Rachel Maddow has kind of been a saving grace for me over the last year in the world of cable news stupidity. Keith Olberman is entertaining, but Maddow embraces her inner geek in a way that I have seen no news broadcaster do before in my life -- I mean here genuine geekiness, not sports geekiness, which is considered in the news world to be socially acceptable.
Plus, it's nice to see her dismantle conservatives on her show. She mastered the art sparing with Pat Buchanan, for whom she seems to have a completely unwarrented sense of affection, but she did it again last night with Rick Berman, and it was a thing to behold:
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My only real complaint about Rachel is that she often seems to me to be too nice with guys like this. I guess it's part of the strategy that gets them to agree to come on in the first place. But every so often I wish she'd call bullshit on these guys with the force that they deserve.
But this cuts against her public persona. She is, in a lot of ways, the anti-Bill O'Reilly. Where he revels in ignorance, she is always highly informed. Where he bullies, she kills with kindness. Where he shouts, she gently prods. All things considered, I'd much rather watch Rachel be too nice than O'Reilly be a shithead. So who am I to complain.
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