Rachel Maddow on Thursday earned a rare interview with Harry Reid, offering the Senate Minority Leader softball questions on the need for more women in Congress. Yet, the same woman who, in the past, has railed against "McCarthyism," failed to challenge the high profile Democrat on his baseless, guilty-until-proven-innocent smear against Mitt Romney. In 2012, with zero evidence, Reid accused the presidential candidate of not paying taxes and demanded that Romney debunk the accusation.
Maddow has previously assailed Fox News as a "McCarthyite chamber of horrors" and proclaimed on her show that Joe McCarthy's charges represented the worst in America. On Thursday, however, she avoided Reid's witch hunt and offered queries such as this one: "Should we think of Nevada as a blue state going forward in national politics or is it influx?"
Back on May 12, 2011 Maddow butchered history to attack what she saw as baseless attacks without proof:
RACHEL MADDOW: You may remember the House Un-American Activities Committee. Part of that was Senator Joe McCarthy red baiting the living heck out of the entertainment industry, dragging in writers and actors and anyone he thought might have a whiff of communism on them. Remember those hearings? All the people who turned in their friends who then got blacklisted as communists and some of them got sent to prison. A bunch of them never worked again.
Perhaps Maddow, who MSNBC likes to tout as smart, should have realized that the House stands for House of Representatives. McCarthy was a United States Senator.
On Thursday, Maddow sometimes offered statements, telling Reid, "In terms of Secretary Clinton and her candidacy, obviously, it's a historic candidacy if she becomes the Democratic nominee. There's never been a woman who's been a major party presidential nominee. If she's elected the president, all the more historic."
She then lobbed this softball: "What's different about female senators? What do you like about them?" Maddow followed-up by wondering, "Would it change the Senate to have a woman as a majority or minority leader? Are we ready for that now or sometimes soon?"
The journalist also played up profanity-laced exchanges between Reid and Senator John McCain. (See picture above.)
The MSNBC host brought up Loretta Lynch, the stalled replacement for Eric Holder as Attorney General:
MADDOW: One thing that has not been done and is now approaching a historic delay is the nomination of Loretta Lynch to be the next attorney general of the United States. What is going on there? And is she ever going to get a vote?
Maddow ignored the fact that Reid could have confirmed Lynch last November, but failed. Politico explained on November 18, 2014:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is in no hurry to begin the confirmation process of attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch.
Asked by reporters if he will seek to approve Lynch during the lame duck, Reid replied “no” — meaning current Attorney General Eric Holder will have to stay on through part of the winter to see his successor confirmed.
A partial transcript of Maddow's April 16 questions is below:
RACHEL MADDOW: One thing that has not been done and is now approaching a historic delay is the nomination of Loretta Lynch to be the next attorney general of the United States. What is going on there? And is she ever going to get a vote?
REID: The first part of May -- I don't know if it's the 1st or 2nd -- she will have been in limbo, in purgatory for six months. This is a woman no one, no one can question her qualities, her educational background, her experience.
In fact, we had Republicans McCain, McConnell, Lindsey Graham, saying what a good woman she was. Suddenly, they're not allowing her to have a vote. And they're basing it on such shallow evidence. I mean, we're here trying to have a woman confirmed as attorney general of the United States and they're off on some abortion issue someplace, it's ridiculous.
I want to say this to all your viewers. We put up with this far too long. And we're going to have a vote on her very soon. That's created by Mitch McConnell. Or I'll create one. I can still do that. I know parliamentary procedure around here. And we're going to put up with this for a little while longer but not much.MADDOW: You have a way you think you can force a vote even if McConnell --
REID: Absolutely, I'm going to force a vote. If we don't get something done soon, I will force a vote.
MADDOW: In case you were wondering in the interview with Harry Reid why Senator Reid was wearing sun glasses inside, it is not because John McCain followed through on his threat to beat up Senator Reid, we'll have more on that in a moment actually.
Senator Reid is still recovering from an exercise equipment accident on New Year's Day which left him blind in his right eye. That's why he's wearing the glasses. I asked him about the accident today and how he was feeling and his response was more on less, eh, could be worse....
MADDOW: Should we think of Nevada as a blue state going forward in national politics or is it influx?
...
MADDOW: In terms of Secretary Clinton and her candidacy, obviously, it's a historic candidacy if she becomes the Democratic nominee. There's never been a woman who's been a major party presidential nominee. If she's elected the president, all the more historic.
One of the things that you have talked about in the Senate is that you've said the greatest change in the Senate over the time that you have been here is the increasing number of female senators. That they have improved the institution. What's different about female senators? What do you like about them?...
MADDOW: In terms of women's leadership in the Senate, it seems like Senator Schumer is going to be replacing you as Democratic leader. There are women, Patty Murray, Barbara Mikulski and others, who have played leadership roles in the party over time, would it change the Senate to have a woman as a majority or minority leader? Are we ready for that now or sometimes soon?
...
MADDOW: In terms of -- I guess in terms of women and men being different and female and male senators having different styles, you said something to my colleague John Harwood at CNBC in a recent interview about John McCain. Senator John McCain, you told John Harwood, had threatened to kick the bleep out of you. He said it at one point about something that happened in the Senate. Was he kidding or was John McCain actually threatening to beat you up?
...
MADDOW: Senator Reid said there in the exchange there is one great thing that changed in the Senate since he has been there and that's the influx of women and there is also one terrible change in the Senate since he's been there. And here is what he thinks is the terrible change is.
...
MADDOW: Is without the magic wand available for you, what can be done? I mean, I was surprised to see Senator Clinton puts that issue that you just described right at the forefront of what she says she wants to do with her candidacy. If that is part of what she runs on, that puts it right at center of American politics, right as a point of focus for a national debate. What could be done? Does it have to be a constitutional amendment?
