When you think of MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, do you consider her one of the smartest people in all of journalism today?
David Letterman does, and actually said so as he introduced her on Monday's CBS Late Show (video follows with transcript and commentary):
DAVID LETTERMAN: Ladies and gentlemen, our first guest is an Emmy Award-winning broadcaster, and I think probably in all of broadcasting, in all of journalism, probably the smartest person.
PAUL SHAFFER: Wow, that’s a beautiful compliment. That’s fantastic.
[Audience applause]
LETTERMAN: In addition to being wildly smart she's also savvy. Savvy.
SHAFFER: There's a difference there?
SHAFFER: You are talking about street smarts too.
LETTERMAN: Exactly. In addition to being savvy, she's also street smarts.
SHAFFER: Yeah, she's street.
LETTERMAN: Did I mention hip?
SHAFFER: Hip too. She is the hippest.
LETTERMAN: She can smell something going down from a mile away. I don't know.
As NewsBusters readers are fully aware, we spend a lot of time exposing Maddow's inanities and misstatements.
Quite frankly, if I could stand watching her every day, I believe I could catch her in a significant faux pas at least once a week.
Yet folks like Letterman think she's one of the smartest people in journalism today.
Does that say more about Letterman or the state of this industry?
Hmmm.
