MSNBC loves to interview and pamper Meghan McCain to stir up trouble in the Republican Party. Rachel Maddow honored her on January 17 as the "very reasonable" Meghan McCain, the "unwilling irritant to her own beloved Republican Party."
It happened again on Wednesday night's Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell. The graphic behind him read "MIND OF McCAIN," as if the audience were about to be treated to a very impressive mind, indeed. Viewers were instead treated to another strange episode of the bratty Daily Beast columnist doing a Superiority Dance, raining fire on conservative women, in this case, Michele Bachmann. CNN "should be ashamed" of putting her speech on, and the Tea Party should have picked a male, instead:
"Michelle Bachmann, in my opinion, is no better than a poor man's Sarah Palin. And the fact that Fox and MSNBC elected not to air this, I think is admirable, the kind of journalism Fox and MSNBC is airing. I think CNN should be ashamed of themselves for airing this. It is one rogue woman who couldn't even look into the camera directly, and I take none of it seriously. And I think if the Tea Party wants to put a candidate up to give a response, why don't they have someone like Rand Paul, who was elected on the Tea Party platform, give that?"
Sexist overtones, anyone? Bachmann ran for the House in 2010 as the leader of the emerging House Tea Party Caucus, but one can't expect Meghan McCain to be well-briefed on all things Tea Party. Despite the Bachmann-cannot-be-taken-seriously attack, O'Donnell began his Meghan-massaging by nominating her as a voice of civility, reading the end of a commentary of hers from November 30:
As Republicans, we cannot risk heightening this cultural war to a higher level than it is already. It is not just the liberal elites versus the "real" American Republicans, it is now becoming a war within the Republican Party itself about what kind of people we want leading the party. This type of rhetoric will continue to alienate and stereotype Republicans that don't pass cultural purity tests. We are watching the old fashioned spirit of the Republican Party that once served us so well abused for the purpose of clever talking points.
Lawrence left out the part where she admitted she was not very bright and didn't know what Sarah Palin meant when she said on the Laura Ingraham show that "blue bloods" in the GOP opposed her:
I actually had to Google what the meaning of "blue bloods" was, although I could surmise that it was some kind of knock against education and coming from a family of some success. Yes, in essence that is what this statement meant. Families that work hard and achieve a long line of successful people are "blue bloods" and thus, she implied the opinions of said people are jaded and elitist, even if that family lineage has a long history of public service and leadership within Republican Party.
Perhaps this truth cuts too close for comfort to young Meghan, the jaded and elitist beer heiress. Then again, if she had to Google the term "blue bloods," she shouldn't be so offended about it being a "knock" against her sophisticated Columbia education. No one who considers Palin and Bachmann "lightweights" can seriously argue that Meghan McCain is MSNBC's answer to Clare Boothe Luce.
