate a position on the debt ceiling almost identical to House Republicans' and nearly opposite Obama's: "You don't need more taxes to balance the budget. Congress needs the discipline to stop spending more, and that can be done with the passage of a constitutional amendment to balance the budget." Lo and behold, the House passed a plan last night, "cut, cap, and balance," that contained both spending cuts and a balanced budget amendment.

A compilation video of MSNBC anchors misrepresenting Reagan is below the page break:

Never trust a source as cited by Rachel Maddow.

It's not the sources themselves that are deceitful, at least much of the time. It's what she does with the information they provide that is.

On her MSNBC show Friday night, for example, Maddow was riding one of her favorite hobby horses, alleging that new voter ID laws enacted or proposed in 40 states are little more than GOP-led efforts to suppress voter turnout among core Democrat constituencies.

To bolster her argument, Maddow said this about a new voter ID law in Texas (video after page break) --

How can you tell that Rachel Maddow considers GOP Congresswoman Michele Bachmann a mortal threat to the Obama presidency?

Because the MSNBC propagandist can't bear to let her viewers see or hear what Bachmann has to say. Instead, Maddow acts as censorious middleman, twisting Bachmann's remarks beyond recognition to all but Maddow's fellow denizens of the fringe left.

Here's an example of Maddow doing this on her show July 7, trotting out three hoary falsehoods about Bachmann in the span of a minute (video clip after page break) --

Former New York Times columnist Bob Herbert appeared on Thursday night on The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC to discuss how the death penalty demonstrates how America is marred by “such a macho culture, such a violent culture” that we would actually execute murderers and politicians haven't completely banned it.

For her part, Maddow tried to imply that there’s race-baiting politics involved, which is like preaching to Herbert’s choir. She insisted a new resurgence of tough-on-crime politics is typified by how Fox News is “trying to hype the issue of urban crime with racial overtones.”

 On Thursday’s Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, host Maddow devoted a considerable chunk of her show to the story of convicted murderer Humbarto Leal Garcia's execution in Texas, and Republican Governor Rick Perry’s refusal to delay the execution to give Congress more time to pass legislation to address how the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations should be applied to such cases.

Garcia, who in 1994 raped a 16-year-old girl and then strangled her and crushed her skull with a 35-pound piece of asphalt, was sent to prison in 1998 but did not discover until two years later that he was supposed to be legally entitled to ask for help from the Mexican consulate in his defense.

(Note: This article earlier erroneously claimed that the Vienna Convention does not seem to demand that authorities inform a foreign national of the rights contained in the treaty when, in reality, the treaty does contain text making this demand of authorities.)  

Controversy ain't what it used to be, not at MSNBC.

The network's Rachel Maddow cited two odd examples of what she deems controversial on her show Thursday, in the first and only time both examples will ever be cited as controversial (video after page break) --

Do as I suggest, not as I claim to eschew.

Those wascally Wepublicans and their corporate-financed efforts to compel voter turnout, Rachel Maddow complained on her MSNBC show Tuesday, before suggesting possible Chinese or Brazilian manipulation of American elections through legalized bribes to unpatriotic conservatives (video after page break) --

Don't you love it when left wingers reveal their actual views on economics?

Rachel Maddow, one of MSNBC's nightly Gang of Five, did this on her show Monday while talking with Chris Hayes of The Nation about Democrats and Republicans battling over the debt ceiling (video after page break) --

Appearing on Wednesday's NBC Today, left-wing MSNBC host Rachel Maddow slammed New Jersey Governor Chris Christie: "...his brand at this point is, 'I'm the guy who screams at my own constituents'....his brand is 'I will be rude.' And rudeness is actually what he's trying to sell as a form of political authenticity."

Co-host Ann Curry mentioned Christie criticizing President Obama for being too focused on popularity rather than policy and wondered: "Does the New Jersey Governor have a point that the President is making mistakes because he wants too much to be liked?" As Maddow launched into her rant against Christie, Curry interrupted: "But beyond argument and ad hominem, let's talk about, though, about Obama specifically. Do you think he's trying too hard to be liked?"

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On Wednesday's NBC Today, correspondent Kelly O'Donnell declared that Michele Bachmann "faces new candidate scrutiny, including financial records for a family business" and proceeded to hype a non-controversy of a mental health clinic run by Michele Bachmann's husband accepting Medicaid reimbursements for treating low-income patients.

O'Donnell implied such reimbursements conflicted with the Minnesota Congresswoman calling "for less government spending and opposes an expansion of Medicaid." Appearing on the broadcast minutes later, left-wing MSNBC host Rachel Maddow cited O'Donnell's report and proclaimed: "Michele Bachmann is trying to make this case that she's a purist Tea Party candidate despite the fact that she has this hypocrisy problem with having benefitted herself from so much government spending."

... And after Maddow had spoken so glowingly of an FBI strategy for capturing notorious fugitive mobster Whitey Bulger. Or did she?

Rachel Maddow made a curious disclosure on her MSNBC show Friday after interviewing former Boston Globe reporter Dick Lehr, co-author of "Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob," about Bulger's court appearance that day in his native Boston (video clip after page break) --

... which helps explain why conservative radio continues to dominate the airwaves while Air America Radio, uh, went kaput.

During a recent appearance on Tavis Smiley's PBS show, enviro lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose "Ring of Fire" show ran on Air America, made what reasonable souls among us might construe as a questionable claim.

Here's Kennedy responding to a question from Smiley on how liberals can better hone their message (video clip after page break) --

Sure looks like it, but decide for yourself.

Whitey Bulger is the alleged crime boss arrested Wednesday by FBI agents in Santa Monica, Calif., with his longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig.

The basis for the Jack Nicholson character in "The Departed," Bulger is suspected of involvement in at least 19 murders and myriad other crimes. Until last month, only one other figure on the FBI's most wanted list was considered more dangerous -- Osama bin Laden.  

On her MSNBC show Monday, Maddow described new FBI tactics in the agency's 16-year manhunt to bring the notorious fugitive to justice (video clip after page break) --